Considering a smartphone for your child? Read this first!
Your One Step:
✓ If you're considering a smartphone for your child, take the time to understand all of your options.
We encourage families to delay mobile phones as long as possible and then take it slowly. As parents, there may come a time when we want to be able to communicate with our kids on the go, but we also want to avoid unnecessary risks, harms, and nonstop distractions so our kids are safe and healthy. No mobile communication options are perfect, but we do have some choice.
Parents who are ready to give their child a phone often don’t feel sufficiently informed to select an age-appropriate options for their child. And when they do get a phone for their child, many feel regretful and overwhelmed by the resulting parenting challenges.
To help parents understand the options and choose the least amount of tech to meet changing communication needs, we created a matrix that outlines the range of current options. The phones and watches below allow your child to stay in touch while avoiding unnecessary risks and needless distractions.
Simple Phone & Watch Options
We recommend downloading this PDF and using the active links to research and learn about the many options for simple phones and watches. To understand the matrix, let’s walk through it.
Looking from left to right, the matrix shows several alternatives ranging from no mobile phone to a stripped down iPhone. Looking top to bottom, the toggle icon (in black or green) indicates additional features that can be enabled or turned off, depending on the product.
Basic features like calling and texting can meet the communication needs of children and families, and many products can be set up without additional features and apps that often become an unhelpful distraction. Keep in mind Apple iPhones are designed for adults, so they require an increased level of understanding and management to keep kids safe.
Is a simple iPhone possible?
This image is an actual iPhone for an actual 7th grader. His parents wanted to allow basic communication but delay other features until they felt their son was in high school and more mature.
Use our tutorial video below to set up an iPhone with limited features. For example, you can allow only texting, FaceTime, and phone calls while choosing to remove the App Store, Safari (internet access), as well as time-zapping apps like YouTube, video games, and social media. Managing a stripped-down iPhone takes more vigilance and the ability to say no when your child asks for access to more apps and features, so this option has its own pros and cons.
Video Tutorial: Setting up a First iPhone
Our top suggestions for saying yes to a first phone:
Delay as long as you can. Getting a landline helps.
Take it slowly. Very, very slowly. Visit our Giving a First Phone page to help guide you.
Keep it Simple. Choose the minimum amount of tech to fit the needs of your family. For example, if the need is to communicate with parents and friends while on the go, a basic smartwatch can be a good solution.
Find inventive ways to take collective action so it’s easier to meet basic communication needs while avoiding harm. For example, see if parents around you want to get the same Ooma or Tin Can landline or pick the same basic phone or watch so herd mentality flips toward the greater good!
More apps and features on a phone means MORE parenting for you plus more distraction and risk for your child. To simplify your parenting role, delay unnecessary features.
No social media apps until the beginning of high school at the earliest.
Remember to set up a phone for a young user before handing it over to your child. Most phones are set up by default for adults, not kids. Even products “made for children” need to be set up by an adult to remove unnecessary distractions. If you’re considering an iPhone, watch how to set up a barebones iPhone for a child.
Let’s reclaim childhood for its developmental purpose: to play, be outdoors, develop life skills and competence, and spend time in real life with other people. A phone should be a helpful tool to support these goals, not displace them.
Need more help?
If you’re looking for more support around giving your child a phone, reach out to our team of consultants at info@screensense.org. We can help you strip down an iPhone, set up Apple Screen Time, prepare to give your child a first phone, or reel in current phone use.