Joe Swash on how the tech world his kids are growing up in is ‘alien’ to him

Like most parents, Joe Swash wants to give his teenage kids the best advice about their futures. But he admits it’s the world of tech they’re growing up in is “alien” to him.

The father-of-six has a 19-year-old son, Harry, from a previous relationship and is stepfather to his wife’s – TV personality and singer Stacey Solomon – two boys, Zachary, 18, and Leighton, 14, as well as having three younger children with Solomon. He says: “The older ones are at the age where they really want to work out what they want to do when they’re older.

“When I was a kid you either became a cab driver or you joined the fire brigade or the Royal Mail. Whereas in this day and age, it’s all about technology, computers, AI, and I have no idea about the modern-day workplace. Things have changed so much that a lot of parents need as much support as possible.”

The TV presenter, 44, says he spends a lot of time with his children, and admits that even their homework has him baffled.

“The homework they bring home is completely different to the homework I was doing when I was a kid,” he says. “Sometimes they ask me to help them with homework, and it’s got computer lingo and it’s a completely different language.

“So a lot of times I’m ear-dropping in on the kids and listening to the conversations, and even the way they talk to each other, their lingo, is completely different to when I was a kid. So I feel like a lot of the time I’m hanging on the coat tails of my kids, trying to keep up with things, and it really shouldn’t be that way.

“As a parent, you’ve got to be as educated as possible about the questions you’re going to be asked.”

As part of his quest to help his children truly understand their options in the modern tech world, Swash has teamed up with Samsung to launch the annual Solve for Tomorrow competition for 11-18-year-olds, in which they can explore a career in tech through challenges to solve real-world problems.

“It’s a great way of educating yourself as a parent, but also letting the kids explore it and do it themselves,” says Swash.

“When I was a kid, I used a pager. So technology’s moved so fast that I’m almost useless to the kids. So for me as a parent it’s a great way of taking some of the burden off my ignorance when it comes to technology.”

And Swash isn’t alone in feeling baffled when it comes to advising his children on tech careers and qualifications – new research by Samsung has found seven in 10  UK parents admit to feeling overwhelmed or out of their depth when advising their teenagers on future careers.

In addition, more than a third (35%) report feeling they can no longer help their children navigate job markets, and 40% admit they lack confidence when giving up-to-date career advice. And, not surprisingly, 63%  believe their teen already understands modern technology and future job roles better than they do.

Swash says: “So my kids all want to know about what AI is and jobs in AI and technology, and they want to be involved in social media and all of this stuff that I’ve got no idea about – I don’t even know how AI works. It’s completely alien to me, and I wouldn’t know how to explain it.

“The most complex technology I use is WhatsApp – that’s as far as my knowledge goes. The world is changing and jobs are completely changing from when I was a kid, but I really do want my kids to keep up with the pace and have the best opportunities and  most knowledge about technology and future work they can possibly have.”

The proud dad, whose latest series of his family reality TV show Stacey & Joe: In Too Deep launches on BBC One on November 10, says one of his and Solomon’s older boys is at college, one is doing an apprenticeship, and one is doing GCSEs.

Their other children – Rex, seven, Rose, five, and Belle, three, are at school and nursery.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there are currently 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK who are NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training), and Swash believes that with the job market being so tough for young people, it’s vital for them to understand the latest tech job opportunities that may be available.

“Even when I was a kid it was tough to get a job,” he points out. “Finding something you’re really passionate about is a tricky thing to navigate, and I assume it’s going to be as tricky for my kids getting a job, so the more they know about the workplace and different jobs out there, and where these different jobs lead, the better for them. I definitely think that particularly educating kids about future work and the workplace is important.”

But whatever field his children decide they want to go into, Swash stresses that neither he nor his wife will put any pressure on them to do a particular job.

He says: “With me and Stacey, we very much try to support our kids with all of their hobbies and passions as much as possible. Hopefully, they’ll find their own path.

“All our kids are into things they love doing, so we definitely don’t want to be steering them into what to do when they’re older, we definitely want them to dictate what their passions or their future is.”

And the experienced dad has this final message for other parents who may be concerned about their children’s future career paths.

“Take a breath – it’s a different world out there to the one we grew up in, and technology and AI has completely changed the direction of the workplace. But there is support out there to help parents and kids, so don’t panic, it’s okay – we’re all in the same boat.”

Joe Swash has teamed up with Samsung to launch the Solve for Tomorrow competition for 11-18-year-olds, in which they can explore a career in tech by solving real-world problems. Entries are open until January 18, giving young people across the UK and Ireland the chance to win mentoring and work experience with Samsung.