Why I’ve Chosen Pinwheel as the best ‘First Phone’ Choice
By far two of the questions I get asked the most as a Digital Media Wellness Educator are:
What is the right age to give my child a phone?
Are there any safe ‘first phone’ options?
The first question is one that I’ve answered before in a previous article which is worth a read if you’re on the fence on whether your child is ready for a smartphone.
For a long time the second question was hard to answer. There were few options on the market for parents who wanted a way to get in touch with their kids and give their kids a way of communicating for safety reasons. Some opted for flip phones, others for basic children’s smart watches and ultimately many parents simply gave in and bought their kids a smartphone which they then had to lock down and police constantly - not ideal.
I kept searching for better solutions and came up empty handed. Until this past year when I was introduced to Pinwheel. Pinwheel is a smartphone designed for kids by parents who weren’t happy with the tech options already out there. The Pinwheel phone is more than just a smartphone, it’s a tool created to help support you and your family introduce technology to your kids and teens in a healthy, non-addictive way.
What Makes Pinwheel Different
A Real Solution
Pinwheel has been designed to evolve and grow alongside your child. Pinwheel’s Operating System upgrades over stage and age development.
Safelist Contacts
No more worrying about spam calls or texts from unapproved contacts! Each contact on your child or teen’s Pinwheel phone must be approved by you.
No Internet
That’s right. There is no internet access. No browser options.
Curated Apps
Pinwheel’s Appstore, which is only shown to parents and caregivers, has been carefully curated and approved by a board of child and family therapists so you know your little one can safely navigate their apps unsupervised.
Modes
You can set your Pinwheel phone to be in certain modes throughout the day, giving your child or teen access to specific features during different times. You can also add routines and checklists to your modes that teach your little ones healthy habits.
This sounded to me like the phone I would design if I could! So I reached out to the company to ask if I could try the phone out with my 11 ½ year old son. They responded immediately and were really enthusiastic about me and my son test driving the phone.
The phone arrived and my son was instantly impressed. It is a real phone - not a toy, and not babyish. The parent dashboard on my computer allowed me to select apps for his phone and the times of day in which they are available to him. He has his Spotify on there, google maps, text, phone and a great camera. If I want to, I can add other fun creative apps like Canva, Chess, Khan Academy, Epic reader, Audible - there are lots of great app choices that parents can feel good about.
We’ve been using the phone for about a month and I have to say the best thing about it is that he likes it, but he also totally ignores it when he doesn’t need to use it- meaning he doesn’t feel ANY PULL towards it! It is a great useful tool and not a supercomputer with access to any entire overwhelming world of information!
So I’m sold. I really believe that Pinwheel is the perfect option for parents of younger kids who want a way to stay in touch, vet contacts, track location and teach digital citizenship skills.
I’m thrilled to give you the opportunity to buy Pinwheel at 10% off with my affiliate link and code. Full disclosure, I do get a small commission from Pinwheel for those who use my link to purchase, but the truth is I would never affiliate myself with a company I didn’t 100% stand behind.
Want to learn more or go ahead an order a Pinwheel phone? Use this link and you’ll get 10% off!
And of course, please feel free to reach out to me if you want to discuss or have any questions about getting your child their first phone. Good Luck!