Wednesday Wisdom
Tooled Up Tips for Parents and Educators Around the World
25/03/2026
Community and Connection
Regular readers of Wednesday Wisdom will probably have noticed that there are a few patterns to how we approach writing this weekly blog. We tend to start with a ‘hook’, introducing the topic that we plan to discuss. We might explore something topical from the news. Sometimes, we home in on something we’ve learned from professional conversations. At others, we open with a more personal anecdote. This week, I knew that I wanted to write about community, both its importance to children and young people more widely, and the community we are building within Tooled Up Education. But where to start?
18/03/2026
Grifters and Gurus
Much of my work involves scrutinising claims about what is supposedly “good” or “bad” for children and young people. It often leads me deep into research rabbit holes. One such deep dive this week reminded me how easily misinformation can be amplified through digital media and even by people in powerful positions.
11/03/2026
Empathy in Action
You’ve probably noticed that Tourette Syndrome has hit the headlines in recent weeks. While much of the press coverage focused on a distressing moment at the BAFTA (film) awards, I want to turn briefly instead to the film that was being celebrated.
04/03/2026
Poor Punch
As Mother’s Day reminders appear here in the UK ahead of the 15th March, we are gently steered toward a familiar and comforting narrative: mothers as instinctively nurturing, endlessly self-sacrificing and biologically primed to love quickly and unconditionally. The cultural script reassures us. Maternal devotion is natural. Automatic. Universal. Or is it?
25/02/2026
Fear and Foxholes
Rock bottom is not a place you ever want anyone to experience. It is a place where hope feels absent and where life’s complexity, vastness and mysteries are fully exposed. It is a raw place where one feels entirely helpless and vulnerable. Since the last time I penned Wednesday Wisdom, I ended up there, along with family, as we experienced a sudden and unexpected health problem with one of our youngest members.
18/02/2026
Gaming to Gambling
Whilst we might have knocked on our mate’s door or hogged the landline as soon as we walked through the door after school, online gaming is often now where our children meet up with friends.
11/02/2026
Deepfakes and Damage
Artificial intelligence is transforming how images and videos are created, shared and manipulated, and it is doing so at a speed that few feel prepared for. What once felt like a distant, futuristic concern has become an everyday reality: AI-generated images are now part of children’s online lives, from playful filters to hyper-realistic deepfakes, produced in seconds. The tools that make this possible are no longer niche or technical. Many are free, widely advertised and available to anyone with a smartphone.
04/02/2026
Getting in Early
Recently, I was asked to speak to a group of parents about sex, drugs and alcohol. For parents of thirteen year olds, these topics can feel safely parked on the far horizon of parenting, somewhere beyond GCSEs and just before learning to drive. They may even feel premature, or quietly irrelevant.