My 14-year-old is constantly begging for a smartphone, and I’ve been looking into those stripped-down devices meant for younger children to keep them off social media. I know they block the browser and unapproved contacts, but I’m worried a tech-savvy teen might easily find workarounds or completely reject something clearly designed for little kids. Has anyone here given one of these basic devices to an older teen, and did it actually protect them without causing a massive daily argument?
Honestly, at 14 those “kids phones” like Gabb or GreatCall are a tough sell — most teens figure out workarounds within a week or just refuse to carry it, which defeats the whole point. A better middle ground is usually a real Android with Google Family Link or an iPhone with Screen Time enabled, since you still control app approvals and screen time limits but it doesn’t look like a little kid’s phone. The secret weapon is honestly just keeping them on a shared family plan where you can see the bill — teens care way more about not losing their data than about outsmarting parental controls.