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Night time usage of smartphones is hindering children progress at school

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Our children are back to school but instead of focusing on school subjects they are focusing on their smartphones…

Do you know that huge number of children are waking up at night and checking their smartphones? Some of them wake up with over 100 notifications from conversations happening overnight.  Almost half (45%) of young people are checking their mobile phones after they have gone to bed, a poll suggests. A survey of 2,750 11- to 18-year-olds found one in ten admitted checking their mobile phones for notifications at least 10 times a night. The poll was carried out by Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference.

As a result, the pupils are coming to school tired and unable to concentrate. The general recommendation is to make sure pupils have “digital detox” – putting away mobile devices away for 90 minutes before lights-out or keeping them out of the bedroom. Still is this possible and how to take the phone away from your child in the event when you are not around and want to be sure that during an emergency the child can call you?

The good news is that some of the top parental control applications have already addresses the issue – Protect Your Kid, Kidslox, Family Time are some of them.

Protect Your Kid parental control applications provide the so called “Night mode”. Parents can configure night time settings so all apps and phone calls (excluding parents’ and emergency calls) are blocked. Rest assured knowing your child sleeps at night and will be in a good shape for the next day at school. The app is providing way more functionalities – parents could also configure periods during the day (class hours) when their children can’t use any social apps for example. Another great benefit of the app is that after the free trial you purchase one-time license with no hidden fees or charges.

All right then – is it that easy?

The short answer is NO. As a parent, you need to see the signs, acknowledge the problem, discuss it with your child and make the steps to resolve it. You need to openly discuss that overuse of smartphones is not doing any good but with sensible use technology can always be of help and on hand. Only then install Protect Your Kid app and let it do its work.

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WIN! Launching Journl – a unique ‘all in one’ online family life organiser tool

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journlAsk any mum or dad: it can be just as tricky for parents to adjust to the pressures of sending children back-to-school as it is for kids! With so much to do and organise, parents often struggle with stressful preparation as the summer holidays draw to a close.  With this in mind, a UK company which specialises in organisation has launched Journl www.journl.com, a new online personal organiser service to make it easy for parents to make sure that they’re all set for September as an estimated 10 million children go back to school.

Not only can Journl make the hectic back to school time so much easier but it can help organise Christmas too!

Online life organiser, Journl, offers a helping hand with super handy Christmas features, plus some top tips to keep kids happy during the Christmas rush

We all love the magic of Christmas, but the run-up to it can be a really stressful time for everyone, including young children, who often find the business and changes in routine difficult. The best way to keep kids calm at this busy time is to avoid getting too stressed yourself, according to organisational experts, Journl, who have just added super helpful Christmas specific planning features to their popular online organiser service, www.journl.com.

Journl features to-do lists, diary reminders, online storage for important files and more, all working together to keep your life on track. journl2The new Christmas features are set to make this festive season the most stress free yet and include a handy Meal Planner to help you keep on top of the grocery shopping and will even remind you when to defrost the turkey. The new Party Planner will help you to keep tabs on guests and schedules for each event and the Christmas Card List feature keeps a record of cards sent and received.

Avoid over-spending with the new Gift Budget Planner and teach kids how to write thank you notes with the help of Journl’s new Gift Inventory feature which keeps track of what you’re giving and receiving. Journl lets you set Weekly Reminders so you can highlight priorities as you get closer to the big day, and the To Do List allows you to add last minute actions whenever and wherever you are – even while you’re dashing round the supermarket or in the queue for Santa’s grotto. Best of all – everything will be saved and ready in your Journl to reuse next year!

Timing is everything with children, so once you’re organised, you can pack out the rest of your calendar with fun activities to ensure you and your child get to enjoy the magic of the season, stress free.

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At KidAround, we know just how tricky it can be to get your kids back to school without forgetting anything, which is why we’ve teamed up with Journl to offer a years membership, worth £39 to TEN lucky readers. To win one, all you have to do is email your name, address and contact number to comps@kidaround.biz

Closing date Friday 30th August

Good luck!

Posted by Amy Moylan