A social media ban for under-16s sounds like a welcome relief for parents. But will it actually make our children safer?

In this episode, I'm looking at what Australia's experience can teach us, from teenagers finding surprisingly creative ways around age checks to the unintended consequences of pushing children into less visible corners of the internet.

I'm asking whether we're focusing too much on keeping children off certain apps and not enough on what makes those apps risky in the first place.

And, importantly, I'm sharing four practical ways we can protect our children, whatever the law says.

Highlights:

(01:29) - Why I'm not quite celebrating the social media ban

(04:38) - The strongest argument for a ban, and why it matters

(07:20) - What Australia's teenagers are actually doing online

(10:00) - The hidden costs of the cat-and-mouse game

(15:14) - The worrying gap between what children do and what parents know

(17:29) - Four things we can do that no law can do for us

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We spend so much time talking about preventing things from going wrong online, but eventually something probably will.

Your child might get hurt, hurt someone else, or find themselves somewhere in the messy middle. And when our hearts sink, it’s incredibly easy to react before we’ve understood the whole story.

In this episode, I’m exploring what happens next. We’ll look at listening before judging, asking better questions, accountability without shame, meaningful consequences and why simply confiscating the phone can backfire.

Most importantly, we’ll think about repair, because one difficult moment doesn’t define your child, and moving forwards together can strengthen the relationship rather than break it.

Highlights:

(04:35) - Before you react to the tip of the iceberg, make sure you understand what’s underneath it

(09:02) - Don’t let one screenshot, group chat or mistake become your whole picture of your child

(13:39) - Two little words that can completely change the conversation: “What else?”

(17:49) - Understanding isn’t letting them off the hook, accountability and empathy can coexist

(22:09) - Taking the phone away might feel like a consequence, but what is your child actually learning?

(30:44) - When something goes wrong online, blaming the technology is only part of the story

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Group chats can be brilliant places for friendship, jokes and belonging. But they can also make exclusion painfully visible.

A message left unanswered, a child repeatedly removed from a group, a screenshot shared elsewhere or simply discovering there’s another chat you weren’t invited to can suddenly feel enormous when you’re young.

In this episode, I’m looking at the evidence around group chats, cyberbullying and FOMO, alongside the practical things we can do as parents.

We’ll explore subtle online unkindness, why children find it so difficult to switch off, what bystanders can actually do, and how to decide whether your child is ready to join a group chat in the first place.

Highlights:

(04:46) - The good side of group chats, because they really can help children belong

(09:42) - When “it’s just a joke” becomes exclusion, harassment or bullying

(14:21) - Why an unhappy child might still feel unable to leave the group

(18:47) - Parents’ WhatsApp groups... perhaps we need to look at our own behaviour too

(23:28) - When staying silent in a group chat can feel like agreement

(28:02) - Before you say yes to group chats, rehearse what could go wrong

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