Dumb phones for teens

[Anonymous]

Recs please.
They still need to call and text and have navigation, and I want to be able to track them.

[Anonymous]

My kid has a Pinwheel phone. It's a smart phone, but with parent-limited functionality. It's worked great for us. It has a few apps, like a weather app, but nothing addictive. No Internet. No social media.

[Anonymous]

Just get iPhone and set Safari limit to 1 minute and don’t approve any downloads. It will grow with them and they’ll save face in front of peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just get iPhone and set Safari limit to 1 minute and don’t approve any downloads. It will grow with them and they’ll save face in front of peers.

This

[Anonymous]

My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

Do the tools we used to navigate as young people even exist now? I am not sure what navigating on his own would look like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

Do the tools we used to navigate as young people even exist now? I am not sure what navigating on his own would look like.

Yes, maps still exist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

Do the tools we used to navigate as young people even exist now? I am not sure what navigating on his own would look like.

You can still buy city maps, and state maps. Most teens don’t need navigation to get around their city. We managed fine without gps navigation. I remember I would occasionally print out directions from mapquest at home before leaving. I imagine you can still do that from various websites

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

Do the tools we used to navigate as young people even exist now? I am not sure what navigating on his own would look like.

You can still buy city maps, and state maps. Most teens don’t need navigation to get around their city. We managed fine without gps navigation. I remember I would occasionally print out directions from mapquest at home before leaving. I imagine you can still do that from various websites

I relied pretty heavily on a book of maps with an index in the back. So you could look up a street name, and it would tell you to got page 72 square A4 or whatever. It was pretty cool. I just checked on Amazon, and don't see something like that for sale.

Yes, if you always decide far enough in advance where you're going that you can print out the directions at home, i guess that could work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

Do the tools we used to navigate as young people even exist now? I am not sure what navigating on his own would look like.

Yeah eventually when he gets older he will need a smartphone because nobody does paper maps. But for just getting around on the Metro and within DC, I think he can and should learn to do that on his own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

Do the tools we used to navigate as young people even exist now? I am not sure what navigating on his own would look like.

Yeah eventually when he gets older he will need a smartphone because nobody does paper maps. But for just getting around on the Metro and within DC, I think he can and should learn to do that on his own.

How old is he?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, eventually when he gets older, he will need a smartphone because nobody does paper maps.

We have (and regularly use) a full set of paper maps in each car. For local roads where we might drive, there are separate map books for MontgomeryCo and NoVa.

We also have state road maps for both MD and VA. These are free at some official rest stops on the Interstate highways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

Do the tools we used to navigate as young people even exist now? I am not sure what navigating on his own would look like.

Yeah eventually when he gets older he will need a smartphone because nobody does paper maps. But for just getting around on the Metro and within DC, I think he can and should learn to do that on his own.

How old is he?

13. So far he has zero concern with not having a smart phone like his friends. where I think it could become an issue sooner rather than later is not having access to apps that he wants, like the banking app to check his balances.

[Anonymous]

OP I researched this last year and one thing I noticed was that some (but not all) dumb phones can act as hotspots. If your goal is not to offer Internet access to your teen, you should pick a phone without a hotspot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has a flip phone with no navigation or tracking. He really likes it so I guess I am going to get some other type of tracking (like a Jiobit) as needed. I consider it a feature not a bug that he will need to learn to navigate on his own.

Do the tools we used to navigate as young people even exist now? I am not sure what navigating on his own would look like.

You can still buy city maps, and state maps. Most teens don’t need navigation to get around their city. We managed fine without gps navigation. I remember I would occasionally print out directions from mapquest at home before leaving. I imagine you can still do that from various websites

I relied pretty heavily on a book of maps with an index in the back. So you could look up a street name, and it would tell you to got page 72 square A4 or whatever. It was pretty cool. I just checked on Amazon, and don't see something like that for sale.

"www.MapShop.com" sells a wide range of different paper travel maps.

In olden days, a company called ADC sold various map books for localities in VA/DC/MD.