Upcoming dates: Primary & Secondary Schools. Leeds, 14th November 2025. Open to schools nationally.
The device wise reduction programme has been designed and developed by Dr Charlotte Armitage. The aim of the programme is to encourage children to become more consciously aware of their device use and the impact that that their device use has on their physical and psychological wellbeing, as well as on their ability to function at school, at home and in their relationships.
Through this programme, children are gradually encouraged to reduce the time spent on their devices, whilst paying attention to what this feels like, both positive and negative. The objective of the programme is to facilitate a change in attitudes towards device use and to empower individuals to make a more informed choice regarding their device use.
Problem: The overuse of devices in children and adolescents is contributing to significant problems with motor, cognitive, sensory-motor, language, socio-emotional and psychological development. Please see our science tab for further information.
Solution: An intervention to help children and adolescents to develop conscious awareness surrounding how devices impact them so that they can make healthier and informed choices now and in the future.
Intervention: The Be Device Wise Reduction Programme is a cognitive-behavioural based intervention to help children and adolescents develop awareness surrounding how devices impact their health, relationships and functioning, delivered in a collaborative way.
We believe in working in a collaborative manner with children to help them establish what feels useful for them. We ask children to decide on how and where they can reduce their device use, what feels achievable, we then explore how this felt for them in the following session. Children are provided with education about health, wellbeing, self care, boundaries and device use to support them in developing self awareness surrounding their own device use. Education about device use is age appropriate and pertains mainly to their own insights.
Local authorities and schools may wish to read the science section of the website. This page highlights the scientific evidence base which provides the rationale supporting the development of device reduction strategies, namely the ‘Be Device Wise: Device Reduction Programme.’
