Digital education expert Philippa Wraithmell shares practical tips for safer, healthier screen use at home and at school
Safer Internet Day is on Tuesday, 10 February 2026, with a global focus on “smart tech, safe choices”. It’s also an ideal moment to reset one of the most common tensions in family life: screens. Not because devices are all “bad”, but because they’re powerful, and habits form fast.
In the UAE, this conversation is especially important. Under the new Child Digital Safety Law, in force from 1 January 2026, parents and guardians are expected to take an active role in supervising children’s online activity, going beyond default settings to protect, guide and educate.
The law holds “child caregivers”, including parents and guardians, responsible for active supervision, including monitoring online activity and reporting harmful content.
Yalla spoke with Philippa Wraithmell, founder of EdRuption and its parent initiative Digital Bridge, and author of The Digital Ecosystem, about safer, healthier screen use at home and the questions every parent should ask their child’s school.
Rather than bans or guilt, Philippa urges families to begin with purpose, model the behaviour they want to see, and set clear guardrails early, before problems arise.
Here are her top tips for managing screen time and keeping your child safe online
1) Start with the mirror: your child is watching you
Children don’t distinguish between “work email” and “scrolling”. They simply see the phone winning your attention. As the responsible adult, modelling matters. That means switching off non-essential notifications, using Focus or Do Not Disturb in the evenings, and being intentional — and visible — about your choices.
Narrate those decisions out loud so children understand what healthy digital behaviour looks like.
Try: “I’m sending two emails, then I’m closing my laptop.”
2) Redefine the goal: it’s not “less screen”, it’s “better use”
Instead of obsessing over hours, I encourage parents to ask a more useful question: What is this device for in our home? Is it a camera for curiosity? A tool for organisation? A way to create, research or communicate?
When the default use is passive entertainment, children quickly learn that “screen time” means games and streaming and little else.
Family reset question: “What do we want technology to help us do, as a family?”
3) Put the guardrails in early (yes, even for young children)
A common mistake is assuming children are “too young” to need settings. In reality, devices are appearing earlier and earlier, often without basic controls in place, which makes boundaries much harder to introduce later.
Practical start: set up parental controls, content filters and time limits before handing over a device, and review them regularly as your child matures.
4) Give devices with agreed-upon rules
A phone or tablet isn’t a birthday toy; it’s a gateway to the world. Put in place concise, clear house rules that are easy to understand and consistently enforced, for example:
- No devices in bedrooms (charge them in a shared space)
- Ask before downloading anything
- One new app at a time, and decide what it replaces
5) Start “smartphone-light”: no social media by default
If your child needs a phone for independence, such as sports pick-ups, walking home, or coordinating plans, start with a locked-down device: no social media, limited apps, and a clear explanation that access is a privilege tied to responsibility.
Permissions can then be added gradually.
“You’ve shown me you can handle X, so we’ll add Y — with a time limit.”
6) Make monitoring a safety net
Monitoring is a form of protection and is part of UAE law. The UAE’s Child Digital Safety framework expects active supervision.
Parents should be able to access accounts and devices while children are still minors, not to spy, but to protect. It’s important to frame this as a partnership, not policing.
“I’m not looking to catch you out. I’m here to help if something doesn’t feel right.”
7) Teach digital citizenship like you teach road safety
Digital citizenship means knowing how to behave well online and what to do when things go wrong. That includes checking credibility, protecting personal information, understanding digital footprints, and knowing how to report concerns.
We need to teach our children to be upstanders, not bystanders: will they watch harm unfold online, or take action by reporting, taking screenshots, or supporting a friend?
Dinner-table prompt: “If you saw someone being unkind in a group chat, what would you do?”
8) Don’t outsource this to school, but do insist that school plays its part
Digital safety shouldn’t be a one-off assembly. It should be woven into everyday school life; discussed during pastoral time, reinforced across subjects, and regularly updated for parents as platforms, risks, and behaviours evolve.
Three questions to ask your school this term:
- What’s your digital safeguarding approach across platforms (learning apps, messaging, photos, data)?
- How do you teach digital citizenship in age-appropriate ways and revisit it throughout the year?
- What’s your “why” for devices and apps in class, and who are they for?
9) You don’t need to be a tech expert to keep your child safe
Parents don’t need to understand every app, platform or update to keep children safe online. What matters more is confidence: being willing to ask questions, set boundaries, and say when something doesn’t feel right.
When parents approach digital life calmly and consistently, children are far more likely to come to them when something feels uncomfortable, before it becomes a problem.
10) If you’re feeling overwhelmed, simplify
The American Academy of Paediatrics notes that there is no single “safe” number of hours of screen time that applies to every child; context and family routines matter. Start small: agree on screen-free anchors (meals, bedtime), choose high-quality content, co-use when you can, and keep conversations open. Confidence beats perfection.
A Safer Internet Day challenge
Pick one change you can sustain for seven days: move chargers out of bedrooms, turn off notifications after 8 pm, or introduce an “ask before you download” rule. Small, consistent guardrails beat big, short-lived bans — every time.
For further information on EdRuption see: edruption.com
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