Hello, I am Kate Giove. A mum of a ten & nearly thirteen year-old who is not into the way smart phones and other tech have taken over our kids’ lives. I want to share the things we do in my normal, busy family to navigate a life where our kids don’t yet have smart phones, social media and have limited gaming & YouTube time.

Parents it isn’t our fault we are in this situation with phones and devices. It has become so normal to hand over a smart phone to your child when they reach the tail end of primary school that most of us just see it as part of growing up. However, so much data now shows us that smart phone use, particularly social media consumption and hours of scrolling, is not a good for the health of their developing brains, mental wellbeing or self-esteem. Influenced by the work of the amazing Johnathan Haidt and the brilliant team at Smart Phone Free Childhood I wanted to be part of the conversation trying to help other busy, well-meaning parents make changes. I have been lucky enough to do some media interview’s talking about what we do in my family too.

The tide does feel like it is turning, but it isn’t always easy for families to navigate on a day to day basis, and I want to share what has and hasn’t worked for us. I am not professing to be perfect but I hope what I share will be helpful to you.

I am hopeful that society will come to its senses and in a few years we won’t be dishing out smart phones to kids as a norm.

Being a parent is a wild ride and there absolutely is a place for tech and smart phones. However, whilst kids are developing and going through so many changes into and through puberty we have to really take stock and reflect that we are doing the best by them for their ‘mind, body and scroll’. To me that means delaying smart phones until they are 14 and social media until 16.

Kate