Dr. Pamela Wisniewski was recently featured in an interview with Allowed Online, where she discussed what research tells us about keeping young people safe online while protecting their privacy, autonomy, and trust.
Drawing on 15 years of research with teens and families, Wisniewski challenges surveillance-first approaches to online safety. She argues that many parental-control technologies emphasize restriction rather than helping young people develop the skills to regulate their own technology use and cope with online risks. The conversation explores parental controls, smartphone use, age-gating, and a more gradual “scaffolding approach” to digital parenting. At the center of Wisniewski’s perspective is a simple principle: safety is not the absence of risk—it is helping young people learn how to navigate risk and protect themselves. The interview also emphasizes moving away from a “parents versus kids” dynamic toward families navigating technology together, with trust, communication, and young people’s agency at the center.
Watch or read the full conversation with Allowed Online: Safety Isn’t the Absence of Risk