00:00:00
Speaker 1: This is Kiss Breakfast.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: Hey, there's new research going around. This stuff's really scary, especially for you and parents listening. Two-thirds of kids aged 10 to 17, they've got messages online that could be classified as grooming.
00:00:15
Speaker 3: Grooming, yeah.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: And they reckon a lot's coming through like online games, social media. On to talk about and explain is Susan McLean. cyber safety expert. Hello, Susan.
00:00:26
Speaker 1: Hey, Susan.
00:00:27
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.
00:00:28
Speaker 1: So good to have you on. I'm a mum of three.
00:00:31
Speaker 3: I've got, you know, girl, boy, boy, 10, 8 and 7. And I just, I have so many concerns around this kind of stuff. What platforms is this happening on most? Like, obviously, I remember back in the day, my boys, all the kids in the street, they all played on Roblox.
00:00:48
Speaker 1: Is that one of the platforms where this is happening?
00:00:50
Speaker 3: It is.
00:00:51
Speaker 4: So what parents must understand is that any platform that allows two people to communicate will have predators on it. So that's the first thing. And then you go by volume. If a platform is very, very, very popular with kids, it will be very, very, very popular with predators. And of course, Roblox is one of those.
00:01:11
Speaker 3: What would you be looking out for if you were a parent who was with kids on Roblox? What kind of messages can you look out for?
00:01:17
Speaker 4: So what we want parents to do is be an active participant in their child's life online and offline. Don't really, for younger children, give them unsupervised access to the internet. And make sure that they are only talking to people they know. Now that's not a guarantee, of course. Yeah. But we know most online child sex offenders are not known to their victim in real life. Yeah. So make sure it's someone that is known to them, not, you know, the friend of the friend of the friend of the friend.
00:01:43
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:44
Speaker 4: Then regularly check the messages because what we know is that an adult will often pick up something that's a bit weird, a bit over-familiar, a bit slimy way before a child will.
00:01:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course.
00:01:58
Speaker 2: Right, so go through the messages, make sure you're checking. I mean, what about the social media ban? Do you think that's been a good thing? Is it working and is that going to keep kids safer?
00:02:11
Speaker 4: No, the short answer is no. It was flawed. start, it's like a sieve with holes that the government is trying to retrospectively fix. The internet needs to be made safer. The kids are still there. I think there's only a 3% decrease in children using technology since the ban came in on December. We've seen, I think, a 50% uptick in teens using Reddit, which is another very concerning platform. We're just shifting the problem elsewhere. And the kids are clever. And it's not even consciously trying to get around the bans. plenty of them are passing the age assurance technology because they're passing it. And plenty of kids, their parents are putting their face on or an older sibling. So to me, it often gives parents a false sense of security.
00:02:57
Speaker 1: Oh, there's a ban.
00:02:58
Speaker 4: My kid will be safe. No, no, no. That's not how it's working at all. It's pushing kids into less safe spaces. Yeah.
00:03:04
Speaker 3: And as a parent myself, I remember like you give your kid the iPad and it's a reprieve from parenting, right? And it's, It's easy to fall into that trap of, oh, I need a break or I need to reply to these emails.
00:03:17
Speaker 1: So I'll just give my kid the iPad.
00:03:19
Speaker 3: And it actually does require the parents to step up more in order to be able to protect our kids a lot more. I've got friends who would prefer their kids to be inside on iPads as opposed to being out playing, riding their bikes in the street.
00:03:33
Speaker 1: I'm the opposite. Yeah, go the bikes. I would rather my kids be out, you know, falling off.
00:03:37
Speaker 3: Their bikes, getting their scraped knees because I feel like the internet is far more terrifying.
00:03:42
Speaker 2: Okay, so is your main message for parents to be aware of all of the apps, be aware of everything and just monitor and watch?
00:03:51
Speaker 1: Is that the best thing? You've got to be on top of it.
00:03:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, the best protective factor for a child is an involved parent. Now, you can have technical solutions. I want rules and boundaries. I want a parent involved. You may need to go down the path of third-party products to help you do this. It's not one, it's not right or wrong because what is right for your family might be very wrong for another family. So it's not specific, it's very individual, but you have to do something and you have to understand that bad people exist in the world even if you've never come across them. Because that's the other thing I see is a parent might use a particular platform and not have any negative experiences themselves as an adult. But what that young person is going to experience. is vastly different. So educate yourself and be there with your children. Keep the lines of communication open.
00:04:40
Speaker 2: Be involved. Go through their messages.
00:04:43
Speaker 1: Charlie's not allowed her iPad in her room.
00:04:45
Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, no.
00:04:47
Speaker 4: Never, never, never. Devices are never in bedrooms and bathrooms. That is rule number one. And reading their messages and checking up on them is not invading their privacy.
00:04:57
Speaker 2: That is Wouldn't it be easier to move to a tropical island with no technology and raise your kids there?
00:05:03
Speaker 3: It would, it would.
00:05:05
Speaker 4: Fiji's looking good.
00:05:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, Fiji's looking good.
00:05:07
Speaker 2: All right, Susan McLean, our cyber safety expert.
00:05:10
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
00:05:11
Speaker 2: Really interesting stuff.
00:05:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks so much, Susan.
00:05:13
Speaker 4: Thanks for the chat, guys.
