After Dinner Speakers
Lecturer | Researcher | Keynote Speaker
For parents and community groups. Sorcha explains why children become emotionally invested in apps and how families can talk about it without conflict.
Bedtime vs Screen-Time: What Every Parent of a Pre-Teen Needs to Know
For parents. Drawing on her research into sleep and social media, Sorcha sets out what late-night screen use does to pre-teens and which household rules help.
From Emojis to Emotions: Building a Social-Media Literacy Curriculum for KS3
For schools and wellbeing staff. A practical look at teaching social-media literacy to Key Stage 3 pupils, with ideas teachers can adapt to their own classrooms.
Screens After Sunset: Why Night-Time Social Media Is a Hidden Learning Gap
For schools. Sorcha shows how night-time social media use affects sleep and next-day learning, and what schools can do with families to close the gap.
Designing for Digital Childhood: How Feature Choices Shape Pre-Teen Anxiety & Sleep
For tech firms and product teams. Sorcha explains how specific product features affect anxiety and sleep in pre-teens, and what child-aware design looks like in practice.
The Next Safeguarding Frontier: Building Emotion-Aware Social Media Policies
For policymakers and safety teams. A research-based case for social media policies that account for children's emotional engagement as well as the content they see.
Silent Notifications: The Hidden Night-Time Cost of ‘Always-On’
For mixed audiences. Sorcha looks at what always-on notifications cost us at night, for children and adults alike.
Growing Up With the Scroll: Insights from 3,000 Pre-Teens on Life Online
For mixed audiences. Sorcha shares what 3,000 pre-teens reveal about their life online and what parents, schools and policymakers can learn from it.
Children’s mental health in the digital age
Psychology lecturer and PhD researcher Sorcha Newby explains how platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat affect pre-adolescents. She gives parents and educators a clear, research-based picture.
The hidden psychological toll of screen time and social media on sleep and anxiety levels.
Drawing on her research, Sorcha shows how late-night scrolling and emotional engagement with apps shape sleep quality and anxiety. The talk separates evidence from assumption.
How to cultivate healthier tech habits in schools, workplaces, and families
A practical session on healthier tech habits for schools, workplaces and families. Sorcha brings her research and her experience as a mother of two to suggestions people can start using the same week.
