What happens when high schoolers become the teachers?

In Banks County School District in Georgia, high school students used Parent ProTech lessons—complete with ready-to-use lesson plans, activities, printouts, and story-based learning—to teach primary school students how to stay safe and confident online.

They didn’t have to build anything from scratch. Students explored the lessons and led interactive sessions on topics like password security and healthy screen habits.

The result? Younger students were engaged, excited, they understood the material, and they remembered it.

And the impact didn’t stop there.

One student shared, “I went home and changed my passwords.” Another reevaluated her connections on social media and removed unfamiliar contacts. Teaching didn’t just reinforce the message, it changed behavior.

As their teacher, Coach Whittney LaHayne, put it, “[Parent ProTech] just made it so simplistic… we weren’t having to create everything from scratch.”

Through a statewide effort with the Georgia Department of Education, Parent ProTech resources have been made available to public schools across Georgia, equipping students to navigate today’s digital world.

Whether you’re already using Parent ProTech or just getting started, this is a simple model any school can try to let students lead and focus on interaction over instruction.

This is what digital citizenship can look like in action.

👉 Watch how they did it
👉 Contact our classroom team for help implementing Parent ProTech

📵 26 States Now Have School Phone Bans… Summer Doesn't | A new Newsweek map shows 26 states have passed full bell-to-bell school phone bans, with more piling on this year. Schools are drawing the line. But the moment the school year ends, that structure disappears. Before summer hits, watch our Summer Screen Time video for setting healthy tech habits at home.

🎮 Roblox Will Split the Platform for Younger Kids | Starting in June, Roblox is rolling out age-based accounts. Kids 5-8 get Roblox Kids (messaging off by default, content capped at “mild”). Kids 9-15 move to Roblox Select (gradual chat, “moderate” content). The shift follows a $10M Nevada settlement. It’s the biggest Roblox reset in years, but defaults still need a parent’s eye. Review our full Roblox guide before your child’s account changes.

🤖 Teens Are Admitting They’re Addicted to AI Chatbots | A new Drexel study of Reddit posts from teens found all six markers of behavioral addiction in their use of Character.AI. The striking part? Teens themselves see the problem. Talk about AI with your kids before it becomes a mental-health issue. Start with our conversation starters.

Washington, DC. Our team was in DC to walk families at Passion City Church DC through our four-step framework for raising kids in a tech-saturated world.

“They don’t overwhelm you… they equip you. As parents, that’s exactly what we’re looking for.”
- Connor Smith, Parent, Passion City Church DC

Pickens County, SC. Joshua returned to his home school district in South Carolina to speak to more than 2,000 students across the School District of Pickens County. The stories keep rolling in of students rethinking the platforms they’re on and the people they’re connecting with online.

Sheridan, WY. We partnered with Valor Academy and the broader Sheridan community to equip parents, educators, students, and community leaders with practical tools for today’s tech world.

“Parent ProTech has stepped up to provide answers to questions and solutions to challenges that we face now and into the future.”
- Al Sparkman, Principal, Valor Academy

You can read the local coverage in The Sheridan Press.

Stowe, VT. Brock headed to Vermont to sit down with school and risk-management leaders about what it actually takes to get ahead of tech harm before it shows up as an incident. The takeaway: schools don’t have to be reactive. With the right tools, they can lead.

If you’d like us to bring Parent ProTech to your school, district, or community, reach out here.

In our latest episode of The Tech Translator, Melvin sits down with Russell York, founder and CEO of Cosmo, to put a name to a feeling parents know all too well.

Techxiety: that uneasy pit in your stomach when you hand your kid a smartphone. It’s not just a parent problem. Teachers, school administrators, parents, and even kids themselves are feeling it.

They dig into why “no phone or full iPhone” is a false choice and how Big Tech has not done enough to actually protect kids. It’s a conversation that will make you think about your family’s tech use, whether your child has a device yet or not. Watch the full episode here.

If your family is looking for a simpler, safer starting point, Cosmo’s purpose-built kids smartwatch is worth a look.