What do Parents Know?

A lot of people suffer from anxiety at different points in their lives. This can affect teenagers, but it can affect parents as well. I'm joined by Dr Rina Bajaj, counselling psychologist, as she discusses the signs and symptoms of anxiety and depression. We discuss the impact that either can have on an individual and why parents need to be on top of their own mental health before they can su...

Many religious homes function perfectly well. But, what happens when your teenager decides they don't want to be part of the religion or that they don't want to follow the rules you follow? I am joined by Rabbi Alex Goldberg, Dean of Religious Life and Belief the University of Surrey, a world renowned speaker on inter-faith matters, and a former Human Rights barrister, as we discuss the...

OCD is something that is commonly misunderstood, especially amongst teenagers. People that don't understand OCD find it odd and strange that somebody would need to repeat things or do things in a certain way, but those that have OCD know how debilitating it can be. Join me as I talk to Julie Derrick, Founder of Mind Monsters, parent of an OCD teenager and OCD author and expert, about what OCD...

Clare Steedman and Rachael Alder-Byrne, founders and clinical directors at TEDS, join me to discuss eating disorders and the different types that exist. Whilst most people would be familiar with anorexia and bulimia, less would know the signs of Pica and OFSED. We discuss the different eating disorders and what parents can do to understand them better, including the links between eating disorders...

Lisa Vine, an LGBTQ+ advocate and consultant, joins me as we talk about the sensitive issue of coming out and how teenagers in the LGBTQ+ community still have challenges when coming out to their parents. We talk about cultural and societal issues that makes this difficult and how parents can provide a more inclusive and supportive environment for their LGBTQ+ teenager. 

Join me as I talk to Henry Dingle, parent coach and teenage expert, about how parents can build positive relationships with their teenagers based on trust and understanding. We discuss a number of issues such as setting boundaries, providing rewards and consequences and ensuring rules are created by both parent and child. 

Holly Sutcliffe joins me and talks candidly about her own struggles as an undiagnosed autistic teenager. We discuss how and why she saw the world differently and how far we have come, as a society, in recognising autism and understanding it. Holly talks about the signs parents can look out for and what they can do in reaching a diagnosis and supporting their teenager. 

Well known parenting expert, Elizabeth O'Shea joins me to discuss anger management and how parents can deal with teenagers that have anger issues. In the episode, we discuss what anger management means and we go through various techniques that parents can use to manage angry situations, to de-escalate when angry situations do arise and to avoid angry situations in the first place. 

Jude Beveridge and I discuss the issue of anxiety and how so many teenagers are affected by it. We discuss the signs and symptoms of anxiety and what parents can do when they spot these signs. We also go through the issue of body image and how so many teenagers have issues with the way they look, much of it based on social media influencers. 

Join me as I talk to Ben Akers about what being a  dad means to him. He discusses the absence of his own father and how this impacted him as a teenager and also shaped the father he is today. Ben talks openly about mental health and its importance in being a good dad and why men need to do a lot more so their children can have positive childhoods. 

Louise Sullivan shares her views on what the problem child means. We discuss the issues faced by parents and schools when teenagers behave badly and whether this behaviour can be linked to wider issues, such as SEMH. We also discuss the signs of a potential problem child and what parents can do to improve the situation. 

Jeremy Indika talks about his own experience as a victim of sexual abuse as a young child and how his own parents never thought something so horrific could happen in their own. We discuss how it happened and what Jeremy did when he realised it was wrong. We also discuss why so many parents ignore discussions around sex, but how modern access to pornography means that these difficult conversations...

Join me as I talk to Colette Mullings from Beat, the UK's largest eating disorder charity, and anorexia survivor, Dave Chawney. We talk about about how eating disorders can develop in teenagers and the link between eating disorders and mental health. We also discuss the support available from Beat and the signs that parents can look out for that might suggest an eating disorder in their teena...

In the first episode of season 2, Tara Ward joins me as we discuss youth knife crime and violence. Tara talks openly about losing her partner to knife crime and about the work she does now to keep knives out of the hands of young people. We discuss the impact that social media and song lyrics have on young people, where the latter can glorify crime and violence, and we discuss the signs parents ca...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Rachel Williams, founder of Stand Up to Domestic Violence, about her own experience as a survivor of domestic violence and attempted murder. Rachel shares her harrowing account, which also led to her 16 year old son taking his own life, and discusses how she uses her energy today to support victims of domestic abuse. In addition to this, we discuss what a healthy relatio...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Louisa Rose, CEO of Beyond, about some of the dangers of social media use by teenagers. We discuss apps such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok and provide parents with advice and knowledge about how misusing these apps can lead to danger. We also discuss ways in which social media can be used positively by teenagers and how parents can play a crucial role in supporting t...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Duncan Craig OBE, CEO of Survivors Manchester about how his organisation serves to help victims of sexual abuse. Duncan is a survivor himself and he uses his awful experience to support young males who go through the same thing today. We discuss the impact that being sexually abused can have on males and we also deal with the challenges of creating safe spaces for males,...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Malik Rhodius, a case worker in the London Borough of Newham, about county lines and what it all means. Being from one of the most deprived areas in the UK, Malik ran his own county line and sold drugs to earn a lot of money. He now uses his lived experience to keep young people safe from exploitation by drug gangs and to ensure they don't become part of a county li...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Hannah Opie and Priya Naga-Swainson, Community Outreach Workers at Papyrus, the leading charity for young suicide prevention. We discuss the work that Papyrus does to support young people who feel suicidal and we tackle some of the difficult issues, such as looking out for signs that somebody might be suicidal. Suicide is the biggest killer of people under the age of 35...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Dawn Dines, CEO of SOS Global, about drink spiking and how common it is. We discuss why drinks are spiked and what young people can do to avoid it from happening. We also discuss the signs to look out for that a drink may have been spiked and when to report drink spiking to the police. 

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Steven Russell, Director of Elements, about his own difficult experience growing up in the care system and how he dedicates his life to helping young people in the system today. Steven spent his teenage years with various foster families and was labelled a difficult child because of his poor behaviour. What Steven so desperately needed was love and attention and when he...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Byron Highton, founder of the JJ Effect, about knife crime and the impact that the murder of his teenage brother had on him growing up. Byron has his own unique style, which might not be for everybody, but his commitment and passion to see less young people carrying weapons should be commended. Byron and I also discuss the negative influence that social media can have on...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Lynn Gradwell, Director of Children's Services at Barnados, about how young people are recruited into gangs. We discuss county lines and how many young people are unknowingly recruited into gangs to transport drugs and then find themselves too far in to be able to get out. Lynn and I also talk about how parents need to take an interest in their childrens' lives...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Cath Knibbs, academic researcher on Cybertrauma, about exactly what the term means and how people like her support young people dealing with online harm. We discuss exactly what cybertrauma is, how parents can stop it from happening and also how parents should embrace their teenagers' digital life, rather than try to stop it from existing. Cath also shares her exper...

Amit Singh Kalley talks to Lorin LaFave, founder of the Breck Foundation, about online grooming. Lorin shares how her son, Breck, was groomed online and tragically killed by the man that was grooming him. We discuss Breck's story and also go through the signs that parents can look out for that might suggest online grooming is taking place.