News PSHE: Living and Learning in Lockdown 11.02.2021

On Tuesday evening we were absolutely delighted that a record number of Godolphin parents joined us for Dr Bettina Hohnen and Dr Jane Gilmour’s webinar on ‘The teenage brain: living and learning in lockdown’. The topic is very pertinent and 307 people dialled-in for advice, guidance and ideas on how we can find the balance in a world that is anything but balanced and is creating additional stresses and strains in our relationships with our children as we all live, learn and work together.

Dr Hohnen and Dr Gilmour explored the role of the parent in providing their children with delight and comfort, boundaries and protection, and to support and equip, and encouraged parents to be ‘building your relationship with your child so you can attend to their needs and build a pathway where they can learn to deal with pain with someone’.

They also tackled the thorny issue of screen time and mobile phones including the very useful recommendation that parents should differentiate between the time that children spend on their phones socialising with friends – which can be one of the few ways they can remain connected – and surfing the YouTube channels. They were also unequivocal that mobile phones and devices should be kept out of the bedroom at night-time.

The second half of the session invited questions from the parents online and we sadly ran out of time, such was the engagement and enthusiasm of everyone attending. Bettina and Jane hope to follow-up more questions on their social media channels and we will endeavour to run another session later in the year.