The fries emoji’s hidden meaning, Massachusetts’ $1.75M online safety push, and why students get their news from YouTube
Key Takeaways
- The french fry emoji is trending among students as a way to tell someone they’re being corny or to wrap it up. The joke took off on TikTok in 2024, but it can read as dismissive to whoever is on the other end.
- Massachusetts announced $1.75 million in grants to help schools teach online safety, cyberbullying, data privacy, and how to spot false information during the 2026-27 school year.
- YouTube is now Americans’ most-used news source at 16.5%, and 59% of U.S. adults get news from social media, according to Syracuse University and Pew Research Center.
The fries emoji is trending, but it carries a put-down most students don’t know they’re sending
A harmless-looking emoji has become Gen Alpha shorthand that can land as a dismissal, even when it’s meant as a joke.
The Gist
If you’ve seen students drop a fries emoji in the comments, they’re not talking about lunch. The French fries emoji, often paired with a peace sign, has become Gen Alpha shorthand for “you’re being corny” or “wrap it up.” It started as a joke, and it usually is one. The catch is that the emoji works by shutting a conversation down, and the person on the other end may read it as hurtful instead of humorous. Students can fire jokes off without much thought, and when that happens, they might not think about how it impacts the recipient. That makes it a timely moment for educators to help students notice the difference between the joke they intend and the message someone else receives.
What to Know
According to Mashable, the fries emoji on its own is a way to call something corny or cringe. Paired with a peace sign, it means “wrap it up,” like waving goodbye after you’ve heard enough. The meaning shifts depending on who’s using it, but it stays close to “okay, stop.”
The joke traces back to the phrase “just put the fries in the bag, bro,” which took off on TikTok in 2024 as a lighthearted way to tell someone they were talking too much, or acting like their take mattered more than it did. It was built on an earlier 2022 meme, “just put the ketchup in my bag, bro.” Over time the whole phrase shrank down to a couple of emoji that only make sense if you’re already in on it. There’s a sharper edge underneath, though. Even as a joke, the emoji’s job is to wave someone off, so it can land like “I don’t care what you have to say,” even when that’s not what the sender means.
For educators, the point is not to police every emoji. Students are fluent in a language that changes weekly, and they often send messages they haven’t fully unpacked. A quick conversation about where a joke comes from, and how it can land, helps students use their words with intention.
TSI’s Take
Gen Alpha’s slang changes by the week, and most of it is harmless fun. Every so often a joke carries something heavier underneath, like a put-down aimed at someone sharing their opinion. This is a chance to help students cyberback each other by thinking about how their words land, not just whether they get a laugh. You can help students close the gap between what they mean and how it comes across by:
- Getting curious instead of correcting: Ask students what the emoji and memes they use really mean, and keep the conversation open.
- Naming the impact behind the joke: Show how the same “wrap it up” can feel playful to one person and dismissive to another.
- Building the habit of a second read: Have students reread a reply and ask how they’d feel getting it before they hit send.
Help students see the difference between what they mean and how it lands with the #WinAtSocial Lesson, The difference between intent and impact, where students explore how the same words can affect people in very different ways.
Massachusetts is putting $1.75 million behind teaching students to protect themselves online
A new $1.75 million grant program will fund classroom lessons on online safety, privacy, cyberbullying, and spotting false information.
The Gist
Massachusetts just put real money behind the idea that students are safer online when schools teach them how to protect themselves. Governor Maura Healey announced $1.75 million in grants to help schools teach online safety, cyberbullying, data privacy, and how to spot false information. When a state spends this kind of money, it’s saying these skills are no longer optional. Students live so much of their lives online, and that’s where a lot of the pressure, bullying, and misinformation they face shows up. Learning to handle it protects their safety, their well-being, and their focus in school.
