The Tech Shock Podcast - Aiman El Asam
10 Jan, 2023
2 minute read

The Tech Shock Podcast - Aiman El Asam

This week, Vicki and Geraldine are in discussion with Aiman El Asam, forensic psychology lecturer at Kingston University and researcher into the relationship between children’s vulnerabilities and online harms.

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Aiman begins by stressing that within the category ‘vulnerable children’ there are multiple subgroups, each with their own unique vulnerabilities and needs. Aiman explains that it’s possible to predict a susceptibility to particular types of online risk based on which subgroup a child belongs to.

For example, because special educational needs (SEND) children can be more prone to seek validation from others, they can encounter more relationship-based risks online, including contact with strangers and coercion into behaviours like nude image sharing. 

Aiman reveals that many practitioners working with children – individuals who Geraldine assumes to be “hyperalert” – are inadequately trained when it comes to recognising and responding to the sheer breadth of these potential risks. For Aiman, it’s not just a training issue – it’s also tied to outdated modes of wellbeing-assessment, with some measurement tools being over 30 years old.

The group closes by considering what the “roadmap forward” might be when it comes to child safety. Should focus be on the vulnerabilities themselves, children’s mental health, trusting children and offering them validation – or on improving resilience: the coping strategies and knowledge to navigate the online world safely?

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Next week Vicki and Geraldine are joined by Ofcom executives Anna-Sophie Harling and Caroline Cason. They’ll be talking about the regulation of online spaces, and asking what the controversial topic of ‘legal but harmful’ content means for the protection of children.

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