WISE Score
A sharp, 12-episode masterclass in how to stop being a passive consumer and start seeing the strings behind the screen.
If your kid is on YouTube, this is the manual for how to use it without getting used by it. It is the literal antidote to brain rot. Instead of just telling kids 'social media is bad,' it gives them the X-ray specs to see how the machine works.
It’s professional, dense, and genuinely engaging. If you have a weekend, watch this with your middle schooler. It provides a shared vocabulary for every 'weird' thing they’ll encounter online for the next five years.
Best for 12 and up. While a sharp 10-year-old could follow the basics, the 'college-level' depth and rapid-fire delivery are really designed for middle and high schoolers who are already navigating social media independently.
Hosted by Jay Smooth, the tone is intellectually curious, respectful, and avoids the frantic 'attention-hack' editing of typical YouTube. It models calm, critical inquiry.
While primarily a lecture-based educational series, it encourages viewers to imagine the systems behind their screens and think creatively about how they produce their own media.
As a Crash Course production, it is professionally vetted for educational environments. No gore, sexual content, or toxicity. The only 'risk' is the YouTube platform itself.
This is essentially a masterclass in digital self-defense. It covers the psychology of the scroll, the history of propaganda, and the ethics of creation in a way that directly builds the 'human-in-the-loop' skills we advocate for.
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