Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and moreStay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Remember the days of anxiously waiting for your sibling to get off the landline so you could take your turn? Of racking up your parents’ phone bill just to talk to your friend for hours about… God knows what? Well, turns out those days might not be over, as many parents are reinstating landline phones in their homes to prevent their kids from developing unhealthy screentime habits and strengthen their independence.Based in Portland, Maine, an advocacy group called Landline Kids is dedicated to “reducing screen dependence” and reviving meaningful conversations among children. The group helps families set up corded landlines at home and create “landline pods” — networks of households that allow kids to make pre-approved calls to each other, no texting or social media required.Another business that’s helped revive the landline is Tin Can, created by Chet Kittleson, a father of three kids — ages 10, eight, and five — based in Seattle, Washington. The idea came to him two years ago, when he and his fellow parents were organizing playdates for their kids and came to a hilarious epiphany: They were executive assistants to eight-year-olds, deciding when, where and how they were going to spend time together. “It was in the conversation where I had this realization that when we were kids, our first social network was the landline. And our kids did not have that social network,” he tells The Independent. Kittleson launched his line of “Flashback” landlines in 2024, described as the “phone of 80s childhood” that’s “usually mounted on a kitchen wall.” The phone — which is sold in pink, black, and white and costs $75 — is either plugged into your home internet router or the in-wall ethernet port.Tin Can users can choose between two phone plans. The free plan allows calls only to other Tin Can phones or 911, while a $9.99 monthly plan lets kids call any number. In both options, only approved contacts can reach the Tin Can, and parents can set specific hours for when the phone can be used or receive calls.open image in galleryTin Can’s landline phones for kids only take calls from pre-approved numbers (Tin Can)Kittleson’s mission is to give kids more independence and help them feel trusted by their parents from an early age by letting them organize their own playdates. He’s seen the impact firsthand in customer feedback — including one mother who said her child’s voice initially sounded shy and tentative while recording the Tin Can phone’s voicemail greeting. “Then over the course of a week, she noticed that her child had really found their voice and they were louder and more confident when they were speaking,” he says. Lauren Zemer, a mother of two sons, who are eight and five, has owned a Tin Can landline for the last year. She got the landline after talking to other mothers about their shared parenting realization: They weren’t going to allow their kids to get cell phones before eighth grade, but they still wanted them to be able to communicate with each other remotely.open image in galleryTin Can founder Chet Kittleson says landlines help his kids connect in a way social media doesn’t (Tin Can)Zemer says that with the landline, her children find value in boredom, as it forces them to make their own fun during playdates. For example, her eight-year-old recently said he wanted to make sure two of his friends brought their Pokéman cards when they came over. “He calls his friend on the Tin Can phone and they have a conversation about their plans,” she explains. “So it wasn’t mom managing children’s things. It was the kids managing their things. It’s independence. It’s autonomy. It’s having pro-social communication.”While the Zemer sees her children taking on responsibility and listening because of the landlines, that doesn’t mean they don’t have an eye on cellphones. She and her fellow mothers are always having conversations about how long kids should spend on the iPad, keeping them away from technology they don’t need, like smart watches, and barring them from social media.A recent census from Common Sense Media revealed that children between the ages of zero and eight spent nearly two and a half hours a day looking at screens in 2024. By the age of two, four in 10 children have their own tablet. Meanwhile, one in four kids already had a cellphone by the age of eight.open image in galleryParents say they’re also becoming closer to other parents because of their kids’ landline phones (Getty Images)Conversations also feel more genuine without the filter of texting — something Kittleson was reminded of when his 10-year-old daughter stayed in touch with a friend over the landline. The two girls talked twice a day for two weeks after both switched schools last year. “I don’t know that they would’ve been able to recognize this, but they were each other’s comfort zones. They were able to do that via the Tin Can,” he says. “When they’re in this space where they’re a little uncomfortable, they’re meeting new people and don’t feel at home. They were able to follow each other and sort of connect over that experience.” Obviously, the two 10-year-olds could have called each other on their iPhone 17s, but with the distractions of modern technology, it seems unlikely they would have spent as much time talking without resorting to texting or social media. “That’s such a great example to me of her being able to connect with a friend about something important happening in their lives, without it being organized by us or social media,” Kittleson says. “We call Tin Can a social network because a lot of the same exchanges that would happen online still happen via landline. It’s just not performative.” There are potential benefits of using the landline for parents, too. Zemer says having her Tin Can has helped her connect with other parents. During a recent playdate, she and another dad used their landlines to coordinate plans. What started as arranging childcare soon turned into an impromptu family dinner with both families. “I think Tin Can has made my friendships better. The kids are pulling the neighbors in, and then I’m saying, ‘Well, I’m already cooking for them. You might as well stay too,’” she says. “I feel like I have a much stronger and deeper relationship with my neighbors.”open image in galleryBy the age of two, four in 10 children have their own tablet, a recent census revealed (Getty Images)Of course, Zemer and Kittleson are both aware of the fact that their kids will need a cellphone eventually, and once their kids are around 15, they’ll have a conversation about that and social media. However, that doesn’t mean that they’ll be getting rid of their landlines any time soon.“Sometimes families have a phone docked in the kitchen. Or if you’re going somewhere, you can take the family cellphone and go out,” Zemer says. “In that regard, the equivalent of the Tin Can will still exist. As long as I can keep some kind of guardrails on when the phone rings and who’s calling, I think that will be an integral part of our lives.”
Source link
Parents are reverting to landline phones to stop their kids becoming smartphone addicts
