Donna du Plooy - Educational Psychologist

24/07/2025

Absolutely!

18/07/2025

Credit:

18/07/2025

Incredible outcome to today’s court case! Well done to The Digital Law Company - Emma Sadleir 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

17/07/2025

Kids need white space. Boredom. Time to think, create, play. Fewer planned activities. Fewer structured classes and extra “add ons”. Fewer birthday parties and school events crammed into weekends. White space allows time for children to process their thoughts and emotions, without feeling rushed or needing to “succeed”, “achieve” or “master a skill”. White space gives children the opportunity to focus, concentrate, unwind, regulate, play. This builds emotional health, focus, attention control, and creativity. It is up to us as parents to actively create this space for our children by simply saying “no” to more and consciously UN-scheduling our kids, no matter “what everyone else is doing”. Credit:

15/07/2025

The reasons why so many countries across the world are relooking at the use of EdTech and TechEd in schools are clear. are good pages to follow if you want to learn more. Essentially, we ALL need to be thinking critically and relooking at what our schools tech policies are. If they are not aligned with what the experts are telling us, we should be asking questions about why they are not aligned AND we should be working with our schools to get them aligned. Our children’s safety is our responsibility.

15/07/2025

Not fear mongering, just truth about some of the issues parents face when schools insist that devices are necessary and when they aren’t locked down and managed in the best possible ways.

This information shared by Scrolling 2 Death is also exactly what I hear in my own practice over and over again.

We have to do better for our kids. As parents, we need to work WITH our schools to ensure that best practice is being followed, so that all kids are kept safe.

14/06/2025

What would you be doing? What would your children be doing? What would you be doing, together? We are becoming more and more aware of the fact that when we hand our children phones and other devices, we rob them of the opportunity to take part in real life - so, not only are they put at risk by what we are allowing them to consume, but we put them at risk by allowing them to replace growth, engagement, hobbies, challenges, social interaction, exercise, adventures, etc with consumption of online content. We rob them of the growth and development they need to become healthy individuals.

14/06/2025

Screen use in schools? The research is clear. It.does.not.aid.learning. If your child is using a screen on a daily basis, you may want to read and explore the work done by researchers and experts such as Jonathan Haidt and the Screentime Consultant. Here are the four norms that should form the foundation of any schools approach to screen use…

05/01/2025

Preparing our children for the future.

Human skills do.

07/11/2024

“Social media is doing harm to our kids”. We ALL need to call time on it. Way to go, Australia! 👏🏻

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the government would legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, a policy the government says is world-leading.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling time on it,” Albanese told a news conference.

Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday the government would legislate for a ban on social media for children under 16, a policy the government says is world-leading.

18/10/2024

What does the research really tell us about the role of devices in schools?

Are devices really helpful in the classroom, and what are the risks and dangers to children?

Jonathan Haidt’s recently published article sheds light on this issue. A must read for all parents and schools.

A reevaluation of screens in schools

13/09/2024

Latest research clearly shows why smart phones and devices should not be given to children under the age of 11 years old.

Access to the internet and social media should only be considered from (minimum) 14 years old.

The long term harm to children, is clear.