Kid-Friendly Phones Are Replacing Smartphones for Children

Kid-Friendly Phones Are Replacing Smartphones for Children

Kid-Friendly Phones Are Giving Parents a New Alternative to Smartphones Parents who want to stay connected with their children without giving them unrestricted access to the internet are increasingly turning to kid-friendly phones. These devices offer calling, texting, location sharing and other familiar smartphone features, but limit or remove access to social media, app stores, web browsers and other online distractions. The market is now expanding beyond basic “first phones.” Companies are taking different approaches to the same problem: giving children communication tools while allowing parents to control how much digital access they receive. Some products offer heavily monitored smartphones that can become more capable over time. Others remove most online features entirely. A third group is bringing back the home phone in a modern, child-focused form. The most important development is not simply that more companies are selling safer phones for children. It is that the market is begi…