The UK social media ban has been rushed through. The cliff edge at 16 has not moved. Here is how you prepare your child before it arrives.
For parents of children aged 4 to 16

Parenting the digital world
gets a lot clearer from here.

The only platform built on one consistent, research-backed approach to digital childhood. Not random tips. From first screen to full access at 16.

Get started in under 3 minutes  ·  Free to join  ·  Founder rate for first 50

★★★★★ 131 parents already on their pathway

Aligned with

Online Safety Act 2023 DfE Statutory RSE Ofcom
Your 24/7 digital parenting advisor

Meet DiGi

  • Understand what your child is experiencing online
  • Get the exact words for any hard conversation
  • Available at 11pm when everything kicks off

Like texting someone who has read all the research

The five stages

Find your stage

Guided Childhood grows with your child. One framework, ages 4 to 16. Multiple children, one account.

Stage 01
Foundation
EYFS & KS1 · Yr R–2Ages 4–7(US: K–2)
Shared screen
Co-viewingNo solo deviceNo feeds
"I can't get my four-year-old off the iPad. What am I doing wrong?"
Stage 02
First Steps
KS2 · Yr 3–5Ages 8–10(US: Gr 3–5)
Restricted phone
Family contactsPrivacy basicsAlgorithms
"How do I explain why their friends have phones and they don't?"
Stage 03
Critical window
Explorer
KS2/KS3 · Yr 6–8Ages 11–13(US: Gr 6–8)
Guided smartphone
No social mediaComparisonOrben research
"Her mood drops every time she puts her phone down. I'm worried."
Stage 04
Navigator
KS3/KS4 · Yr 9–10Ages 13–15(US: Gr 8–10)
Monitored social
ReputationFilter bubblesReadiness
"He has accounts I don't know about. What do I do?"
Stage 05
Independent
KS4/KS5 · Yr 11+Ages 16+(US: Gr 11+)
Trust-based
Full accessAI literacyVibe coding
"She's 16 next month. I have no idea if she's ready."

Multiple children? It's all one Guided Childhood account.

The Guided Childhood method

A framework that changes everything

A research-grounded framework. TRUST runs through every action, script, and lesson from age 4 to 16.

T
Timing
Right device at the right age. Not all-or-nothing. Not a cliff edge.
R
Relationships
Connection is the strongest protective factor the research has found.
U
Upstream
Environment before rules. Platform mechanics matter more than willpower.
S
Sleep
The bedroom rule is the single highest-impact action in this system.
T
Transparency
Openness over secrecy. Co-navigation over monitoring.
JP

Justin Phillips
Founder · Guided Childhood
Father of three

Why I built this

I am a dad of three. During COVID I let my daughter watch YouTube for hours because I needed to keep our business running. I told myself it was fine. It was easier than saying no.

Then I noticed something changing in her. Her mood. Her attention. The way she reached for the screen the moment she was bored. I spent two years reading everything I could find. Professor Candace Odgers at UC Irvine. Dr Amy Orben at Cambridge. What they told me changed everything.

It is not the phone. It is the pathway. And nobody had built one.

Everything is included

One membership.
Your child's whole
digital childhood.

One approach. No contradiction. No overwhelm. When the hard moment happens at 11pm, you already know what to do.

Personalised weekly actions

Three things every Monday, tailored to your child's exact stage. Each completable in under five minutes. Not homework. A habit.

DiGi: AI advisor, any time

Trained on the research. Available at 11pm when everything kicks off. Like having an expert in your pocket. Warm, direct, always practical.

Scripts for every hard moment

TikTok. Mood drops. Unknown contacts. "Everyone else has one." The exact words, word for word.

Digital wellbeing tracker

Weekly check-in with optional uploads: browsing data, AI usage, sleep. Trend chart over time. DiGi responds if concern emerges.

Full curriculum: home and school

Every lesson has a parent version and a school version. AI, dark web, vibe coding, deepfakes. Everything your child will encounter.

Meet DiGi

Your advisor,
always in your corner

Available 24/7. Trained on the research of Odgers, Orben, and Przybylski. Calm and evidence-based. Like texting someone who has read everything.

  • When should my child get Instagram?
  • I think something is wrong online.
  • Give me the exact words for tonight.
  • What does the UK social media guidance mean for us?
D
DiGi
Guided Childhood Advisor · Available now
Hi. What is on your mind about your child's digital childhood today?
My 11-year-old's mood drops every time she uses her phone. Should I be worried?
This is worth paying attention to. Dr Amy Orben's research identifies 11–13 as the peak sensitivity window, where social media shows the strongest link to lower life satisfaction, especially for girls.

Start tonight with this:
"I noticed you seem a bit flat after your phone. Does it ever leave you feeling worse?"

