We warmly invite primary schools to participate in this study. Participation means that, over the course of one school year, we will visit the classroom five times to administer a questionnaire (approximately 30 minutes each time). The schedule will always be coordinated with the school and the teacher.

We will handle the parental consent procedure, so that the administrative burden for the school is kept to a minimum.

We would also like to give something back. In addition to a small gift for participating classes (for example, a bookstore gift card), we can also offer, if desired:

• An interactive lesson in which our experts engage students in discussions about responsible smartphone and social media use.

• An (online) information session in which our experts speak with teachers and parents/guardians.

We are currently looking for schools that would like to participate in this study. Would you like your child’s school to take part? If so, you can share this website with the school board or a contact person at the school. Thank you in advance!

After a school registers, we always ask parents/guardians for active consent. Students can only participate if this consent is provided. All data will be fully anonymized and processed in accordance with applicable privacy laws (GDPR).

Please note that this study does not aim to encourage or discourage parents from giving their child a smartphone. The decision about whether and when your child gets a smartphone is entirely yours. We focus only on studying the effects of this decision.

As a token of appreciation, each participating class will receive a small gift in consultation with the school administration (for example, a bookstore gift card). In addition, after the study is completed, we offer an interactive lesson for participating classes in which we provide practical tips on responsible smartphone and social media use.

We understand that you may be interested in what researchers say about this topic. Therefore, we offer an (online) information session for parents and guardians of participating classes, where our experts share current scientific insights and practical guidance.

No, it does not matter whether your child has a smartphone. We are looking for participants both with and without smartphones. 

The questionnaires include questions about the child’s daily experiences and activities. For example, about how often the child feels happy or sad, how often they play outside, and how well they can concentrate at school. These questionnaires are appropriate for children and are commonly used in research.

The questionnaires are designed to match the children’s age. Through age-appropriate language, visual design, and playful elements, we aim to make the questionnaires engaging to complete.

The completed questionnaires are processed only in anonymized form. This means that even we as researchers cannot link responses to individual children. We comply with applicable privacy laws (GDPR) and never share personal data with third parties.

Due to privacy regulations, it is not possible for parents to view their child’s completed questionnaires.

Throughout the study, we will regularly share updates about the project with participating schools, students, and parents/guardians.