Blog
Writing on digital parenting
Guides on first phones, screen time and what the software in this category can and cannot do. Every article names its sources.
The first phone
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Every kind of parental control software, and who it suits
Built-in controls, monitoring apps, filters, kids' phones and launchers are answers to different questions. A map of the options, including the free ones.
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How to set up a hand-me-down phone for a child
An old Android makes a good first phone if you wipe it properly and set it up in the right order. The steps, and the two that go wrong.
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How to set up Google Family Link, and what it will not do
The free setup most Android families should try first, in order, with the four limitations Google states plainly and most guides leave out.
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What age should a kid get a phone?
Roughly a quarter of children aged 12 and under already have their own smartphone. Here is what the research supports, and the better question to ask first.
Screen time
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How children get around screen time limits
Four gaps parents can check and close on an Android phone tonight, and the reason the technical fixes eventually stop being the answer.
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Why screen time limits stop working
A daily cap solves the argument for a fortnight, then the argument comes back. Here is what usually goes wrong and what to try when the timer fails.
Online safety
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How to limit YouTube on a child's phone
YouTube Kids, supervised accounts and the three content tiers, what each one actually restricts, and the part none of them cover.
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What parental controls actually block
Filters catch categories, not intent. Here is what standard parental controls stop, what they miss, and where the gap sits for most families.
Digital literacy
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Teaching a child to spot a scam message
Scam messages aimed at children rarely look like scams. Four tells that work at ten years old, and how to practise them before they are needed.
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What to do if your child is being sextorted
The first hour matters and most instincts are wrong. Do not pay, do not delete, and use the free service that gets the image taken down.