Dr. Martha Deiros Collado - Online Safety Expert

**Josh Widdicombe** (0:00)
This episode is brought to you entirely by Tesco Mobile.

**Rob Beckett** (0:03)
Today, Josh, we're going to be talking a lot about kids' online lives.

**Josh Widdicombe** (0:08)
Important topic.

**Rob Beckett** (0:08)
Very important topic. And nobody knows more about it and how confusing it can be than Tesco Mobile do.

**Josh Widdicombe** (0:14)
Too right, Rob. So this episode is for you if you don't know what lapping is, if you don't know what chopped is, if you don't know what other examples that I can't come up with because I don't have those in my head, because I don't know what they are.

**Rob Beckett** (0:27)
Because this is the start of the episodes. We need the expert to help us.

**Josh Widdicombe** (0:31)
Rob, if any of that applies to you, visit the Tesco Mobile Online Safety Hub for tips on how you can have a chat about their online lives.

**Rob Beckett** (0:39)
And in the meantime, stay tuned to find out more about what you can do today. So today, Josh, we are speaking to an expert about online safety for kids. Still gonna be a fun, funny Parenting Hell episode. However, we're gonna get some actual facts, science, and details and advice on how to guide kids through the online world. Because, look, we love messing about, but it is actually something that I want more info on.

**Josh Widdicombe** (1:07)
This is the most worthwhile episode we've ever done. And this is the start of we're gonna do more expert episodes, because we want to look at these topics, but in a funny way.

**Rob Beckett** (1:16)
So we're an expert.

**Josh Widdicombe** (1:17)
Yeah. What we're gonna do, we're gonna provide take home, and we're gonna provide chuckles. Something for the brain, something for the old ribs.

**Rob Beckett** (1:25)
Perfect. I think we need to get the expert on quite soon.

**Josh Widdicombe** (1:28)
Okay.

**Rob Beckett** (1:31)
Welcome to the show, Dr. Marta.

**Martha Deiros Collado** (1:33)
Hi, thanks for having me.

**Rob Beckett** (1:34)
Actual doctor as well.

**Martha Deiros Collado** (1:35)
Yes, clinical psychology doctor.

**Rob Beckett** (1:37)
Not like Dr. Fox.

**Martha Deiros Collado** (1:38)
No.

**Rob Beckett** (1:38)
Official. We've like, you've sort of slid into a bit more of the sort of technological stuff, because with babies, it is a little bit primal, really, crying, tantrums, food.

**Martha Deiros Collado** (1:47)
Yes.

**Rob Beckett** (1:48)
But then they get to an age, even from like four or five, and if they're on, everything's connected to the internet now, and like, if you give a kid an iPad, when I was a kid, you got a Game Boy, and maybe you're on a screen, but you are just playing Tetris. I loved a Game Boy. And it's contained, you know, we all loved it, but now these, like, I don't really understand how my iPad works for me as an adult, but my kids have got them, and so they're just like access in the world.
I think for most parents, it feels like an absolute wild west. It's almost too big to even get their heads round.

**Josh Widdicombe** (2:20)
Plus, it's an easy out as well.
Everyone else has got them, you know. So there's this kind of momentum you get caught up in from peers. I'd say it is the one biggest concern of our generation of parents is online safety through to social media, but tablets, phones, computers, all those kind of things.

**Martha Deiros Collado** (2:44)
I think it's the biggest challenge of our parenting generation, 100%.

**Josh Widdicombe** (2:46)
Totally, because when we were kids, it was just don't watch enough, too much TV. Yeah, have you discovered stuff through being a parent yourself, or have you kind of come to it from a research perspective?

**Martha Deiros Collado** (2:58)
I mean, I think both and. I think before I became a mum, I had some views about it, about screens, about the online world more than just screens. I think not all screens are created equal. Like you just mentioned Gameboys.
You can do good gaming without it being online and without the risks associated with the online world. You know, Switch, the Switch exists and it's a great game, you know, and my daughter plays it. But also I think I like games, like I like videos, I like films, I'm a big film person.

**Josh Widdicombe** (3:30)
You got things like, and correct me if I'm wrong, but like games are really good for problem-solving, for hand-eye coordination, for puzzling.

**Rob Beckett** (3:41)
I'm working in a team, because my daughter plays on iPad with on certain games, sometimes Roblox, sometimes Minecraft, but they are actually playing in a way that they would have with like Monopoly or, you know, so it's still, they sit around playing a game to, or dolls or, you know, little figures and stuff like that. So it's social, and so rather than being locked away just on a game on their own, it's very different, different vibe, but.