Headstart Online Resilience Podcast

In this episode Andy and I continue our series of chatting with people from across the Online Harms world. Today we talk to Georgia Street (no relation), from the Revenge Porn Helpline and the Professionals Online Safety Helpline, both run by South West Grid for Learning. If you want to get in touch with either helplines, their details are below: Revenge Porn Helpline : call 0345 6000 459 or email...

In this episode, Andy and I chat with Ken Corish about Project Evolve . Ken mentions a couple of reports which you might want to check out: Ofcom - Online Nation Report, 2023 Department for Education - Generative AI in Education

In this episode we give our usual brand of straight forward harm reduction advice, this time about gaming. We talk about managing frustration, how worried you should really be about gaming with strangers and whether there's any truth in the idea that staring at a screen will give you square eyes. If you have any questions about the Digital Resilience project, you can contact me or Andy: Louisa...

In this episode we discuss the pervasive belief that your phone is listening to you - we tell exactly why your phone doesn't need to listen to you, and give you some tips if you find yourself constantly telling other people that their phones aren't listening to them!

In this episode we talk about responding to online hate and conspiracy theories using the harm reduction approach. I mention an article in the Conversation which suggests a number of ways to challenge people who believe in conspiracy theories in a supportive way. You can find it here. I also mention an episode of one of my favourite podcasts: Revisionist History, which is highly recommended if you...

In this episode we're giving practical advice on how to use a harm reduction approach when talking to young people about sexting. We discuss talking about sexting in the context of consent, rather than as a stand alone issue, and explain why that matters. We also mention a couple of resources in this episode, the first is a brilliant book called Sexting Panic which makes for really interesting...

In this episode we talk about what the term 'legal but harmful' means in relation to online content, why you might have heard it, and what sort of content it's referring to. We also discuss potential responses to legal but harmful content, and what advice to give parents who are concerned about their children being exposed to this sort of content.

In this episode Andy and I discuss our approach to the risk young people face online, and respond to concerns that we are too risk tolerant. We talk about why this may seem to be the case, the importance of dealing with the issues in front of you (rather than policy issues) and why it's important to be specific about the age of children and young people we're talking about. Andy mentions t...

In this episode Andy and I talk about some interesting approaches to discussing porn with young people, including what is and isn't real about porn - whether it's acting, lighting or body types, and what our experience of talking to young people about porn has been. If you're a teacher, social worker, youth worker or anyone who works with young people, this podcast can help you tackle the subject...

In this episode we discuss the Principles of Harm Reduction, which we've pinched from substance use and applied to digital behaviour. You can find the Principles at harmreduction.org. Building on our previous episode which introduced the idea of Harm Reduction, we're getting into detail about what harm reduction from a digital resilience perspective looks like and how you can ensure you're using a...

This is the final re-record episode, this time looking at Not Harmful Behaviours. We discuss what to do if a young person is sent a nude that they didn't ask for, how to discuss the law around sexting, using filters and creating content. We've deliberately chosen some of the more complicated Not Harmful behaviours from version 2 of the Digital Resilience Tool as hopefully most of them are fairly s...

We've re-recorded our episode on Potentially Harmful Behaviours, partly to replace the not-so-great sound quality of the original, and partly because we've got some new behaviours in version 2 of the Digital Resilience we wanted to explore. In this episode we talk about children knowing passwords to parental devices, or how to bypass parental controls, what the risks of accessing the deep web are...

If you're a long time listener, you'll know that the sound quality has got much better since we recorded the first batch of episodes back in the summer of 2020. Back then, I promised that we'd re-record the worst of them - well I'm pleased to say we've finally done it! Here is the first, and better than just a simple re-record, we've actually taken the opportunity to discuss some of the new behavi...

In this episode Andy and I discuss how you can curate your social media feed, and how you can support young people to do theirs. Whether you're a teacher, youth worker or family support worker, this information can help you teach young people to manage what they see on social media. We don't focus on any specific platforms, but do give advice relevant to Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, whilst also...

In this episode Andy and I discuss teaching resources available to help you deliver lessons about risks and issues young people face online - in particular those made by Project Evolve (which can be accessed at projectevolve.co.uk). We look at common myths professionals might inadvertently be passing on, such as suggesting that gaming causes young people to be violent or that looking at a screen a...

In this episode we talk about what the Metaverse is, and what the risks to young people who access it (or any form of virtual reality are). We discuss a recent BBC article which suggested the Metaverse is incredibly high risk for young people, and what professionals can do if they are concerned about those risks, for example what measures can be taken to supervise children and young people who are...

In this episode we talk about how to take a harm reduction approach to young people's online behaviour, and why this is better than an 'online safety' message. When we talk about 'Online Safety' we often aim to prevent or prohibit young people from accessing certain parts of the online world, and whilst we may have the best possible reasons for wanting to do this, it means that if young people dec...

In perfect time for Anti-Bullying week, Andy and I discuss what constitutes bullying in an online context and why we don't use the term Cyberbullying. We also talk about what professionals (youth workers, teachers, social workers and the like) can do if they are aware that a young person is being bullied through digital technology. We talk about the potential problems that professionals might face...

In this episode we talk all things Youtube - we'll be considering the benefits of Youtube, considering how young people use Youtube and how that might be different from our experiences of media, but that doesn't necessarily mean harmful. We'll then go on to talk about using parental controls, how they work and what the potential pitfalls of relying too heavily on them can be.  We also discuss how...

What will the Online Safety Bill mean for professionals? Should you do anything differently? In this episode we discuss what the Online Safety Bill actually means for teachers, youth workers, social workers or anyone else working with young people. We'll talk about the potential issues with the bill and what you should do in the meantime. To see a transcript of this episode go to https://docs.goog...

Have you heard politicians saying they're going to make the internet safe for our children and wondered what that means? In this episode Andy and I talk about the Online Safety Bill, what it aims to do, what it might actually do well, and what it definitely won't be able to do. This episode will give you a run down of everything you need to know about the Online Safety Bill if you work with or sup...

What can you do if you see something racist or homophobic online? What if a young person says they've seen something offensive or upsetting online?  In this podcast we talk about the issues around hate speech online, whether reporting actually works and what follow up support you might need to offer. Andy mentions 'Incels' this refers to people who consider themselves 'Involuntarily Celibate', it...

Do you know what your digital footprint is? Or how you can manage it? Could your digital footprint affect your ability to get a job? Is everything you've ever put online still out there somewhere? To help you navigate some of these questions, in this episode we discuss digital footprints, what problems it can cause and how you can manage those problems.  This isn't just an issue for young people,...

Talking to young people is our bread and butter, right? In reality a lot of professionals have told us they struggle to start conversations with young people about their online lives, and that even if they do, the young people in question are often very cagey and unwilling to talk openly about what they enjoy doing online, let alone things they might be worried about.  In this episode we discuss a...

In this episode Andy and I discuss Only Fans, a porn site. As such there is a frank discussion of pornography. I mention a sex worker friendly, pay-what-you-can, counselling service, it can be found here: pineapplesupport.org/pineapple-support-therapists/ We also talk about the Professionals Online Safety Helpline, which can be accessed here: www.saferinternet.org.uk/helpline/professionals-online-...