This year my oldest daughter entered the tweens, and with a move to a new state this summer and a new school, it felt like the right time for her to have a way to get a hold of family (and vice versa), while practicing some independence. However, a smartphone didn’t feel like the right choice for her — or for me.
Some experts recommend giving kids a phone between the ages 10 to 14 years old, or about sixth grade, and although we wanted our 9-year-old to have some sort of communication tool, she wasn’t ready for the Wild West of smartphones.
It was on Instagram that I first noticed kids wearing smartwatches. Some of the influencers I follow were posting about the Gabb Watch, a smartwatch designed for kids, and my curiosity was piqued.
My husband and I wanted to be able to see where our daughter was after school, and we wanted her to be able to communicate with us when she wasn’t home, giving her some autonomy while she was learning healthy, age-appropriate technology skills. A smartwatch checked all of those boxes.
The market for these watches has picked up speed in the past few years as parents have realized there is a real need for a communication tool that acts like a phone with training wheels. Experts say kids need an entry point to learn how to be responsible tech users. They need to learn the basics, from how to charge a device to how not to lose that device, and also learn how to navigate the complexities of tech etiquette and, perhaps most importantly, how not to let a device take over your life.
A new report says that 56% of parents want their child to have a cellphone for communication at school. Smartwatches are a great alternative that discourage overuse because of their tiny screens, and encourage safe communication, such as texting and calling family and friends.
Since the early 2010s, with the development and the release of popular smartwatches like the Apple Watch, these wearable mobile computing devices have helped adults track their steps, check the time, and, in my case, find my phone. It’s only natural that I would want the capability to find my kid, too.
Most smartwatches designed for kids are targeted for ages 5 to 12, and offer features like messaging and calling capabilities, GPS tracking and parental controls like a preapproved list of contacts. We settled on the Gabb Watch 2 because of the middling price point ($150 for the watch and $15 a month for cellular service), the parental controls and the simplicity of its features (like the list of 20 pre-composed text message options), and to be honest, the influence of people talking it up on Instagram.
Gabb is a Utah tech company that started fundraising with a Kickstarter campaign in 2019 with the mission to make a phone for kids with parental protections not available on your average smartphone. After the successful introduction of the Gabb Phone, Gabb developed a “wearable” in 2021 — the Gabb Watch.
With the recent release of the Gabb Watch 3, Gabb CEO Nate Randle and Colin Cole, the company’s vice president of product who designed the Gabb watch, talked to me about Gabb’s mission to “connect and protect.”
Cole explained that smartwatches designed for kids have to be for kids first: “Ultimately, we can put all the safety features in a watch, but if a kid chooses not to charge the product or not take it to school, all those features are irrelevant because they’re not on the kid. We want kids to feel confident; we want them to feel safe; we want them to feel something different when wearing our product.”
The concept of safety and smart tech is a delicate needle to thread since we now know more than ever about the dangers of what Randle calls “too much tech, too soon.” Helping kids learn how to use technology as a powerful tool through monitored exposure over time can help them avoid real risks, he said.
For parents of the under-18 crowd, the past several years have felt a series of successive scary headlines. This year, the U.S. surgeon general warned about the impact of social media on kids’ mental health. An American Psychological Association panel suggested, “Just as we require young people to be trained in order to get a driver’s license, our youth need instruction in the safe and healthy use of social media.” And Utah is among a number of states trying to craft restrictions on social media use among kids.
But social media is just one facet of smartphones and smart tech. Kids need practice to learn how to be responsible tech users.
As Randle said, “You’d never let your kids go into the deep end of the swimming pool without swim lessons, floaties and lots of practice and supervision. But with tech, we give kids devices, we lose sight of what’s going on, and we’re shocked that they’re drowning at the bottom of the tech swimming pool. We’re doing our best to educate parents and celebrate the safety of kids.”
There’s a phrase common in modern therapy speak: Avoidance feeds anxiety. Intentional exposure to safe communication tools like smartwatches can help parents feel in control of the tech tools in their children’s life.
Just like any other form of tech, smartwatches are not without their issues; there have been concerns about privacy, security and data collection, for example. However, the more tailored smartwatches designed for kids become, the more the companies who make them can better address these concerns. It’s up to parents and caregivers to check devices’ privacy settings and, as the website Common Sense suggests, “Make informed decisions about which smartwatches to buy and use.”
Sarah Coyne is a professor at Brigham Young University who studies the effect of media on children and families; she is also the associate director of the School of Family Life, as well as a mom of five children. Her 10-year-old wears a smartwatch because “as a developmental psychologist, I love that the watch is developmentally appropriate. It teaches some great skills to my younger kids to help them get ready for the larger responsibility of a cell phone and social media. It’s a great first step.”
Coyne says there is no specific age that smartwatches may be appropriate or specific boundaries that should be in place — it’s up to families to make those measured decisions. The good news about smartwatches for kids is that because of safety features available on most watches, families can adapt usage to what works best for them.
My daughter has been using her Gabb watch daily for the past six weeks, and over that time, she’s gotten more consistent at remembering to wear it and charging it nightly in the kitchen. We’ve all been enjoying the ability for her to roam the neighborhood a little more freely since I can check her location and call her when it’s time to come home for dinner.
On particularly tricky days at a new school, I’ve sent her “I love you” texts that I know she’ll see during recess and lunchtime. And getting an “I love you” text back has felt like a fulfillment of the promise of communication technology — enhancement of our most meaningful relationships.
Smartphones are everywhere these days. In fact, it's hard to image life without them. So what's the problem with young kids and smartphones? As a parent, you no doubt know other parents whose elementary-school aged kids have smartphones. They may have told you they feel better knowing they can get a hold of their child when necessary, or that a tracking app on the phone gives them peace of mind. These are popular reasons why kids often have smartphones. In fact, a 2019 survey showed that more than half of kids have a smartphone by the age of 11 and that trend has only grown in the time since. Unfortunately, there are several reasons why this phenomenon is problematic.
First, smartphones are designed to be used by adults. At the root of the problem is that smartphones are adult devices, designed for adult use. While more parental control features have emerged in recent years, these have been widely recognized as unreliable. And ultimately, the same addictive programming sits inside the device, regardless of the content restrictions a parent may try and apply. In the same way as kids need special accommodations in cars during their early years, treating technology as ageless simply doesn't work.
Second, smartphones aren’t the only option for keeping track of or contacting your child. These are the two main reasons parents give for buying their kids a smartphone. The right kids phone watch allows you to call your child—but only you and other people you place on a list of approved contacts can call them. Internet access and social media apps should be completely blocked, and the built-in GPS tracker should allow real-time monitoring of your child’s location. Most importantly, these devices are designed specifically to allow kids more freedom while protecting them and providing you peace of mind.
For all of these reasons, more and more parents are searching for quality smartphone alternatives. They want a kid-first and the best kids GPS tracker, not just a generic adult device. They want tech designed for kids, not repackaged adult technology. When it comes to smartwatches for kids, it's hard not to see the advantages.
Read our kids smartwatch purchasing guide if you are considering getting one for your child.
So why opt for a kids smartwatch instead of a smartphone? Here are the top 10 reasons.