Ep. 18: Understanding what's happening online and trusting your teen anyway - with digital parenting expert Elizabeth Milovidov

As our kids move towards the teenage years it can be difficult for parents to adjust . Starting secondary school [https://actuallymummy.co.uk/thoughts-secondary-school-parent/] is a huge deal for parents as well as kids, and in addition to the physical independence they're going to need from you, it's also likely that they're going to start accessing areas of the online world that you might feel more than a bit twitchy about. Elizabeth Milovidov is the founder of DigitalParentingCoach.com [https://www.digitalparentingcoach.com/], a site dedicated to empowering parents to understand what their kids are doing online, so we can trust them to start doing it without constant supervision [https://actuallymummy.co.uk/thorpe-park-right-age-kids-theme-park-alone/] from us. Elizabeth also provides support to governments, companies, schools, and parenting associations on digital parenting, and children and the internet [https://actuallymummy.co.uk/teen-text-speak-parents-guide/]. She's a Board Trustee for the Diana Award, and an Advisor to e-Enfance, (the French Child Online Protection Association). She's also a mum - her boys are aged 10 and 13 so she GETS IT! Talking points: Listen to the podcast to find out * Why you don't have to be a parental control guru to keep your kids safe online * How (and why) to let them have some privacy with their online conversations (I was a snooper 🙈 * Why Snapchat really don't want kids under 13 using their app (it might surprise you) * How to trust your teenager to know when something isn't right, and come to you with it * What are some of the signs that they're in over their heads * How to prompt conversations about their online interactions without interrogation * What a gaming addiction looks like, and why your child probably isn't addicted - although if you need it, here's 75 ideas to get teenagers off their screens [https://actuallymummy.co.uk/activities-for-teenagers-during-lockdown/] for a while! * How to understand what is happening online, (Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram: pornography, drugs, sexting) and realising that your teen will be okay anyway Great resources for parenting teens online: * The Mix [https://www.themix.org.uk/] * Actually Mummy [https://www.actuallymummy.co.uk/] (my blog, where you'll find lots more articles on parenting teens [https://actuallymummy.co.uk/why-teenagers-need-you-more-not-less/]) You can also find Elizabeth on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/digiparentcoach/], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/user/emilovidov1], LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethmilovidov/], and Twitter [https://twitter.com/DigiParentCoach]. The risk assessment site Elizabeth mentions is https://www.wirelessriskassessment.org/ More teenage parenting tips: There are lots more episodes of the Teenage Kicks podcast – do have a browse and see if I've covered anything else you might find useful. And if you have a suggestion of something you'd like to see talked about on the podcast please do email me on [email protected] I have loads more fabulous guests coming up to help families navigate some of the most complicated – but wonderful – teenage parenting years. I've also got some posts on the blog that might help parents with other teenage parenting dilemmas, so do pop over to