Tech Shock - from Parent Zone
Tech Shock: Everything you always wanted to know about tech and family life.Podcasting from Parent Zone,the media literacy experts, host Vicki Shotbolt explores the upsides and downsides of family life in the digital age. With a range of expert guests she looks at online harms to children ranging from pornography to gambling and at what should be done about them. Incurably optimistic, Vicki also celebrate the many benefits of tech for children and young people, as she considers how best to live in a world in which family life is now inescapably digital.Listen every Monday, subscribe, and give us a five star review.
- Update frequency
- every 8 days
- Average duration
- 40 minutes
- Episodes
- 124
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Smartphone bans for under-16s: the parent perspective
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 i…
7. Season roundup, with VoiceBox
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 yea…
6. The secrets of search
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 di…
5. Young people and the emerging gender divide
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 …
4. The debate surrounding screen time, with Pete Etchells
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.
Talki…
3. The ‘wicked problem’ of child financial harms
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, …
2. Katie Davis
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 …
1. Has media literacy’s time finally come?
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 Univ…
7. Sharenting
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 …
6. A problem hiding in plain sight?
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 a…
5. The respectable face of the porn industry?
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 ther…
4. Money muling
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 ch…
3. Romancing the bot
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 partn…
2. The woman behind the Online Safety Act
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…
1. New technologies, new worries?
In the first episode of a new series, Vicki and Geraldine take a look at the issues that will be looming large in tech for families over the coming months. We cover the metaverse - or, as Vicki prefe…
6. Sarah Drummond
Vicki and Geraldine talk to the film maker and designer about how a design pattern library could bake in digital resilience to online products.
Talking points:
- What is 'digital resilience' and is it a …
5. Damian Collins
Vicki and Geraldine talk to the MP who has been a driving force through all the stages of the Online Safety Bill.
Talking points:
- Given that the Online Safety Bill has had cross-party support, why has …
4. What exactly is media literacy?
Vicki and Geraldine discuss why media literacy is having a moment. When Parent Zone asked teachers to define media literacy, many couldn’t do so. What do we mean by media literacy - and what does it …
3. Jonathan Baggaley
Vicki and Geraldine talk to the Chief Executive of the PSHE Association about the current backlash against relationships and sex education. Has RSE fallen victim to the culture wars? Will the governm…
2. Nick Poole
Vicki and Geraldine talk to the Chair of Wikimedia UK and Chief Executive of the Institute of Librarians and Information Professionals, Cilip, about media literacy, librarians, and libraries in an ag…