Celebs Go Dating coach Anna Williamson spoke to the Mirror about parenting amid concerns over technology and social media after hosting the Great British Phone Switch
Anna Williamson has opened up her approach to parenting, including revealing some of the rules that are in place within her home. The Celebs Go Dating coach offered advice to other parents whilst discussing her own experience.
The life coach and presenter, 43, has two children with her husband Alex Di Pasquale, 36. The couple, who have now been together for more than a decade, are parents to an eight-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter together.
Anna spoke to the Mirror about her family earlier this week whilst reflecting on the Great British Phone Swap. The Channel 4 show, in partnership with Tesco Mobile, sees parents swap phone habits with their children for 48 hours.
Fronted by Anna and clinical psychologist Dr Martha Deiros Collado, the experiment explores topics including online safety and the use of AI. Each parent and child duo left the experience with a set of goals for their family, such as scheduled time away from devices and weekly check-ins.
Asked her main takeaway, Anna said it was “boundaries” and having “healthy, open communication”. “Boundaries being time when you are not on your phone and I think we found that was really beneficial for all families,” she added.
The show also saw parents introduced to their kids’ lives on platforms like TikTok. Anna said: “When [they] lent into the teenager’s worlds, they were actually less fearful about what was happening because they understood it better.”
Although her own kids aren’t on social media, Anna revealed that her eldest child is now starting to ask when he will be allowed a phone. She shared that even though he doesn’t have one yet, she’s already using parental control on games and apps that he’s interested in on another device.
Concerns over screen time were raised on the Great British Phone Swap and Anna teased that she can relate to the other parents. Asked what the dynamic is like in her family, she told us: “We’re always fighting against screen time in my house but very much we try and lead from example.”
Anna said it’s “very difficult” as a parent because “a lot of our work nowadays is online”. She said that can be tough to convey to kids, who may interpret their parents being on devices as them playing a game or browsing social media.
Although that may sometimes be the case, Anna encourages leading by example. She said in our interview: “The approach of ‘just do it because I said,’ it doesn’t really wash because you’re typically gonna get a child that will rebel. They won’t trust you, they won’t lean in to you, they won’t talk to you and they will just do it anyway.”
Anna said that she tries to make sure that her own devices are away as much as possible between the time that she picks her kids up from school and their bedtime. She then explained: “I might jump on later on and reply to emails and do a lot of my messaging after that.”
She said that as a result when she’s trying to get her kids off their devices they know that she’s “boundaried” with her own. Anna revealed that her kids get an hour of screen time each per day, which they can use when they want.
Anna said their allowance could be used before or after school, through “approved apps” or “things they wanna watch”. She said that her son may choose to use his hour altogether on completing a video game level, for example, rather than taking it in scattered periods over the day.
“It’s teaching your children that they do have a choice but they have a choice within your boundaries,” Anna said. Summarising her approach, she added: “So we try and keep reduced screen time. We do have parental controls. I do keep a very close eye on what my children are watching.”
Anna went on to discuss one participant in the show having suggested that their generation spent time outside, rather than playing on devices, as children. The podcast host however said that it’s the “reality” of the world we live in now.
She said: “I do think that we have to accept where we are. We always evolve, we have to evolve. […] I think as we portray in the Great British Phone Switch phones aren’t a bad thing. Tech isn’t a bad thing. But it’s about consuming the right things on it and that’s the important thing here.”
Anna, who said that parents are “always grappling” with issues like screen time and whether to let their children have a phone, told us that she doesn’t support banning technology at home. She said: “What I always say is that banning it completely I don’t believe is a particularly useful or helpful idea in the long run.”
She explained: “Because what you ban, you’re not teaching someone to use it sensibly. The analogy being; you wouldn’t just stick a 17 year old out in a car without giving them driving lessons to teach them how to drive it safely.”
Anna suggested that the same benefits apply to technology. She said: “It’s exactly the same with tech – you need to teach your children how to navigate it. Where the pitfalls are, where the hazards are, where the safe spaces are.”
She added that banning it completely doesn’t give kids the “skills” and the “tools” that they need in the modern world. Anna however suggested that it doesn’t mean children should have no restrictions when it comes to using devices.
“The heavy caveat is to not be consumed by it and to make sure there are other things going on in your life that are face-to-face,” she said. “Making sure that those interpersonal skills are just as acute as their digital skills.”
Anna also shared that she isn’t letting her kids on social media at the moment and opened up about no longer showing their faces on her own Instagram. She recalled making the decision a few years ago when she “became increasingly aware around consent”. She said that although her job in the public eye is a choice that she has made, the same can’t be said for her kids.
“I didn’t want my children to be in a position where they thought I’d made the wrong decision for them,” she said. Anna went on to say: “I’m not shading anyone that does choose to share their children or their families online. I think everyone makes the right choice for them and their family.”
All five episodes of the Great British Phone Swap are available now through Channel 4.
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