What to Know
According to GovTech, the new Safe, Healthy and Responsible Digital Life Grant Program will award 25 to 30 grants of up to $60,000 each to public school districts, charter schools, and educational collaboratives. The money funds classroom instruction on online safety, cyberbullying, data privacy, and recognizing false information, including AI-generated content. Programs have to run during the 2026-27 school year, and schools have until November 9 to apply.
The grants are part of a broader $2 million online safety investment in the state budget, which also sets aside $250,000 for instructional videos and materials. It builds on earlier efforts, including $1 million in Cell Phone-Free Schools grants and a law banning AI-generated deepfake pornography of minors. Peabody Superintendent Josh Vadala said his district has seen “first-hand the impact of social media use on the mental health and cyberbullying of adolescents.” The challenges students face online are impacting how they show up in the classroom, which is exactly why this education matters.
For educators, the encouraging part is what the state chose to fund. Instead of relying on restrictions alone, Massachusetts is paying to teach students what to do in the hard moments online, like a rumor spreading in a group chat or a post they can’t tell is real. These are skills students put to use every day, because they’re growing up online, where a careless post can follow them for years and a scam can fool anyone.
TSI’s Take
The funding shows that online safety is becoming a must-teach skill, not an optional one. The schools that get the most from it will have students practice it all year, taught in a way that leaves them feeling capable. When students learn to protect their privacy like they’re famous and spot what’s false, they carry that judgment into every app they open. You can make the most of a moment like this by:
- Weaving modern life skills into everyday learning: Have students practice online safety all year, not in a one-time assembly.
- Empowering, not scaring: Build these lessons around what students can do, so they leave feeling capable.
- Putting students in the lead: Let students help shape the lessons and coach each other up!
Dig into what the grant funds and how schools can put it to work in our breakdown, Massachusetts’ Digital Life Grant.
More Americans turn to YouTube for news than TV. Can students tell fact from feed?
New data from Syracuse University and Pew Research Center shows social media has become where Americans, and students, get their news.
The Gist
Today’s students get their news from YouTube and the creators they already follow, more than from any TV broadcast. Pew Research Center finds that 59% of U.S. adults now get news from social media, and a new report from Syracuse University shows YouTube has become the news source Americans use most, just ahead of TV. This matters more now that AI makes fake images, videos, and posts easy to create and hard to spot. Students are learning about the world from their feeds, where not every creator is a reliable source. Schools can help students navigate misinformation by equipping them to fact-check, spot reliable sources, and stop the spread of false headlines.
What to Know
According to Tubefilter, Syracuse University’s Center for the Creator Economy surveyed 1,001 Americans and found YouTube is now the most-used news source at 16.5%, just ahead of TV news at 16.1%. Overall, 60% of people said they turn to a social media platform first when they want to get informed.
The shift reaches beyond one survey. Pew Research Center found that 59% of U.S. adults get news from social media at least sometimes, and 53% of TikTok’s users say they regularly get news there. Syracuse also found that 61% of people trust independent creators as much as network broadcasters.
Put together, the numbers show students are picking up the news from the creators and accounts they follow, long before they’d turn on a broadcast. That makes it worth helping them look closely at who they follow and which of those sources they can trust.
TSI’s Take
Students already follow a feed full of voices sharing the news. Schools have a chance to help them find their influencers, choose credible sources, and think twice about the news they see in their feed. You can help students by equipping them to:
- Size up the source: Ask who made a video, what they know about the topic, and what they gain from it.
- Fact-check before sharing: Have students confirm a claim with another outlet before they believe it or pass it on.
- Build a feed worth trusting: Help students follow credible voices on purpose, so good information reaches them too.
Help students tell credible news from the rest with the #WinAtSocial Lesson, Misinformation online, where students practice spotting what’s trustworthy and what’s not in their feeds.
#WinAtSocial gives K-12 educators ready-to-teach lessons on the skills in these stories, from weighing intent and impact to protecting privacy and spotting misinformation, built around what students actually see online. Request a demo to see how it works in your school.