Why can’t I keep gaming?
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| 4 EUR / reduced 2 EUR - Tickets coming soon |
| 6 years and older |
| German |
| Ground Floor, Hall 3 |
| Part of: Kakadu |
Online games, apps and mobile phones – and knowing when to stop
Come on, put that mobile away! Online games, apps and how we use them are the number one topic of discussion and argument in many families. They constantly interrupt us and keep us from doing things that are actually worthwhile. Often we’re sitting together in the same room, but everyone’s staring at their own screen. It’s so annoying!
But isn’t it also brilliant fun to play games with friends, send emojis or stickers to your best friend, watch a funny video or even make a little film yourself? And, after all, you can always catch up with Kakadu via your smartphone and the podcast app.
When does being online make sense, and when is it enough? Or too much? And why are some apps so addictive that it’s twice as hard to stop using them? Should we just ban everything straight away? Or are there other ways to make children’s media use better?
Today we’re talking about smartphones, apps, gaming and being online – for young and old alike. Because when it comes to children and media use, adults also need to ask themselves when they’re setting a good example, and which of their own rules they’d never follow themselves. And, above all, when they actually take the time to really listen to the children. What are you actually playing online, with whom, and why?
The KAKADU children’s podcast features three child experts: Alex, Elsa and Lulu. The podcast is hosted by Patricia – experts have their say, and, as always, all the children in the audience are warmly invited to join in the discussion.
This time, the co-hosts are: Lulu, Alex, Elsa
Participants
Ilka Lorenzen loves listening, reading and writing, and believes in children, art and the future! She studied European Ethnology, Cultural Studies and Romance Languages in Berlin and Paris, and works as an author, editor and producer for various editorial teams at Deutschlandfunk Kultur – most of all for the children’s programme Kakadu. Together with the arts organisation Ephra, she also regularly brings Berlin children and artists together to engage in dialogue. In October 2024, she received the Robert Geisendörfer Prize for her podcast ‘What is anti-Semitism?’; in 2025, she was awarded the German Paralympic Media Award; and in 2026, she and her team won the German Podcast Award for a Kakadu children’s podcast about cancer.
As a child, Jessica Zeller would have loved a podcast like ‘Kakadu’ from Deutschlandradio Kultur – one that tackles all of life’s questions in a cheeky, critical and entertaining way, even when dealing with serious issues. Her children’s podcast “What sort of illness is cancer and how do you get better?” was submitted in 2026 for the German Podcast Award, which the Kakadu programme won in the “Kids & Family” category. As well as working as an author, Jessica works for the feedback app Edkimo, which shows how children and young people can have a greater say at school and ensure their voices are heard.
Patricia Pantel grew up in Hanover and has lived in Berlin for over 30 years. She studied German Language and Literature and Political Science (MA) and attended the Berlin School of Journalism, before turning her passion into her profession: asking questions – to find answers! Since then, she has appeared and been heard as an author, editor and presenter on various public service broadcasters and programmes. She has been a regular on radioeins (rbb) for many years, where she presents, amongst other things, the motoring programme ‘Die Sonntagsfahrer’. On rbb television, she also appears live on air on ‘DER TAG’, and for Deutschlandfunk Kultur’s ‘Kakadu’, she works as a presenter and writer on podcasts and radio programmes. Among other honours, she has been awarded the Kurt Magnus Prize and the Robert Geisendörfer Media Prize.
Thomas Fuchs, born in 1964, is a radio editor for children’s radio. He studied history and politics and spent many years writing children’s and young adult books, novels and radio plays. He has a particularly long history with *Kakadu*: he was already working as an editor on the programme when it launched in 1996.
