Their devices are often at arm's length for many hours of the day.

If a student is engaging with learning activities, including aspects of Minecraft, then the time can be considered well spent. If it is hours of TikTok, Snapchat or what we may consider to be mindless youtube clips, maybe some discussion is needed.

Hopefully, you are aware that if our students are using Chrome and logged in via the school system, we will be alerted through Linewize when there is material considered to be 'flagged'. Often this material is well after 10 pm at night. Many of our students bypass our system at home so this will only be the tip of the iceberg and much of what they may be doing won't be flagged for our attention either so the extent of late-night use will be more pervasive than we are aware.

If you are the parent of a teenager, it’s especially important to help them build healthy boundaries around their device use in the evenings - experts recommend no screen time at least 1 hour before bedtime and no devices in bedrooms. For help with setting up a healthy screen routine in your home, head over to our Online Safety Hub.