Tech Shock - from Parent Zone

The Tech Shock podcast hits double digits as it returns for its 10th season. As always, Vicki will be joined this season by a whole host of expert guests to talk all things tech, as well as taking a deep dive into new research by Parent Zone. Expect fascinating discussions around AI-generated sexual harassment in schools; ‘good enough’ parenting; violence against women and girls; and some current...

VoiceBox is an organisation that specialises in youth content and consultation – showcasing the talent of young creators globally. They also ensure that the youth perspective is heard through their independent research and work with tech firms, government bodies and other decision-makers. After attending the WeProtect global summit in Abu Dhabi this December, VoiceBox director Natalie Foos joins V...

Digital resilience involves understanding possible risks online, knowing where to get help and having the support to recover when things go wrong, and learning from experiences. But some emerging harms can begin to shift online safety discussions away from digital resilience and more towards bans, regulation and abstinence – particularly when harms are considered to severely affect wellbeing and m...

AI chatbots are becoming increasingly sophisticated in how they interact with users. The insights afforded by AI tools can also be used to streamline workflows and improve efficiency across a range of organisations and their services. With the NHS reporting that one in five children and young people in England had a ‘probable mental disorder’ in 2023, have we reached a point where AI innovations c...

As the online world continues to develop, possible risks and harms do too. Business models can encourage the promotion of harmful content via algorithms, and children’s data is too often viewed as a commodity. Often, legislation is left scrambling to keep up with tech – and even when it’s successfully passed, evidence ‘supporting’ it can be conflicting (or simply lacking). In-between all this, the...

The use of technology to assist with parenting is something that’s becoming a social norm. It's easy to understand why: parents want to know what their children are doing online, where they are when they're out of sight and what digital content they're being exposed to. Knowing your child is safe is the most fundamental of all parenting priorities.  But digital parenting, particular...

Surveillance capitalism – the gathering, analysis and use of personal information to influence people and sell things – arguably requires losses in (or infringements on) privacy to work best.  At the same time, anonymity online can bring its own risks: it may facilitate trolling as well as the spread of mis- and disinformation. User anonymity might also undermine age restrictions on online platfor...

Tech Shock returns for its 9th season and we invite a range of expert guests to explore the tech landscape post-Online Safety Act – as well as emerging trends and possible harms. Our first guest this season is director of Youthworks Adrienne Katz. She joins Vicki to unpack the findings from Youthwork’s Annual Cyber Survey, which, having run since 2008, aims to capture just what it’s like for young...

Just two weeks ago a report from The Education Select Committee recommended that, post-election, the new government consider additional measures around screen time – and smartphone use – for children.  Having previously heard from both parents and young people on the topic of a smartphone ban for under-16s, this Tech Shock special now turns its focus onto some expert viewpoints.  In this episode,...

Part two of this Tech Shock special discusses the possibility – and possible impact – of a smartphone ban for under-16s.  Having previously heard from parents, this week Vicki is joined by Anna Lindsay from youth-content platform VoiceBox to get a measure of what young people themselves think about the issue.  Talking points: Can you build resilience in an ecosystem of bans and prohibitions? Are w...

A minimal digital living standard is a benchmark. It refers to both a level of digital skills and access to tech that can appropriately meet an individual’s basic needs – not just ‘nice-to-haves’. It involves things like communication and connection with others, and the ability to engage with opportunities and digital services adequately and safely.  This week, Vicki is joined by Dr Emma Stone, di...

Just months after the DfE announced guidance on mobile phone use in schools,  the possibility of a smartphone ban for under-16s is being actively discussed. Support for bans like these can, at least initially, be very strong – but also nuanced.  In a slight change of format for Tech Shock, Vicki is joined by a member of the Parent Zone Studio to share and discuss the parent perspective; based on c...

Natalie Foos, director of the youth content platform VoiceBox joins Vicki to provide some young people’s perspectives on the hot (or tricky) topics from Tech Shock's season 8.  Talking points: In a year where half the world could be at the polls, how equipped are young people to avoid disinformation?  As social platforms and online games are increasingly built to engage and retain, how autono...

