In this week’s Plugged In by Wired Parents, we see that Macron has been in the news a fair bit with regards to social media and the under 15s and for wanting to classify some social media sites as “pornographic”. He is pushing further ahead of other EU leaders in some substantial ways and we have seen The Netherlands also come out in support by urging parents to limit social media to the under-15s. Apple have introduced more smart parental permissions on iOS26 and KidsRights releases their 2025 Index showing that problematic social media use has jumped from 7 to 11% in recent years. Plus, we get to find out who the villain in Toy Story 5 is and it’s not that far from home.

TL; DR? Governments are acting, tech is adapting, but the numbers on kids and social media aren’t going in the right direction.

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We posted an article last week about how the EU was pushing for way more restrictions on minors and their access to social media. This week, Macron, President of France, has strode out ahead and is making headlines for a bold new move: proposing banning children under 15 from social media without parental permission. President Emmanuel Macron’s government is considering introducing a new law aimed at shielding young people from the mental health fallout linked to platforms like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram.

This isn’t just about setting age limits—it’s about drawing a line in the digital sand.
🔗 See the full Politico article

Staying with France, the country is turning up the pressure on social platforms. According to Politico, regulators are preparing to classify apps like X, Bluesky, and Reddit as “pornographic” unless they implement real age verification tools.
🔗 Source: Politico article

The Dutch Ministry of Health’s guidance urging parents to limit social media for under-15s speaks to widespread concerns about youth mental health. Symptoms like depression, panic attacks, and disrupted sleep are increasingly linked with social media use. Although the advisory lacks legal teeth, it reflects a public health stance encouraging device-free bedrooms and outdoor play. With over 1,400 Dutch health professionals advocating for stricter limits and schools enforcing phone bans, the message is clear: digital habits need to be managed before they become habits.
🔗 Source: AP News

Apple’s upcoming iOS 26 will introduce greater protection for children. New features require parental approval before a child texts a new number, plus image-blurring for nudity during FaceTime. Developers can integrate “PermissionKit” to request parental authorisation for app actions and age-screening will be expanded. App Store age ranges will shift to 13+, 16+, and 18+, creating a digital architecture that adapts to developmental stages, not just arbitrary limits and enables parents to share a child’s age-range without revealing their birthdate. This update marks a significant evolution in Apple’s family safety tools. Companies like Meta, Snap, and X and a coalition of adult content companies have advocated for legislation that would require app store operators to verify their users’ age, a requirement that Apple has pushed back on over privacy concerns.
🔗 Source: The Verge

The KidsRights Index 2025 drops an urgent mantra: this is no longer a conversation about banning screens but about fixing broken systems. With youth suicide rates ranking third globally, and “problematic” social media use jumping from 7 to 11% in recent years, this is a crisis driven, in part, by digital spaces designed for engagement over empathy.
🔗 Source: KidsRights

For more articles from the week, head over to Wired-Parents.com

Pixar has confirmed that Toy Story 5, set for release in 2026, will feature a new villain named Lily Pad — a tablet designed to capture the attention and affection of Bonnie, the current owner of Woody, Buzz, and the gang. As traditional toys fall out of favour in a tech-driven world, Lily Pad poses a modern challenge, symbolising how screens are replacing playtime.

Jesse steps into a leadership role and seeks Woody’s help to confront Lily Pad’s growing influence. This storyline reflects a broader societal shift and aims to make Toy Story 5 relatable to today’s parents and children alike.

By embracing a technology-based antagonist, Pixar is bringing the franchise into the present day — a move that resonates with real-world parenting concerns. Lily Pad embodies the competition between digital devices and classic imaginative play. It’s a timely theme that may serve both as entertainment and as a commentary on the changing nature of childhood.

Ultimately, the film promises to blend nostalgia with current-day relevance, using the conflict between toys and technology to underscore the enduring value of human connection, play, and presence.

🔤 Word Your Child Probably Knows: “NPC”
Originally a gaming term meaning Non-Playable Character — someone controlled by the game, not a player. Kids now use it to describe someone who seems robotic or just going through the motions without independent thought.

🔧 Tech Tip for Parents: Use grayscale mode
Switch your phone to black-and-white to make it less addictive. It reduces the visual appeal of apps and can help both parents and kids use screens more mindfully.

📴 Offline Challenge of the Week: No-screen meals
Turn off all screens during mealtimes today and use that time for connecting and catching up with the whole family if you can all sit down together on the day.

💡 Thinking Huts is a nonprofit founded in 2015 by Maggie Grout, who at 15 recognised that many kids worldwide lacked access to education. The organisation uses large-scale 3D printing to build school buildings quickly, affordably, and sustainably.

First School Completed
In late 2022, Thinking Huts unveiled its first 3D‑printed school, named Bougainvillea, near Fianarantsoa, Madagascar. It took just 18 hours to print the walls, with roofs and finishes completed afterward through local craftsmanship.

The Honeycomb Campus
Building on that success, the organisation is now constructing a Honeycomb Campus—a modular cluster of classrooms shaped like a beehive. It will include solar power, plumbing, wi‑fi, and a water well, serving multiple villages and hundreds of students aged 4–16. The plan is to deploy the 3D printer permanently in Madagascar to allow on‑demand school-building capacity.

How This Is Really Making A Change 

Looking Ahead
The Honeycomb Campus aims to open in summer 2025, with plans for further global expansion. 

Know of an amazing child or young adult? We would love to showcase achievements, resilience and integrity, now matter how large or small.

Get in touch and let us know and we’ll mention them in a future edition.

🚙 Fun questions to ask each other on a long car journey this summer

🙋‍♀️ How mums are using ChatGPT for help and support

🍭 Oooops!

🐳👀 Whale eye top photo from the World Oceans Day Photo Competition

⏰ The best time to set your alarm

A man in a restaurant asked a waiter for a juice glass, a dinner plate, water, a match, and a lemon wedge. The man poured enough water onto the plate to cover it.
"If you can get the water on the plate into this glass without touching or moving this plate, I will give you $100," the man said. "You can use the match and lemon to do this."
A few minutes later, the waiter walked away with $100 in his pocket. How did the waiter get the water into the glass?

First, the waiter stuck the match into the lemon wedge, so that it would stand straight. Then he lit the match and put it in the middle of the plate with the lemon. He then placed the glass upside-down over the match. As the flame used up the oxygen in the glass, it created a small vacuum, which sucked in the water through the space between the glass and the plate.

Ta da!! Water in the glass without touching or moving the plate.

OK, full disclosure, we haven’t tried this, but if anybody has and it works, let us know. Maybe one to try over the summer with the kids.

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Our mission at Wired Parents is to help you critically evaluate your children’s digital access with insight, inquiry and options from news and opinions along with tools, tips and strategies. Because they’ll either thank you later, or wish you’d fought harder.