Sept. 23, 2026

Growing Up Online with Youth Advocate Hanna Grover

Sarah speaks with youth advocate and researcher Hanna Grover about growing up online from a young person's perspective!

Show Notes

Adults spend a great deal of time talking about what young people experience online, what they need and how we should protect them. But how often do we stop talking about young people and actually listen to them?

In this episode of Parents Uncharted, Sarah speaks with Hanna Grover, a youth advocate, researcher and recent high school graduate from British Columbia. Hanna is also the founder of Poet2Poet, an award-winning nonprofit that provides young poets with a safe space to share their writing, connect with one another and support their emotional well-being.

Hanna offers something especially valuable to the conversation about children and technology: lived experience.

She shares what it was like to enter high school during the pandemic, feel behind as friends received smartphones and watch social media become central to her generation’s friendships and identities. She also takes parents inside parts of the digital world they may not see, from relentless group chats and social pressure to graphic algorithmic content, online exploitation and the growing use of AI chatbots for companionship and mental health support.

Sarah and Hanna discuss why conversations about online safety need to move beyond screen-time limits and address what children are actually encountering on their screens. Hanna also reflects on British Columbia’s school cellphone restrictions, explaining how putting phones away created more meaningful conversations and helped students become more present during the school day.

Finally, they examine Canada’s proposed approach to restricting social media for children under 16. Hanna explains why many young people recognize that platforms can be harmful but remain wary of blanket bans, and why safer design, corporate accountability and meaningful youth participation must be part of the solution.

If adults want to build a healthier digital world for young people, we need to stop speaking only about them and start including them in the conversation.

More about Hannah

Hanna Grover, is a youth advocate, researcher, and public speaker driven by a commitment to health and wellbeing equity, children’s rights, and youth empowerment.

Her journey began with a simple belief: that young people deserve a seat at every table where decisions about their wellbeing are made. Today, that belief shapes everything she does, from founding Poet2Poet, a youth-focused organization that merges poetry with mental health, to working with national health organizations to create more equitable healthcare systems.

Through Poet2Poet, Hanna has helped thousands of youth across 70+ countries use writing as a tool for healing, connection, and advocacy. Alongside her many personal initiatives, she serves and collaborates with a range of organizations, advisory councils, academic teams, and advocacy platforms on projects that center youth voices for systems-level change.

She has had the privilege of speaking at national conferences and panels, often serving as the youngest voice in rooms filled with fellow policymakers, researchers, and professionals with a hope to empower others like her. Her advocacy has been recognized through awards like Canada’s Top 10 Under 18 Changemakers, British Columbia's Medal of Good Citizenship, and Surrey’s Top 25 Under 25.

Connect with Hanna

Poet2Poet: https://www.poet2poet.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hanna.grover_/

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Chapters

(00:00) Why adults need to listen to young people