Do Smartphones Stunt Social Skills?
Are smartphones teaching kids to scroll instead of connect? Here’s how parents can raise confident, connected children in the digital age.
December 12, 2024
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One of the earliest life lessons we learn is to look both ways before crossing the street. Almost as soon as we could walk, our parents saw the need to protect us from the dangers of oncoming traffic.
What’s interesting is that this common safety skill is relatively new to the human family. It wasn’t until the late 1920s that cars became commonplace and stepping into the street without a good look suddenly became a real danger.
While most of us have a hard time imagining a world without cars, protecting our kids from new forms of traffic is actually one thing we have in common with parents from the early decades of the 20th century.
The traffic we worry about today is digital, but no less dangerous — and in many ways, much more difficult to protect our kids from. When it comes to safely navigating a digital world, we don’t have a one-size-fits-all solution like “look both ways before crossing the street.”
Kid Safe Cell Phones
One of today’s trickiest parenting challenges is knowing when to give a child personal access to the internet through their own cell phone.
Pew Research Center found that 73% of parents think a child should be at least 12-years-old before having their own smartphone. But that means more than a quarter of parents disagree.
Even within the group that sees age 12 as an acceptable starting point, opinions vary widely on the exact right age.
The right age will depend on your child. But just as you taught your kid to look both ways before crossing the street, you want to be confident your child is armed with some basic digital literacy before you give them tools to roam online without you.
In fact, knowing when the right time is to give mobile phones to kids is the reason Gabb was started in the first place.
Gabb’s first innovation, the Gabb Phone Z1, was specifically created to give parents a safe phone option that does more and looks cooler than an old-school flip phone (so your kids actually want it). The latest evolutions of that — Gabb Phone and Gabb Phone Pro — come from the same conviction that parents deserve better options when it comes to helping their kids learn tech in steps.
You know your child better than anyone. Consider their maturity level to decide when to give them full access to the internet.
For example:
- Your child’s grades at school might suggest how well they’re able to prioritize and manage time.
- Whether they hold a job or commit to extracurricular activities might show you something about their level of responsibility.
- What are your child’s sleep habits? Smartphone usage can negatively impact your child’s sleep, causing health problems.
The list goes on. If you’re in the thick of this right now then you might want to check out our full Parents Guide for help as you make this decision.
If you’ve decided your child is ready for an internet-enabled smartphone then be sure to explore the parental controls available on your selected device. It will be important to help them balance their smartphone habits to limit the chance of excessive screen time and negate the dangers of social media, among other concerns.
If you feel like your child might not be quite ready for social media or an internet browser on their personal device, Gabb has got you covered.
Gabb devices were designed specifically to help you guide your child as they take steps from “no tech” to “full tech.”
Our Gabb Watch provides the very first step into digital communication — it’s the safe phone kids wear. Beyond Gabb Watch, Gabb Phone and Gabb Phone Pro are safe smartphones that provide those helpful next steps.
Once a device is chosen, parents can choose a plan tailored to the needs of their child: starter, standard, or advanced.
Is There a Phone for Kids with No Internet?
Yes! Gabb Phone is the perfect kid phone without internet. The device looks like a typical smartphone and comes with features kids need, but none of the dangerous or distracting apps they don’t.
Looking for phones for 10 year olds? Gabb Phone may be the perfect fit with the following features:
Text and Call
If you’re considering a phone for your child, then talk and text are two features you probably aren’t willing to go without. Gabb Phone comes with unlimited calling and text messages through the nation’s most reliable network.
Unlike workaround options (like using WiFi calling on an iPod touch) you know you can get in contact with your child whenever you need to. And as soon as your child has shown they’re ready for picture messages, parents can enable MMS messaging.
GPS Tracking
Location tracking is one of the most important safety features for a kid’s first phone so Gabb Phone lets parents monitor their child’s real-time location 24/7.
The active GPS tracker on their phone is accessible through the MyGabb app (available for download through the app stores on both Apple and Android phones), which lets you select safe zones, adjust how frequently their location is updated, and more.
The MyGabb app also makes it really easy to track down their phone if it gets lost, which is bound to happen at least once or twice. Not only will the app display the location of the lost device but you can choose to trigger a sound on the phone to help you find it.
Additional Features
Gabb Messenger is the first messaging and video calling app of its kind. It was created specifically with kid’s safety as the top priority. Gabb Messenger is available exclusively on Gabb phones and allows kids to safely send texts, group chats, images, videos, and voice notes.
Gabb Messenger uses smart filtering to block high-risk content such as explicit images, links from unknown contacts, or harmful words. Parents are notified whenever such messages are sent or received.
Bonus feature: parents don’t need a separate app to communicate with their kids! Messages sent from Gabb Messenger come straight to your own device’s messaging app.
Gabb Guard comes standard on all Gabb phones. This spam blocking technology stops over 90% of suspected spam calls from reaching kids’ Gabb phones, ensuring a safer phone free from spam or unknown callers.
In addition to those key features, Gabb Phone comes with 14 preloaded, kid-safe apps, including: video and camera, music, calendar, calculator, alarm clock, and photos.
The Safest Kids Phone in the World
As important as those features are, you’re probably just as interested in the features we left out.
One thing that sets our Starter bundle apart from other options is that it has no internet, no social media, and no games. This means you get peace of mind as a parent — without any need to customize settings or enable apps — and they get a smartphone they’re excited about.
Gabb Phone Pro: The Flexible Phone Built for Teens™
Through flexible bundle options that allow mom and dad to set up the perfect first phone with just the basics, or add features and apps for the kids and teens who need more, Gabb Phone Pro is a device you can tailor to teens or big kids’ evolving needs. The Advanced bundle comes with the ability for parents to enable third-party apps that have been reviewed by Gabb.
Third-Party Apps: Gabb-Reviewed, Parent-Enabled.
Parents can enable additional apps on their teen’s phone through My Account These apps have been requested by our customers as a necessity or help, and each has been carefully reviewed by Gabb.
Although we don’t allow any browser or social media apps on our devices, parents need to be aware that enabling third-party apps comes with the risk that your child may be able to access embedded web browsers found inside an app. These browsers could potentially allow users to access the internet or even social media platforms.
Every app comes with its own functionality and inherent risks, but our Gabb App Reviews can assist you in making the best choices and help you stay informed on the abilities and potential hazards of each app — including whether an app includes an embedded web browser.
We encourage parents to take a thoughtful approach by considering your child’s individual maturity level when deciding what apps to enable, and which device is best for them.
Your Opinion Matters
We can all benefit and learn from each other as we tackle new parenting topics our ancestors never had to deal with. Do you believe it’s essential for kids to have internet access on their phones? What are your thoughts on the advantages and drawbacks of granting them access at a young age?
Leave your thoughts below in the comments.
Author Jake Cutler
Jake is Gabb Now's managing editor. He and his wife have three wild little boys. Prior to Gabb, Jake was a band manager and adjunct faculty in the English department at BYU and BYU-Hawaii. His own writing has been published by Esquire, Forbes, Elsewhere, Iron Horse Literary Review, and others.
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