WELCOME TO THOUGHT BYTES
ThoughtBytes explores how edufiction and narrative learning can support digital literacy and ethical thinking in a technology-shaped world.
ThoughtBytes is an ideas blog exploring how edufiction can be practically used to help children and young teens understand digital life.
It focuses on digital citizenship, media/AI literacy, and emerging technologies through an educational and parenting lens, using story and context rather than headlines or hype.
All content is created by Casper Pieters and may be shared non-commercially, unchanged, with attribution.
Is there a topic you’d like covered?
Reach out to Casper.
Why I wrote The Mauled Mage, its symbolism and intent
A story for understanding, resisting, and healing from cyberbullying
Something strange is happening behind your screen and it’s not just your imagination
Capture their attention with a riviting adventure story and they will not even realise that they are learning (Free book sample).
Young Teens Need to Understand What Social Media Is Doing to Their Minds
Brain Rot! sample + lesson plan in your preferred format
Why Reading Is Declining Among Young Teens
DOWNLOAD: Classroom Mini Lesson - Rebuilding the Reading Habit
Why Story Is Still the Most Powerful Learning Technology Humans Have Ever Invented
With Parent and Homeschool Handout - Helping Your Child Develop the Hidden Skills of Reading
Edufiction and the Quiet Drift of Values in the Age of AI
Doing it yourself exercises your brain
Reading Alone Is Powerful — But Edufiction Turns Stories into Conversations
Co-creating ideas inspired by story
Why Deep Reading Still Matters in an Age of Skimming — and How Edufiction Rebuilds It
Once you captured their attention — the learning begins.
The Digital Delusion and Why Young People Need Stories, Not Screens, to Understand It
Why Stories Teach Digital Wisdom Better Than Screens
Real Connections, Not Code
With downloadable Discussion Prompts for Libraries & Parent Groups
The Tool That Shapes the Hand: Teaching Resilience in the Age of AI
Let’s consider how AI may shape human behaviour.
Generation Alpha, Gen Z & the Great Social Media Mistake: Why Banning Isn’t the Answer
Have we really thought the social media ban through, or are we committing young people to yet another social experiment?
Generation Alpha, Gen Z and the Great Social Media Mistake
The collateral damage may not be what we expected.
Why Reading Is Falling Out of Favour, and What’s Going on in Young Minds
A lot more going on, than just reading.
Rage Bait, Media Literacy, and Why Big Tech Profits When We’re Angry
The antidote to Bait Rage is not sharing.