In this episode Andy and I discuss the recent policy in Australia to ban under sixteens from accessing social media, and the subsequent discussions about having a similar policy in the UK. We talk about why this is being suggested now, and what the potential positives are. We then discuss the fact that this is unlikely to have the intended effect, instead pushing young people's social media underground. We finish by suggesting ways that professionals who support young people can help them navigate the digital world, without resorting to bans.

In this episode I talk to Ken Corish about the use of AI in education, we move the conversation on from whether young people will use AI to 'cheat' in school and consider some of the innovative ways educators can use AI.

Ken mentions South West Grid for Learning's AI policy for schools. You can access it here.

In this episode Andy and I discuss the problems with surveys about young people and the digital world. We give some advice for navigating seemingly scary statistics, and consider how some people use numbers to support claims that don't necessarily reflect the findings.

We discuss a couple of surveys you may be interested in. The Children's Commissioners Office report can be found here.

The EU Kids Online and Global Kids Online surveys can be found here.

Finally, I mentioned a survey in Florida, which can be accessed by clicking here.

In this episode Andy and I discuss the pitfalls of age verification technology. We look at why age verification is flawed, consider whether it will effectively prevent young people accessing pornography and reflect on how relying on prohibitive approaches have failed in the past.

In this episode, Andy and I discuss deepfake nudes, the term used for sexual images or videos that have made me using AI. We talk about the risks to young people and professionals from this technology. We also briefly discuss the (admittedly rare) phenomenon of people having romantic relationships with AI assistants.

We mention a few resources - the first one is the Revenge Porn Helpline, available for any adults who have had intimate images of them non-consensually shared (even if they are AI).

The same support is available for young people, through the Take It Down service.

I also mention Fearless.org, where young people can anonymously report crime.

Andy mentioned an article in the Financial Times, it's available here but you need a subscription to read it.

In this episode Andy and I discuss the concerns that adults and professionals may have around Artifical Intelligence (AI) and social media, especially as it relates to young people.

We think about how some of the problems of AI are actually not all that different to problems we've seen on and offline over the years, and the solution is one which we're very fond of talking about at Headstart: Critical Thinking!

Have a listen and share with anyone who you think might be worried about young people, AI and social media.

In this episode Andy and I talk about issues specific to young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and the digital world.

We mention the SEND guidance, which we created to help all the adults around a child or young person with SEND - you can access it here: https://www.headstartkernow.org.uk/send-digital-resilience-guidance/

We're back for a new series! Today Andy and I talk about how to be tech positive. We reflect about why it's so hard to focus on the good things about the digital world when we talk to young people, and then explore what some of those positives might be, both for young people and ourselves. We finish up with a chat about putting a tech positive approach into action.