It's the time of year when we like to look back at the moments that have made us smile, and where we feel we’ve made a difference. 

We’ve been lucky to work alongside some amazing people and organisations in 2023, as we worked to move closer to our overall mission of improving outcomes for children. 

Here are some numbers that tell our story of 2023...

1.66 million

UK children trained by Be Internet Legends in 2023. 

In partnership with Google, we delivered 63 school events including 33 assemblies with a local MP, 22 virtual assemblies with 10 special messages from MPs.

This included November’s Be Internet Legends Day, which reached over 1,100 schools. Learn more here.

121 

The total number of tools we found across eight online platforms – Google search, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, YouTube Kids and WhatsApp – as part of our April research into the complexity of Online Safety Tools.

It took a total of 7 hours and 18 minutes to activate them all (79 minutes per platform on average). Read it here.

4 

Times Parent Zone was mentioned in parliamentary Online Safety Bill debates in 2023, before it became an Act in November. 

We also submitted five responses to calls for evidence including on Gambling Regulation and Reform. Read our responses here. 

2,405 

Parents who received localised face-to-face media literacy support from the Parent Zone Local service in 2023. 

Training took part in communities across the UK, as we helped families through resources, events and advice. Learn more here. 

22 

Healthy digital habits are promoted through our Everyday Digital Media Literacy programme. These were delivered during monthly broadcasts, explaining how to build positive digital habits into everyday life. Watch them here. 

20 

New visual and spoken assets we developed to help every child talk about their digital lives – regardless of speech, language or communication needs. 

Talk:Tech is part of an initiative to develop accessible media literacy resources for pupils with SEND. Learn more here.

1 

Our Reality Check video series, developed with Meta, was the first time an education resource has launched in the UK at the same time as the new piece of technology it covers. 

Working with youth platform VoiceBox we explored how best to talk about virtual reality as a family. Watch it here.

96 

The percentage of UK young people aged 13-18 who have made an online purchase, as revealed in November’s ‘A problem hiding in plain sight?’ report. 

76% also told us that they think young people their age end up doing something that breaks the law when they go online. See the full report.

27 

The number of countries where our Tech Shock podcast was streamed this year. We released three new series in 2023, unpacking topics such as money muling, AI chatbots, and media literacy. Thank you to all our guests and listeners. Listen here.

9-9 

The final score in our annual office softball game in June. Captains Natasha and Alex were happy to shake on a draw – and get down the pub before it got too competitive.
 

And a final word… 

“Parent Zone has had its busiest year ever in 2023, exploring new and emerging harms like Child Financial Harms and delivering extensive media literacy programmes for parents, children and young people. 

“What connects all of this work is an understanding that family life is messy and complex and we need to continually innovate to make sure that we're there to inject support, information and education to help families benefit from the opportunities of a digital age. 

“Our sister organisation VoiceBox helps us to stay ahead of emerging trends with insights from young people in over 30 countries. As we look forward to 2024, we're excited to see what comes next.” 

 Vicki Shotbolt, CEO and founder of Parent Zone