That one question opens more conversations than any rule.
What changes

How this shows up in your home

You are solving today's problem in a way that helps you and your child feel more capable tomorrow.

01
The Beginning

The hard moments don't make you spiral

You have a framework, not a random tip. When the TikTok conversation happens, when the mood drops, when the unknown contact appears, you already know what to do.

Framework not tips
02
The Shift

Your child starts building the skills

Resilience, self-regulation, digital literacy. Not because you went soft, but because you held the boundary and the connection at the same time.

Skills not compliance
03
The Arrival

You trust yourself as a parent

Not because it got easy. Because you stopped needing it to be. The challenges change as they grow. Your approach does not have to.

Confidence not certainty

The challenges change as your child grows. Your approach doesn't.

What parents say

It actually works

★★★★★
"I used to spiral every time the phone conversation came up. Now I have the exact words. It changed how we talk about it completely."
Sarah M. Stage 3
★★★★★
"The weekly check-in is the thing I didn't know I needed. I spotted something shifting in my son before it became a real problem."
Tom K. Stage 4
★★★★★
"My daughter and I are actually talking about this stuff now. DiGi gave me the language and the pathway gave me the confidence."
Clare H. Stage 3

And in case you are wondering: no, it is not too late.

There are more school pickups, more car journeys, more evenings ahead of you than behind you. The pathway starts from wherever you are.

14-day money-back guarantee on launch  ·  Cancel any time

The research

Built on evidence, not panic

Every child benefits from a guided digital childhood. The research tells us which children need it most urgently, and we have designed for them too.

Prof. Candace Odgers

UC Irvine · Duke University

Effects depend on vulnerability and environment, not just the device. Structure is protective.

Dr. Amy Orben

Cambridge MRC · Oxford

Developmental sensitivity windows: 11–13 for girls, 14–15 for boys. These are the stages we protect most carefully.

Prof. Andrew Przybylski

Oxford Internet Institute

The Goldilocks effect. Moderate use is not inherently harmful. Too much, too early, structured wrong: that is where risk lives.

Prof. Sonia Livingstone

LSE, London

Children need skills and agency, not just restrictions. Every stage builds graduated digital skills.

Our thesis in plain language

Social media amplifies existing vulnerabilities. It does not harm all children equally.
Environment and structure are more protective than any restriction or ban alone.
Ages 11–13 require the most care, especially for girls. That is exactly what Stage 3 is for.
Staged, graduated access with education builds the skills children actually need at 16.

Also designed for the most vulnerable

The 2026 evidence briefing identifies six groups at highest risk: adolescent girls 11–15, children with pre-existing mental health conditions, LGBTQ+ youth, neurodivergent children, children from low-income backgrounds, and children aged 10–13. The platform includes tailored guidance for all six: in DiGi's responses, the curriculum, and the wellbeing tracker.

"It is not screen time. It is the pathway." — Who Is Actually Being Harmed, 2026

Online Safety Act 2023
Education for a Connected World (DfE)
Statutory RSE & Health Education
Ofcom Media Literacy Framework
DfE AI in Education Guidance 2025
Simple pricing

Join the waitlist. Be first
when we launch.

Free forever
Starter Pack
Free
Yours immediately on sign-up
  • Age-stage roadmap
  • Family digital agreement template
  • 5 conversation scripts
  • Warning signs checklist
  • Age restrictions guide
Most popular
Guided Childhood OS
£12.99/month
Launching soon. Reserve your spot now.
  • Full 5-stage dashboard
  • Weekly 3-action plan
  • All scripts and guides
  • Full curriculum, all lessons
  • Digital wellbeing tracker
  • DiGi AI advisor, unlimited
  • School lesson packs included
Best value
Annual OS
£99/year
Save £57. Two months free.
  • Everything in monthly
  • Multi-child profiles
  • Priority DiGi access
  • School pack downloads

Founder Rate: First 50 Members Only

Lock in £7.99/month for life. Your 131 existing subscribers get 48-hour exclusive access on launch day.

Common questions

And in case you are wondering

No. Guided Childhood is not a ban. The research is clear: structure and timing protect children more than restriction. We give you the system to guide your child through the digital world, not to remove it from them.
This was made for busy parents, by a busy parent. Three actions per week, each under five minutes. The weekly check-in takes two minutes. DiGi answers in seconds. Most parents spend five to ten minutes a week. That is genuinely all.
It is not too late. There are more school pickups, more bedtimes, more conversations ahead of you than behind you. The system works from wherever you are starting. Stage 3 and 4 parents see real change within weeks.
The UK government is consulting on age restrictions for under-16s. The Online Safety Act is already law and being enforced. Whether new restrictions pass or not, the pathway is the same. We built Guided Childhood because the research told us to, not because a law required it.
Very common. Many members start on their own. The framework is evidence-based not fear-based, and most partners engage with that. Seeing it in action usually brings them around.

