Sure, we should always be cautious and invested in our kids’ tech experiences, but we believe that with Troomi, parents and kids can work together to create safe, empowering technology habits that will serve our kids well their entire lives. So without further ado, here are five reasons you don’t need to be afraid of giving your child a phone.
1. There really are safe phones out there.
If we know parents (and we think we do!), one of the scariest aspects of handing a child a smartphone is the risks to their safety. Cyberbullying, scammers, pornography, and exposure to other problematic content are all legitimate concerns, not to mention the idea of strangers being able to contact your child without them knowing.
Troomi works to combat all these issues with the ability to safelist phone numbers, email addresses, and web domains. That means you can enter trusted contacts and websites, and your child won’t be able to contact or access any outside of the safelists. And when your child is ready to use educational apps, you can add access to safe KidSmart™ apps vetted by experts. Troomi phones don’t have any social media, so you won’t have to worry about them being contacted by strangers there either.
All of this is managed through the Parent Portal, where you can also see all the phone’s activity and manage functionality. You’ll access the Parent Portal on your own phone or by desktop. Military grade security and the fact that access and functionality are managed externally mean these phones can’t be hacked.
Troomi also adds peace of mind with GPS, so you can always know the location of your child’s phone. And what’s not to like about your child being able to contact you whenever needed?
2. Phones don’t have to be addicting and distracting.
We’ve all heard—and many of us have experienced—the stories: a child or teen gets a cell phone, their grades start to suffer, they lose interest in other hobbies, because their attention is so focused on texting their friends, scrolling social media, or getting to that next level on whatever game they’re playing. They’re distracted, and sometimes even addicted, by the constant stimulation that phones offer.
Troomi phones don’t include any addictive games or social media apps, and we encourage parents to introduce their kids to phones gradually and deliberately. Parents can introduce technology step by step as their child grows and matures, setting up healthy tech habits for life. This approach takes the focus off the phone as a tyrant and helps it be a tool for empowerment, learning, and success.
3. You can help your child avoid mental health pitfalls related to tech.
If you’ve looked at any news lately, you’ve heard that internal Facebook documents recently revealed that Instagram can be particularly dangerous to teen girls’ mental health. Besides that, kids face struggles with comparison and perfectionism associated with social media in general.
We’ve mentioned that there’s no social media on Troomi phones, so that helps address this risk right off the bat. We’re also focused on the parent-child relationship here at Troomi, and we encourage parents to have open conversations with their kids about tech so they can be there as sounding boards when kids run into things that bring bad feelings.
4. The logistics of a phone for your kids can be simple.
Another fear that can crop up as parents consider a phone for their kids is that it can be expensive, right? You spend a decent amount of money on a device that your amazing-but-not-quite-fully-responsible kid may damage or break, you figure out how to get the phone service . . . and by the time all that is done, your child is well on their way to outgrowing the phone. The money spent, and potentially wasted, can feel overwhelming.
At Troomi, our hope is to make things simple and affordable. We have partnered with Samsung to offer quality phones that will last (and that your child will actually want to use). Our plans are affordable, ranging from $14.95–24.95/month, and functionality ranges from just talk and text to access to our suite of vetted KidSmart™ apps. Adjust the phone to your child’s needs, so you only pay for the functionality they use, and the phone can grow with your child.
5. A phone can actually improve face-to-face communication.
It sounds counterintuitive, but tech can actually improve relationships, not only with people physically far away that we contact through technology, but also with people we see every day. As we said earlier, Troomi is set up to strengthen relationships between parents and kids. We believe that the best tech experiences will happen as parents and kids learn together. As they work together on good technology habits, both sides can learn to communicate more effectively. Kids can learn to express needs, share feelings, and ask for help.
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So what do you think? Parenting in general can bring up a lot of fears, but we hope we’ve soothed some of the fears related to technology. Here at Troomi, we really believe we’re all in this together, and together, we can make it work!
