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Emily Kowal

Emily Kowal

Emily Kowal is an education reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Almost 80 per cent of Australian children and teenagers surveyed by the eSafety commission said they are using AI chatbots.

The AI chatbots ‘entrapping’ Australian children through sexual content

Almost 80 per cent of Australian children and teens are turning to AI companion bots. The statistic has experts worried.

  • Emily Kowal

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The principal has been called names and threatened.

Aggressive, entitled parents to be banned from school in behaviour crackdown

Principals will be given the power to prevent those who engage in unreasonable or threatening behaviour from coming within 25 metres of school grounds and contacting teachers.

  • Emily Kowal and Sally Rawsthorne
Dani Hacket with son Xavier who was caught in the selective exam chaos last year and Naplan this year.

‘Not good enough’: NAPLAN test failure run by same company as selective school chaos

Xavier Hacket was caught in two meltdowns caused by tech company Janison. His mother says it’s not fair.

  • Emily Kowal
Blakehurst High School captains Ethan Middleton, 17, Lisa Li, 17, Violeta Duvnjak, 16, and Matthew Liang, 16

Revealed: The state’s most improved schools in the 2025 HSC

Results from 2019 to 2025 were used to identify where was the biggest uptick in the proportion of students achieving band 4, 5 and 6 results.

  • Emily Kowal
Alexander Kersten’s year 5 NAPLAN exam was disrupted on Wednesday due to connectivity issues.

‘It was kinda stressful’: Kids forced to restart NAPLAN tests after tech issue

Students were unable to log on to the online platform when the standardised tests kicked off this morning.

  • Emily Kowal
Twelve Jenny’s Kindergarten centres have changed hands in NSW.

Major childcare company exits Sydney centres after repeated breaches

One of Australia’s largest childcare providers has been almost entirely shut down, after 12 of its centres recorded almost 500 confirmed breaches since they first opened.

  • Emily Kowal
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Eating disorders are on the rise in children, experts have warned.

Eight-year-olds taping stomachs flat: Alarm raised over eating disorders in children

Eating disorders are soaring in Australian playgrounds with experts and teachers noting increased prevalence, particularly among younger age groups.

  • Emily Kowal
Barker College students Oliver Porter and Jiaqi Wan with robotics teacher Jeser Mross Becker safely back at the school.

Inside the mission to rescue Sydney students from a war zone

In the dead of night in a Dubai hotel, 14 Barker College students found themselves in the crossfire of a rapidly escalating conflict. This is how they escaped.

  • Emily Kowal
Screen grab showing the restricted landing webpage for Redtube. It is in protest against the new identification rules.

Pornhub’s owner to block Australians over age check laws

The Canadian pornography giant is preparing to block millions of Australians from its websites ahead of new age verification laws taking effect on Monday.

  • David Swan and Emily Kowal
Australians will be unable to access porn, R-rated video games and explicit AI chatbots unless they prove their age, under a landmark crackdown by the eSafety Commissioner.

Adults required to prove age to watch porn, video games in major crackdown

Australians will be unable to access porn, R-rated video games and explicit AI chatbots unless they prove their age, under a landmark crackdown by the eSafety Commissioner.

  • Emily Kowal