Meet Codey
Think step by step. Build it, break it, understand it.
Using technology every day without understanding how it works, or why it's designed to keep you hooked. Codey changes that. Critical thinkers, not passive consumers.
- Understand tech
- Think critically
- Build, don't scroll
The skill that makes a child impossible to manipulate online.
When you understand how something works, it can't control you. Codey builds the computational thinking that gives children genuine digital agency: understanding algorithms, recognising persuasive design, and thinking critically about what they see, share, and do online.
Children who understand technology are harder to exploit by it. That's the protection that no parental control can replicate.
The digital literacy gaps Codey is built to close.
Codey makes the invisible mechanics of technology visible, so children understand the systems they live inside.
Susceptibility to algorithmic manipulation
Children who don't understand that recommendation algorithms are designed to maximise their time on platform are far more vulnerable to them. Codey makes the invisible visible.
Never questioning what they see online
Accepting everything at face value, content, claims, even people. Codey builds the critical lens that asks: is this true? Who made this? Why?
No understanding of data and privacy
Children who don't know that apps collect, store, and use their data, or what that means. Codey demystifies the invisible transactions of digital life.
Passive relationship with technology
Technology is something that happens to them, not something they direct. Codey builds the understanding and agency to be active, thinking participants online.
Codey is for your family if...
- Your child never questions what they see or read online
- They don't understand why apps are designed to be hard to put down
- They're easily influenced by online trends, content, or people
- You want them to be digitally fluent, not just digitally safe
- You want a child who understands technology, not just uses it
Recognise any of these?
Believes everything they read onlineNo filter between seeing something and believing it. No instinct to verify, question, or check a source.
Doesn't understand why apps are addictiveNever occurred to them that the app is designed, by hundreds of engineers, to be as engaging as possible.
Easily swayed by online trendsWhatever is trending becomes immediately desirable. Heavy susceptibility to influencer content and online social pressure.
No awareness of data or privacyUses apps freely without any understanding that data is being collected, stored, and used.
Technology feels like magicNo curiosity about how things work, just consumption. Codey turns the black box transparent.
Can't spot misinformationShares content without checking. Can't distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources.
Making the invisible visible.
How-tech-works explainers
Age-appropriate, genuinely fascinating explanations of how algorithms, recommendation systems, and persuasive design actually work, demystifying the technology children live inside.
Build and break activities
Hands-on challenges where children understand technology by taking it apart. How does a recommendation feed work? Why does this app want you to keep scrolling?
Critical thinking challenges
Weekly activities that build the habit of asking: is this true? Who made this? Why? What do they want me to do? The questions that make a child digitally resilient.
Codey badge
Earned when children demonstrate genuine understanding, explaining an algorithm, spotting a persuasive design choice, or successfully verifying a piece of information.
The thinking skills that last.
Algorithmic literacy
Understanding how recommendation systems work, and why that understanding changes how you use them.
Critical thinking
The habit of asking questions about what they see online, who made this, why, and is it true?
Digital resilience
The protection that comes from understanding, harder to manipulate, harder to exploit, harder to mislead.
Digital agency
A child who directs their technology use, rather than being directed by it.
Is Codey the skill your child needs?
Take the free two-minute quiz and find out, or join the havyn Challenge to work through Codey and five more skills as a family.