Get early access when
we launch

Join 131 parents already on the waitlist. Free starter pack sent immediately. Founder rate for the first 50.

Free starter pack sent immediately  ·  No card  ·  Cancel any time
30-day money-back guarantee on launch
For PSHE Leads · DSLs · Class Teachers

A digital literacy curriculum
every school can actually use.

Ready-to-use lesson plans from EYFS to Sixth Form. Fully aligned with the Online Safety Act 2023, statutory RSE, and Education for a Connected World. Downloadable by UK Year Group. No prep required.

Individual teacher licence from £49  ·  School licence from £299 per year

Aligned with Online Safety Act 2023 Education for a Connected World Statutory RSE DfE AI Guidance 2025
What is included

Everything your school needs

A complete scheme of work from EYFS to Sixth Form. Mapped to UK Key Stages, Year Groups, and every statutory framework your school is accountable to.

Complete Scheme of Work

21 half-term modules from EYFS to Year 13. Every lesson mapped to UK Year Group, Key Stage, and the statutory frameworks your school is accountable to. Filter by year group and download in one click.

  • EYFS & KS1 (Yr R–2): screens, kindness, real vs not real
  • KS2 (Yr 3–6): algorithms, privacy, internet safety, coding basics
  • KS3 (Yr 7–9): social media, AI chatbots, deepfakes, dark web awareness
  • KS4 (Yr 10–11): manipulation, sextortion, radicalisation, readiness for 16
  • KS5 (Yr 12–13): AI mastery, data rights, vibe coding, future technology
  • Every lesson: teacher plan, pupil worksheet, slides, parent note

Staff CPD and Training

Two-hour CPD module for DSLs and PSHE leads. Self-paced online with downloadable facilitator guide. Completion tracking and CPD certificate included.

  • Part 1: The research, the cliff edge, and the TRUST framework
  • Part 2: What children encounter online right now
  • Part 3: Safe classroom practice and disclosure response
  • Part 4: Using the scheme of work in your school
  • 6 assemblies: KS1 through KS5 plus whole-school agreement
  • Primary and secondary parent evening packs included

Policy and Statutory Compliance

Ready-to-use templates for governors and senior leaders. One document shows every statutory requirement met. No preparation required.

  • School digital behaviour policy template
  • Staff AI tools policy (DfE June 2025 aligned)
  • Online safety statement for school website
  • Statutory alignment document for governors
  • Maps to: Online Safety Act, RSE, Education for a Connected World, DfE AI Guidance
  • UK Key Stage and Year Group on every lesson

School DiGi: safeguarding advisor

Educators get their own DiGi trained for safeguarding questions, statutory queries, and class preparation. GDPR compliant. No parent or child personal data visible to the school view.

Statutory alignment

Every legal requirement, covered

One printable document shows your governor every statutory requirement met. Built for Ofsted readiness.

Online Safety Act 2023

In force · Ofcom enforcing · Ofsted aware

Platforms must protect children. Schools must teach them to protect themselves. Guided Childhood provides the curriculum.

Statutory RSE & Health Education

Compulsory in all state schools from September 2020

Online safety is embedded throughout. Guided Childhood units directly cover the online safety components of both statutory subjects.

Education for a Connected World

UKCIS 2020 · DfE recommended

All 8 UKCIS framework areas covered across every Key Stage. Downloadable mapping document for Ofsted preparation included.

DfE AI in Education Guidance

June 2025 · AI literacy by 2027

DfE plans AI literacy in the national curriculum by 2027. Guided Childhood already delivers this from KS3 onwards. Stay ahead of the standard.

School pricing

From £49 per year

Individual
Teacher Licence
£49/year
 
  • Single educator login
  • All lesson plans all stages
  • CPD module access
  • School DiGi
Up to 300 pupils
Small School
£299/year
Most popular
  • Unlimited educator logins
  • Full curriculum pack
  • Assembly materials
  • Policy template
  • School dashboard
300–800 pupils
Medium School
£499/year
 
  • Everything in small
  • Parent evening pack
  • Staff training module
  • Priority support
800+ or multi-site
Large School / MAT
£999+
Custom pricing
  • Everything in medium
  • Multi-site dashboard
  • Co-branded materials
  • Bespoke onboarding

10% discount on 2-year school commitments  ·  Free assembly pack for all enquiries

Start with a free assembly pack

A 20-minute digital safety assembly, fully planned, no prep required. That is the entry point.

No commitment  ·  School licence only if you want one