12 December, 2017

What’s the right age for a smartphone?

How old is old enough for a smartphone? It’s one of the many questions today’s digital parents wrestle with - especially at gift-giving season - it wasn’t even a thing a generation ago.

Bill and Melinda were adamant about setting boundaries for their children. But many argue that withholding mobile devices until kids are well into their teenage years is simply impractical today.

5 December, 2017

Is screen-time the new junk food?

Sedentariness, aka sitting around too much, is an unanticipated outcome of the “mobile revolution.” And its health effects are just beginning to bite.

Here’s another reason to limit screen-time: sitting.

28 November, 2017

Pause before you post

Are your kids' thumbs working faster than their brains? This time-tested fix could help.

14 November, 2017

“God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains”

Is your gut telling you social media may be harming your kids?

7 November, 2017

What's keeping them up at night?

Attack of the Sleep Vampires: How the blue light emitted by screens is keeping your family up at night - and what to do about it.

“Blue light” sounds almost magical. But the effect of blue light exposure, emitted by LED-lit smartphones, tablets and flat screen TVs, is anything but. Study after study has found that this short-wave, high-energy illumination is a virtual sleep vampire, draining both the quality and quantity of our children’s rest.

31 October, 2017

Gamer today, gambler tomorrow?

In Melbourne Cup week, the whole nation takes a punt. But that’s not the only high-stakes action around.

Here’s the tip: New research is showing children who are gamers are more likely to become gamblers. What are the odds your son or daughter is at risk?

24 October, 2017

Meet your child's Insta-Bully

Instagram now ranks as the number-one social networking site for cyber bullying.

#whatparentsneedtoknow

If uber-cool kids like Justin Bieber, Iggy Azalea, Emma Stone, and Miley Cyrus can become victims of cyberbullying - and yes, it’s happened to all of them - it can happen to anybody. Your child very much included.

17 October, 2017

5 tips for parents on coping through exam stress

If your teens are heading into exams, the tension temperature in your household can go through the roof.

It starts with sleep deprivation - theirs and yours. Our study of over 1,000 parents and students has shown that 80% of teens lose between 2-4 hours of sleep each night, it’s no wonder parents may struggle to manage the stress fall-out.

11 October, 2017

Mobile devices at school: the key issues

Aside from the obvious distractions that mobile phones provide students in class, schools are now reporting even more alarming student behaviour associated with student’s personal devices.

A Perth school has recently had to place a school wide ban on students placing meal delivery orders from suppliers like UberEATS and Deliveroo. Many issues like this are frequently being reported to our Education Team, including;

11 October, 2017

What parents need to know about sexting

Parents give their teens a smartphone so they can stay in contact with them. But, for teens it's the key to their social life.

Majority of teens just use their smartphones for social media or watching YouTube on the go, but with a camera at the ready and someone they like asking for a nude photo - it’s very easy for even the most sensible teens to get caught up in sexting.