Children’s smartwatches are a stripped-down version of a typical smartwatch, and they allow parents to restrict app downloads, usage and calls from an approved list of contacts.
All of that you can do with a phone too. I do admit thought the argument of not losing it as easily since its on your arm makes sense.
Unless your kid, I don’t know, takes it off for some reason and leaves it at school over the weekend. Hypothetical, of course. Hasn’t happened to me once… or 4 times even.
If you restrict the crap out of the phones so there is not much interesting to do for kids, it will have similar effects. E.g. they complain about YouTube on their kids phones, block it. Complain about games, don’t let them install them.
I’m sure, but a watch is 1000% more convenient if you don’t need any normal smart phone functionality (social media, games, internet access, media player, etc…). Its simpler to not have the option to use those features at all than to blacklist everything.
On top of that, it’s less likely to get lost or dropped/damaged like a flip phone. Probably has better battery life too. For small form-factor messaging + GPS its the most functional package.
All of that you can do with a phone too. I do admit thought the argument of not losing it as easily since its on your arm makes sense.
Unless your kid, I don’t know, takes it off for some reason and leaves it at school over the weekend. Hypothetical, of course. Hasn’t happened to me once… or 4 times even.
Difference is the school isn’t going to confiscate my kid’s watch (yet)
I think you’re far less likely to spend a lot of screen time on a watch, hence the article
If you restrict the crap out of the phones so there is not much interesting to do for kids, it will have similar effects. E.g. they complain about YouTube on their kids phones, block it. Complain about games, don’t let them install them.
I’m sure, but a watch is 1000% more convenient if you don’t need any normal smart phone functionality (social media, games, internet access, media player, etc…). Its simpler to not have the option to use those features at all than to blacklist everything.
On top of that, it’s less likely to get lost or dropped/damaged like a flip phone. Probably has better battery life too. For small form-factor messaging + GPS its the most functional package.