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![iPad trouble](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/2/f/h/v/x/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.2fhut.gjzqv3.png/1444104623454.jpg)
How to stop children making in-app purchases
Simple account safeguards and a sound method of letting older children spend their pocket money can stop little ones purchasing big on mobile devices - whether inadvertently or deliberately.
![screen](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/1/x/x/y/y/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.1xxyl.gjzqv3.png/1444104623454.jpg)
Screen time and children
Concerned about how much time your kids are spending in front of screens? We have everything you need to know about time limits, why it's so inviting and how to cut back.
![thumb](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/1/l/i/g/9/image.related.landscape.120x80.e44w.gjzqv3.png/1444104623454.jpg)
![Oversharing: Girl was disturbed by what happened, yet still uploaded the footage onto YouTube.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/3/u/3/2/s/image.related.landscape.120x80.1ml8f2.gjzqv3.png/1444104623454.jpg)
![gaming_729](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/3/7/4/0/7/image.related.landscape.120x80.373xx.gjzqv3.png/1444104623454.jpg)
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Latest
![Over 94 per cent of Australian teenagers own a smart phone.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/0/n/8/u/l/image.related.landscape.300x200.h0n8od.png/1516847776069.jpg)
Teens who spend less time in front of screens are happier
In recent months, Silicon Valley executives have been speaking out about the purposely addictive designs of smartphones and social media, which make them hard to put down for anyone, but particularly teenagers. Now, a new report puts numbers to the warnings:, tying a sudden and large drop in adolescents' happiness with the proliferation of smartphones, and finding that the more hours a day teens spend in front of screens, the less satisfied they are.
![Logan Paul filmed himself coming across a body in Japan's infamous suicide forest.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/h/0/c/o/j/f/image.related.landscape.300x200.h0crw5.png/1514938669789.jpg)
YouTube star Logan Paul apologises for posting video of suicide victim
Paul's 15 million followers are made of many young fans.
![The most googled questions of 2017 included "How to make slime without Borax?" and "What is MSG?"](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/z/9/2/8/w/image.related.landscape.300x200.h05i4e.png/1514450484292.jpg)
Answers to some of the most Googled questions of 2017
Australia's top Google searches range from slime and sport, to cryptocurrency, covfefe and hurricanes.
![This intrusion of technology and social media into our homes is affecting kids and adults.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/z/t/e/6/4/image.related.landscape.300x200.h05qi7.png/1513372566497.jpg)
Opinion
Have you checked the children? Why tech in the bedroom is bad news
The issue of technology in bedrooms is a highly contentious one.
![How much is too much?](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/z/z/p/9/3/image.related.landscape.300x200.gzzpab.png/1512524431610.jpg)
How to tell if your child is addicted to screens
New study investigates the problem.
!["Our goal is to stay one step ahead."](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/z/z/l/h/p/image.related.landscape.300x200.gzzjip.png/1512517845859.jpg)
YouTube's war on content aimed at 'manipulating, harassing or harming' children
"Our goal is to stay one step ahead."
![The number of books in the home has a strong influence on academic performance.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/m/a/z/x/image.related.landscape.300x200.gzz4li.png/1512939640107.jpg)
Elisabeth Duursma
The powerful finding that should make you pick up a book
This Christmas, think about swapping the device for a book.
![Jamie Oliver has five children with wife Jools.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/z/p/d/8/r/image.related.landscape.300x200.gzoosb.png/1511185665403.jpg)
Why Jamie Oliver has banned his teen daughters from taking selfies
Celebrity chef and dad to teenage girls criticised parents who let their daughters post selfies on social media that look "quite porno".
![We're learning to control our use of technology.](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/k/s/d/j/image.related.landscape.300x200.gzo5s2.png/1511579252646.jpg)
Message from a techno-optimist: the kids will be OK
To navigate and thrive in this new world requires us to learn to use technology as the tool it was always meant to be – to connect with others, to make a difference and to enjoy ourselves - not as an end of itself.
![Vivienne Reiner with her daughters](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/g/z/k/g/6/g/image.related.landscape.300x200.gzg4ey.png/1511064108209.jpg)
I put my teens on a digital detox – the results shocked me
I caught my other daughter once in her room offline, looking through the photo stream on her mobile – she explained she just wanted to go through the action of swiping.
![It is worrying enough that our children are going into an unknowable future shaped by robot overlords. Worse still is ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20180401164527im_/http://www.essentialkids.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/d/f/z/g/image.related.landscape.300x200.gzk04v.png/1513497964412.jpg)
Why I've given my children a year-long ban from using the iPad
The addictive qualities of television, much fretted over during my childhood, are as nothing compared to the crack cocaine of a digital screen.
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