Dr Matthias Lorenz
adolescent psychologist
Nuanced; context matters more than hours
Screen Time
Neha and her husband disagree, and their daughter says everyone else already has one.
Planned · not started yet
Relationships, parenting & family Family duty Competing advice Living with uncertainty Family home Lightly witty Tense
The premise
Neha and her husband disagree, and their daughter says everyone else already has one. The family navigates online life together — group chats, privacy and one frightening incident — and learns that rules work best when they are shared.
The protagonist
Neha Brightwell-Rao — Mother of a 13-year-old asking for her first smartphone
The council
Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.
Joy Afolabi
online-safety educator
Practical; teach skills, not just rules
Kev Doherty
youth worker
Relatable; teenagers want trust
How the story moves
A school year with the phone; an incident in Book 3 tests trust and leads to a family agreement.
What readers take away
- What the evidence says about screen use
- Online safety skills
- Privacy settings
- Social-media pressure
- Family technology agreements
- Spotting and responding to online harm
- Sleep and devices
- Teaching digital independence
- Set parental controls appropriately for age
- Recognise grooming signs
- Report harmful content
- Support a child after cyberbullying
The books
- 1The phone Planned
- 2The group chat Planned
- 3The incident Planned
- 4The agreement Planned
Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.