Family

Advice, tips and lifetsyle features aimed at parents, children and families.

Safer Internet Day: Five ways to keep children safe online

It’s every parent’s instinct to keep their child away from harm, but as young people spend huge chunks of their time online, keeping them safe in the digital world can be really tricky.

Safer Internet Day’s global theme of ‘together for a better internet’ is encouraging young people, parents, teachers and organisations to work together, to make sure the internet is used safely and...

Want to save money? Nine things to stop buying in 2020

Convenience items often seem great at first glance – we can eat a hot meal straight from the microwave, brew a cup of coffee at the touch of a button and have a new outfit delivered to our door overnight.

While all of this is good for saving time and making life a little easier, it’s probably not so great for your finances.

If you’re looking at your bank balance after a low-...

Should you be worried about the way your teenager portrays herself online?

I’ve seen some of my 14-year-old daughter’s Snapchat and Instagram posts and she comes across very differently online to the way she does at home. How can I talk to her about being more honest about her online identity?

Will Gardner, director of the UK Safer Internet Centre ( saferinternet.org.uk ), says: “Many parents worry that being online can place pressures on young people which...

Is Keeping Up With The Joneses making you miserable?

Keeping up with the Joneses’ isn’t a new thing – the term was coined in 1913! However, with the rise of social media, it is more prevalent than ever before.

Cambridge dictionary definition: To always want to own the same expensive objects and do the same things as your friends or neighbours, because you are worried about seeming less important socially than they are.

The...

What is the best way to get your teenager to do their homework?

We all know teenagers should do their homework if they want to succeed at secondary school – but that doesn’t mean they will do it willingly, on time or even at all.

Which is why parents often use a variety of tactics, ranging from helpful, to annoying to downright counterproductive, in an attempt to to persuade adolescents to just get it done.

So what’s the best approach?...

How can I encourage my child to talk to me about his feelings?

My 13-year-old son seems upset about something but won’t talk about it. How can I encourage him to be brave enough to open up about his feelings?

Speaking ahead of Children’s Mental Health Week (February 3-9) ( childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk ), Sue Rogers, a mental and emotional health expert at Action for Children ( actionforchildren.org.uk ), who leads The Blues Programme, an...

Ten everyday struggles that only extremely disorganised people will relate to

Getting through life in a constant state of chaos isn’t easy, but somehow you make it work.

Every day is a constant battle against your lack of organisation and you often end the day amazed that you made it through unscathed.

Here are some things that only seriously disorganised people will understand:

1. You never have matching socks

Even though you...

Is seven-years-old too young to give children a mobile phone?

If your child is nagging you for a mobile phone, it may help to know what age other parents decide to give one to them.

The answer, it seems, is from the age of just seven.

A new study by Childwise has found 53% of children are mobile phone owners by around the age of seven, and by the age of 11, nine in 10 have their own device. Once children are in secondary school, phone...

It's never too late to change career

New research from Think Forward Consulting www.thinkforwardconsulting.co.uk has revealed that 75% of people in the UK are unhappy within their role. In a survey of almost 1500 workers, the findings were reflective of a largely unsatisfied workforce. This unhappiness appears to be down to three key issues: passion, recognition and environment.

Only 19% of respondents said that they...