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Who writes this, and how

Updated August 2026

Why this exists

I got tired of guessing. Every article about children and screens either told me my child's brain was being damaged or told me to relax, and almost none of them showed their working. So I started reading the papers instead of the headlines about the papers, and writing down the handful of things that actually held up.

Most of what I found was reassuring. The evidence that screen time in itself is wrecking children is much weaker than the coverage suggests. What does hold up is narrower and more useful: when screens happen, how they end, and what they crowd out.

How these guides are written

• Claims are linked. If a guide says the AAP recommends something, or that researchers measured something, there is a Sources block at the foot with the link.
• Limits are stated. Where a study is small, contested, or about a different age group than yours, the guide says so rather than hiding it.
• Nothing is invented. No made-up statistics, no borrowed credentials, no research I have not read.
• I include the findings that argue against me. The guides cite work showing total screen time predicts far less than people assume, even though I sell a screen-time guide.

What I am not

I have no clinical training and no qualification in child development. Nothing here is medical advice, and it is not a substitute for talking to your health visitor, GP, pediatrician or a speech and language therapist. If you are worried about your child's development, please talk to one of them. Several of the guides say exactly where that line is.

Why a pen name

I write as Sam because this is a small business run from a kitchen table, and I would rather keep my family's name off the internet. The parent part is true, the research is real and linked, and the email below reaches me personally.

What Soft Reset sells

One digital guide, in three tiers, plus printables. The guides on this site are free and always will be. If the free pages solve your problem, that is a good outcome and you owe me nothing.

Contact

Email hello@softresetbooks.com. It comes to me, not to a helpdesk, and I answer it myself. Refunds are handled the same way: email from the address you bought with, within 30 days, and you keep everything.