Cyber Safety in the News

New York City Public Schools Banning AI Use Through Middle School Starting This Year

ABC News, September 2, 2026

New York City Public Schools is taking a major step back from student-facing generative AI, implementing a one-year moratorium on AI for students from K through eighth grade during the 2026–27 school year. The policy affects nearly 600,000 students and is based on the district’s concern that younger children need opportunities to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity and human relationships without routinely relying on AI tools. The district is also placing new limits on individual screen use, including recommended limits of 30 minutes per day for grades 3–5 and 45 minutes for grades 6–8.

Importantly, the policy is not a rejection of AI altogether. NYC is taking a different approach with high school students, requiring every student to complete two 45-minute AI literacy modules covering topics such as how AI works, privacy, bias, misinformation and responsible use. The district is also introducing a small number of carefully controlled AI pilots in high schools, with tools selected for safety and data-privacy standards and use limited to teacher-supervised instruction. This reflects a broader challenge facing schools and parents: children need to understand AI because it will be part of their future, but they also need to develop the ability to think, write, research and solve problems independently.

For parents, NYC’s policy offers an important lesson even outside New York: simply banning or restricting AI does not eliminate the need for AI education. Children are encountering AI at home, in apps, online and increasingly in the products they use for schoolwork. Parents should be talking with their children about what AI can and cannot do, why it can produce inaccurate information, what personal information should never be shared with an AI tool, and why using AI to do their thinking for them can undermine learning. The goal should be to help children develop the judgment to know when technology is useful and when they need to put the technology down and do the thinking themselves. This can be accomplished through parent-child conversations at home.

Meta Sued Over Training Data for Its AI And Face-Recognition Systems

Wired, September 11, 2026

There is a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing Meta of using photos from Facebook and Instagram to obtain biometric information for artificial-intelligence systems and an unreleased facial-recognition feature called NameTag, designed for Meta’s smart glasses. The plaintiffs, including parents and children, allege that Meta extracted information from people’s faces without proper notice or consent, potentially violating privacy and biometric-information laws in Illinois and California. The lawsuit is an allegation, not a court finding, and Meta says the claims are without merit.

The case raises a larger question that is particularly important for parents: what happens to the photos we post online after we share them? Meta has acknowledged using massive quantities of Facebook and Instagram images to train AI models, while the lawsuit argues that faces appearing in those images can result in biometric information being incorporated into AI systems. The plaintiffs also challenge Meta’s use of images involving people who may not have knowingly provided their photos for AI development.

For families, the story is a reminder that a child’s digital footprint involves more than usernames, comments and posts, it can also include their face and other identifying information contained in photographs. Parents should think carefully about what images of their children they share publicly and discuss with older children why posting a photo online can have consequences beyond the original audience. The broader lesson is that as AI becomes increasingly capable of analyzing, identifying and transforming images, parents and children need to understand not only what they are posting, but also how that information might potentially be collected and used.

How DraftKings Uses A.I. To Target the Gamblers Likeliest to Lose

The New York Times, September 20,2026

The New York Times investigation examined how DraftKings has used artificial intelligence and machine-learning tools to analyze customer betting behavior and personalize promotional offers. According to the investigation, the company developed a system that estimated which customers were most likely to increase their betting after receiving promotions, using factors such as betting frequency, account activity and losses. Former employees told the Times that the system could identify customers who appeared particularly valuable because they were likely to continue spending, while DraftKings disputed the characterization and said its promotional practices were intended to support sustained engagement rather than target customers based on losses.

For parents and educators, the larger issue is how AI can use behavioral data to influence young people’s decisions. Although the investigation focuses on adults and gambling, it illustrates a broader digital-safety lesson: algorithms can learn what captures our attention and then personalize content or incentives accordingly. That makes AI literacy increasingly important for students. Kids should understand that personalized recommendations, notifications and promotions can be designed to encourage continued engagement. Teaching children to recognize when technology is trying to influence their behavior, question why they are seeing something, and understand how their data may be used is becoming an essential part of digital citizenship.

12-Year-Olds With Smartphones Are More Likely to Develop Eating Disorders By 14

CNN, September 25, 2026

There is new research examining the relationship between smartphone ownership at age 12 and disordered-eating symptoms at age 14. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 9,000 U.S. adolescents and found that about 24% of teens who owned a smartphone at 12 reported at least one symptom of disordered eating at 14, compared with less than 16% of those who did not have a smartphone at 12. The researchers emphasize that the study shows an association between smartphones and eating disorders.

One possible explanation is the amount of appearance-focused content that a smartphone can put directly into a child’s hands. During the tween years, children are already becoming more aware of their bodies and comparing themselves with peers. Social media can expand those comparisons to include influencers and highly edited or curated images, potentially contributing to body dissatisfaction and making young people more focused on weight or appearance. The study found that children who had smartphones at 12 were twice as likely to connect their self-worth to their weight and about 1.5 times as likely to report attempts to control their weight.

For parents, the takeaway isn’t simply “don’t give your child a smartphone.” Instead, the research provides another reason to think carefully about when a child receives a smartphone and what comes with it. Parents can gradually introduce digital access, pay attention to the types of content children encounter, establish boundaries around social media, and have regular conversations about how online images can be edited or carefully curated. Most importantly, parents should watch for changes in how a child talks about their body, food or appearance and create an environment where children feel comfortable bringing concerns to an adult rather than navigating them alone.

Alabama Teens Getting Their Own Version of TikTok Under Sweeping $100M Deal

Fox Business, September 26, 2026

TikTok has reached a $100 million settlement with Alabama over allegations that the platform’s design and safety practices harmed young users. Rather than going to trial, TikTok agreed to make significant changes for teen accounts in Alabama, including offering a non-personalized feed, limiting teen use to two hours per day, blocking nighttime use between midnight and 6 a.m., and requiring “productive pauses” during extended sessions. The settlement also bans cosmetic filters for teens, strengthens age verification and parental controls, and makes teen accounts private by default.

For parents, the bigger takeaway is that the agreement moves some responsibility for protecting children from parents alone to the technology companies themselves. The settlement recognizes that features such as personalized recommendation algorithms, beauty filters and endless scrolling can influence how young people use social media. At the same time, technology restrictions cannot replace parent-child conversations about digital habits. Parents can use this development as an opportunity to ask children what content is being recommended to them, how they feel after spending time online, and whether they understand why an app is showing them particular content. The Alabama agreement is also part of a broader wave of state actions and settlements focused on how social-media platforms design and operate services used by minors. It will be interesting to see if other states follow suit to protect their young constituents.