This week Vicki talks to Emma Higham, product management lead on Google's Search Child's Safety Portfolio about some of the exciting new tools they've been working on. Talking points Every family is different so how do tech companies create safety tools that work for everyone? What is LEO and why is it important? How does search think about people looking for information at vulnerab...

From incels to Andrew Tate, young people are increasingly exposed to debates around gender when online.  This week, Vicki is joined by Rosie Campbell, professor of politics and director of the Global Institute for Women's Leadership at King's College London to discuss the topic of gender in the digital age.  Talking points: What do we really mean when we talk of the ‘gender divide’? How...

This week Vicki is joined by Pete Etchells, professor of Psychology and Science Communication at Bath Spa University to discuss the topic of screen time and some of the debate that surrounds it. Talking points: What is ‘screen time’, and how hard is it to accurately measure?  Why do we tend to look at tech through a harmful lens, and does this stand in the way of digitally flourishing? Do some pol...

 Our 2023 research found that young people aged 13-18 spend over £50m online each week. But this financial autonomy could mean increased exposure to harms like scams, gambling, influencer marketing, and criminal exploitation.  This week Vicki is joined by Maya Daver-Massion and Zixuan Fu, part of the security and online safety team at PUBLIC to shed more light on ‘child financial harms’.  Talking...

Vicki talks to Dr. Katie Davis , Associate Professor at the University of Washington about what happens when technology intersects with child development and why good enough parenting really is good enough.  How are online platforms designed and what sort of design leads to certain behaviours? When does technology support child development and when does it get in the way? What does AI mean for hum...

In 2024, the year of many elections, governments across the world are bracing themselves for an onslaught of disinformation. Vicki and Geraldine talk to Professor Julian McDougall of Bournemouth University about whether media literacy is finally poised to break free of its Cinderella status. Talking points: Why do politicians both sneer at media literacy and grab onto it as the answer to online ha...

Vicki and Geraldine talk to sharenting expert Claire Bessant about the pros and cons of posting about your children online. Talking points: Are parental influencers who post about their children doing anything different from families down the centuries whose children have worked on the family farm? Is there any point in talking about consent when children are being required to consent to their par...

Vicki and Geraldine discuss Parent Zone’s latest research into financial harms to children online. Is this a category of harms that we’ve simply overlooked? And if so, why? We tend to think children aren’t doing much financially online, but how true is this When children get scammed online, why are they often reluctant to tell anyone? Young people told us that many of them were acting illegally on...

Vicki and Geraldine talk to clinical psychologist Elly Hanson about OnlyFans, which has done such a good marketing job that it's been popping up at child protection conferences. But should it be there? What do we really know about the streaming site that combines porn and prostitution? Talking points: Is OnlyFans changing young people’s sexual scripts? What does the psychological research tel...

Vicki and Geraldine talk to Tracey Carpenter of Cifas, the organisation that runs the UK fraud database, about the alarming rise in the numbers of children involved in fraud. Talking points: Why are children susceptible to being recruited as money mules? How does money muling work when children are involved? How should we respond when children are being exploited and at the same time are committin...

Vicki and Geraldine talk to Natalie Foos, director of Voicebox, about the site’s new report on young people forming relationships with AI chatbots. Talking points: Should you feel jealous if your partner falls in love with an AI? Why were the chatbots Voicebox investigated sending unprompted sexually explicit messages? Can AI bots help with loneliness? Or are they commodifying our most personal an...

Vicki and Geraldine talk to Lorna Woods, Professor of Internet Law and a chief begetter of the Online Safety Act about how it started with a brie and cranberry sandwich and where it’s gone from there. Talking points: How far has Lorna’s central idea, developed with Will Perrin of Carnegie, survived the turbulent politics of the last five years? Will the Act deal with addictive design and the cumul...