SFC-SA | What our children face online, and how we keep them safe

In this episode of Voices of Change, host Heidi Giokos speaks with Claire Thompson, founder of Smartphone Free Childhood South Africa, about one of the most urgent and least understood challenges facing families today: online harm. Drawing from her work with thousands of parents and educators, Claire explains how smartphones and social media have opened the door to unprecedented risks for children; cyberbullying, predators, exposure to explicit content, dopamine-driven addiction, declining mental health, and the ongoing erosion of childhood itself. She unpacks why these dangers are not abstract or distant, but happening every day in homes and classrooms across South Africa. Heidi and Claire explore what children really experience online, why parents feel overwhelmed or outpaced by technology, and how intentional boundaries can transform digital habits into healthier ones. They also discuss the broader social responsibility we all carry; schools, communities, platforms and policymakers; to protect young people in an online world never designed with their safety in mind. This episode is a compassionate, essential guide for anyone raising or teaching children in 2025. Watch all Voices of Change episodes here: https://www.enca.com/voices-change-podcast