VIEWS BBC BITESIZE Reflections on a changing world
With National Careers Week just around the corner, CERYS GRIFFITHS looks at how BBC Bitesize is supporting young people to understand how AI is changing existing roles and creating new ones. She also reveals details of a deepfake mystery for young people to solve.
As I look back on 2025, I think we can all agree it was the year that AI became part of our everyday lives. Our teen survey in the latter part of the year highlighted the concerns of young people with one in three worried about AI’s impact on their careers.
AI is shaping the workplace in a myriad of ways, but it’s also creating new, exciting opportunities. This is something we’ve emphasised in our Bitesize Guide to AI which includes a series of inspiring films featuring young people who are using AI in their workplace and achieving things that weren’t
possible without it. If you’re making plans for National Careers Week, these films may well be useful.
Spanning sectors as diverse as music, fashion and gaming, each film showcases roles where AI has been trained to perform a critical role. A mental health clinician discusses how she uses an AI chatbot to help support people during their treatment journey. The BBC Bitesize team joined biologists to record dolphins off the south coast of England to discover how AI is being used in conservation.
To mark National Careers Week, we’re showcasing the Guide to AI at the Science Museum in London in its free interactive space, Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery, on 3 March. We’re inviting 14-18-year-olds to meet organisations and professionals that are using AI in their jobs. They’ll be able to explore how AI tools are transforming their roles and industries through interactive workshops, demos and informal Q&As.
Deepfakes – a new challenge for young people
Many schools across the country have started the Spring term with a mystery. Solve the Story is a six-part media literacy series that has been designed to equip students with the practical tools to tackle misinformation and disinformation. Each episode invites students to join the main characters as they analyse sources, question assumptions, identify deepfakes, challenge viral claims and spot bias. We’ve also included plenty of ‘How to’ guides, classroom films and downloadable teacher notes covering a different aspect of media literacy.
Solve the Story was developed by our Bitesize Other Side of the Story team. For the past four years, it has offered a wealth of resources including videos, quizzes, articles and even workshops in secondary schools across the country. Bitesize Other Side of the Story aims to help students be more curious about the news and information they see and share online. Students can test their wits with the monthly AI or Real quiz, understand how to spot facts from conspiracies, and get practical advice on everything from wireless headphones to food myths.
Other Side of the Story together with Solve the Story and the Guide to AI are resources that empower young people to embrace the future. Never has it been more important to give them the tools that they need to thrive in a world driven by technological change.
For the Bitesize Guide to AI, please visit:
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesizeguidtoeai
For more information about Solve the Story and Bitesize Other Side of the Story, please visit the Trending section of the BBC Bitesize website:
www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize
LGfL - The National Grid for Learning Helping parents navigate online gaming – advice for schools
MUBINA ASARIA, Safeguarding Consultant at LGfL-The National Grid for Learning shares advice for schools on supporting parents to navigate online gaming and keep their children safe.
The number of online gamers in the UK is expected to rise to 11.56 million in 2027. Some children start playing online games from as young as 3-5 years old, with over three quarters of teenagers aged 13-17 regularly participating in online gaming (Ofcom 2025). But it has a darker side. A recent investigation by ITV News and the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) uncovered multiple examples of extremist content available on the popular gaming platform Roblox. Children as young as seven play on this gaming platform.
Although parental controls and privacy settings are the first line of defence, some parents may be unaware or unsure about how to use them. Demystifying controls and settings and demonstrating how these settings are used, is a useful way to start a wider conversation. If controls have been set, and children are trying to navigate around them and conceal their behaviour, parents automatically lose the opportunity to identify any concerns. The problem here isn’t so much ‘breaking the rules’, but the hidden activity their child may be involved in; it may make them less likely to share concerns about any disturbing content they may have come across, or if they feel unsafe. It’s important parents recognise that visibility and communication equals safety. Many children view anyone they regularly play games with as a ‘friend’ – even if they’ve never met them in real life. Parents need to be aware of this blurred boundary and reinforce with their child that a fellow gamer isn’t the same as a real-world friend.
The games chat feature allows gamers to communicate with other players. 64% of those aged eight to 17 who game online, chat through the game with friends and/or people they know in real life, however, 31% also
16
www.education-today.co.uk communicate with strangers as well.
Over half (54%) of parents were worried by the possibility of their child being bullied by other players; and 12% of children aged eight to 17, said someone had been nasty to them through an online game. Encourage parents to talk with their child about who they are playing with and to check what communication features are available on the games their child is using. A simple rule for children is to only discuss the game itself when using in-game chat features to talk to online friends. If another player asks for personal information, to meet up in person, or for images and videos, it’s important they show these messages to a trusted adult. This kind of contact from others online can be blocked, reported to the game and reported to CEOP.
Gaming together gives parents a firsthand experience of their child’s online environment. It’s a chance to gauge the level of disturbing content, bad language, and the pressure exerted to make in-game purchases for access to upgrades or ‘loot boxes’. These contain in-game currency, new clothing ‘skins’, or characteristics to change the player’s abilities. Games advertised as ‘free’ often make money through these in-game offers. The strongest safeguarding is open conversation rather than strict surveillance. It’s important that parents are proactive and make clear agreements with their child around screen time, spending, and what to do if bullying occurs online. Regular conversations about who they are playing with, what information they are sharing, how long they spend gaming and how money is used online, all help reinforce healthy boundaries. It’s also safer for technology to be used in shared family spaces rather than bedrooms, particularly for younger children.
There’s a wealth of free resources available from LGfL-the National Grid for Learning, for schools, at
https://parentonlinesafety.lgfl.net/, and also for parents, at
https://parentsafe.lgfl.net/.
February 2026
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