Family.ie advises parents to spend time talking to children in pre-teen years before they naturally pull away and to “control what you can control” – in particular getting phones out of bedrooms.

The problem with children checking their phones at 2.00 a.m. is they “go to bed buzzing and can’t get to sleep”. The next day they are completely exhausted, not performing their best at school and so their confidence is knocked. “It’s a whole cycle.”