Speaker 1: This is Kiss Breakfast.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: Hey, there's new research going around. This stuff's really scary, especially for you and parents listening. Two-thirds of kids aged 10 to 17, they've got messages online that could be classified as grooming.
00:00:15
Speaker 3: Grooming, yeah.
00:00:16
Speaker 2: And they reckon a lot's coming through like online games, social media. On to talk about and explain is Susan McLean. cyber safety expert. Hello, Susan.
00:00:26
Speaker 1: Hey, Susan.
00:00:27
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me.
00:00:28
Speaker 1: So good to have you on. I'm a mum of three.
00:00:31
Speaker 3: I've got, you know, girl, boy, boy, 10, 8 and 7. And I just, I have so many concerns around this kind of stuff. What platforms is this happening on most? Like, obviously, I remember back in the day, my boys, all the kids in the street, they all played on Roblox.
00:00:48
Speaker 1: Is that one of the platforms where this is happening?
00:00:50
Speaker 3: It is.
00:00:51
Speaker 4: So what parents must understand is that any platform that allows two people to communicate will have predators on it. So that's the first thing. And then you go by volume. If a platform is very, very, very popular with kids, it will be very, very, very popular with predators. And of course, Roblox is one of those.
00:01:11
Speaker 3: What would you be looking out for if you were a parent who was with kids on Roblox? What kind of messages can you look out for?
00:01:17
Speaker 4: So what we want parents to do is be an active participant in their child's life online and offline. Don't really, for younger children, give them unsupervised access to the internet. And make sure that they are only talking to people they know. Now that's not a guarantee, of course. Yeah. But we know most online child sex offenders are not known to their victim in real life. Yeah. So make sure it's someone that is known to them, not, you know, the friend of the friend of the friend of the friend.
00:01:43
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:01:44
Speaker 4: Then regularly check the messages because what we know is that an adult will often pick up something that's a bit weird, a bit over-familiar, a bit slimy way before a child will.
00:01:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, of course.
00:01:58
Speaker 2: Right, so go through the messages, make sure you're checking. I mean, what about the social media ban? Do you think that's been a good thing? Is it working and is that going to keep kids safer?
00:02:11
Speaker 4: No, the short answer is no. It was flawed. start, it's like a sieve with holes that the government is trying to retrospectively fix. The internet needs to be made safer. The kids are still there. I think there's only a 3% decrease in children using technology since the ban came in on December. We've seen, I think, a 50% uptick in teens using Reddit, which is another very concerning platform. We're just shifting the problem elsewhere. And the kids are clever. And it's not even consciously trying to get around the bans. plenty of them are passing the age assurance technology because they're passing it. And plenty of kids, their parents are putting their face on or an older sibling. So to me, it often gives parents a false sense of security.
00:02:57
Speaker 1: Oh, there's a ban.
00:02:58
Speaker 4: My kid will be safe. No, no, no. That's not how it's working at all. It's pushing kids into less safe spaces. Yeah.
00:03:04
Speaker 3: And as a parent myself, I remember like you give your kid the iPad and it's a reprieve from parenting, right? And it's, It's easy to fall into that trap of, oh, I need a break or I need to reply to these emails.
00:03:17
Speaker 1: So I'll just give my kid the iPad.
00:03:19
Speaker 3: And it actually does require the parents to step up more in order to be able to protect our kids a lot more. I've got friends who would prefer their kids to be inside on iPads as opposed to being out playing, riding their bikes in the street.
00:03:33
Speaker 1: I'm the opposite. Yeah, go the bikes. I would rather my kids be out, you know, falling off.
00:03:37
Speaker 3: Their bikes, getting their scraped knees because I feel like the internet is far more terrifying.
00:03:42
Speaker 2: Okay, so is your main message for parents to be aware of all of the apps, be aware of everything and just monitor and watch?
00:03:51
Speaker 1: Is that the best thing? You've got to be on top of it.
00:03:53
Speaker 4: Yeah, the best protective factor for a child is an involved parent. Now, you can have technical solutions. I want rules and boundaries. I want a parent involved. You may need to go down the path of third-party products to help you do this. It's not one, it's not right or wrong because what is right for your family might be very wrong for another family. So it's not specific, it's very individual, but you have to do something and you have to understand that bad people exist in the world even if you've never come across them. Because that's the other thing I see is a parent might use a particular platform and not have any negative experiences themselves as an adult. But what that young person is going to experience. is vastly different. So educate yourself and be there with your children. Keep the lines of communication open.
00:04:40
Speaker 2: Be involved. Go through their messages.
00:04:43
Speaker 1: Charlie's not allowed her iPad in her room.
00:04:45
Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, no.
00:04:47
Speaker 4: Never, never, never. Devices are never in bedrooms and bathrooms. That is rule number one. And reading their messages and checking up on them is not invading their privacy.
00:04:57
Speaker 2: That is Wouldn't it be easier to move to a tropical island with no technology and raise your kids there?
00:05:03
Speaker 3: It would, it would.
00:05:05
Speaker 4: Fiji's looking good.
00:05:06
Speaker 1: Yeah, Fiji's looking good.
00:05:07
Speaker 2: All right, Susan McLean, our cyber safety expert.
00:05:10
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
00:05:11
Speaker 2: Really interesting stuff.
00:05:12
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks so much, Susan.
00:05:13
Speaker 4: Thanks for the chat, guys.
