Kids need to be connected and independent.
Without the technology.
Why a Landline?
Landline phones can be beneficial for children and young adults as they offer a focused communication experience, fostering better listening and conversation skills, and can be a safer alternative to smartphones.
Here are a few of the benefits:
Enhanced Communication Skills
Landline conversations, without the distractions of screens and digital features, can encourage children to develop better listening skills and engage in more complete, thoughtful conversations.
Safer Communication
A landline can provide a safe way to communicate with family and close friends without the risks associated with smartphones, such as exposure to inappropriate content or online strangers.
Age-Appropriate Freedom
A landline allows parents to offer a level of independence and responsibility to their children, such as to organize a playdate or neighborhood meet-up.
Developing Social Skills
The experience of answering the phone and interacting with whoever answers (not just the intended recipient) can help children develop social skills and learn how to navigate different types of phone interactions.
Reduced Distractions
Landlines can minimize distractions from social media, games, and other digital content, allowing children to focus on the conversation at hand.
Emergency Preparedness
Landlines are often more reliable in emergencies, especially during power outages.
Need More Info?
Check out this 8-minute presentation by the founder of Tin Can, Chet Kittleson (a dad from Seattle):
Who we are
We are a group of parents (mostly moms), who want to help other parents keep kids happy, healthy, and independent.
It all started with one mom in South Portland, Maine—Caron Morse—who wanted her children to have some independence—to be able to call friends, arrange playdates, and reach out to their grandparents on their own. But Morse is a mental-health provider in the public-school system, and she was firmly against smartphones—having seen how social media and abundant screen time could shorten students’ attention spans and give them new anxieties. So when her daughter turned 10, she got her a landline.
A few weeks later, a couple of dozen families in their South Portland neighborhood also installed landlines. Within a month or two, they realized they had created a “retro bubble” in which their children could call their friends without bugging a parent to borrow their phone—and in which the parents, for now, can live free of anxieties about the downsides of smartphones.
Caron and other Maine moms now want to help other communities across the country start a landline pod of their own.
Caron Morse started with just one landline. So can you.
“There is a lot of thought around a ‘home base’ being important for kids’ mental health. Kids need to know they have a home base—to share from, connect from, etc. A landline offers that. Investing in the home base is the most healthy move we can make.”
Caron Morse is a mental health provider in the Portland, Maine public school system.