Hello Reader,

Have you wrestled with this delimma: how to let your child connect with friends without sacrificing their childhood by handing over a risky smartphone? If so, you’re not alone.

This is a common struggle I hear about from parents. Let’s face it: texting is how kids communicate today, and no one wants their child to feel left out socially.

But the risks of giving them a smartphone are very real, from pornography exposure and predators to addictive design.

So what are the options?

1. You could provide a landline — but that doesn’t solve the texting issue.
2. You could let your child use your phone to text friends.
3. Or you could provide some type of connected device.

Each of these choices has pros and cons. But what if there was another way to keep kids connected and safe? What if you could give them the gift of access without handing over a personal device?

Our latest article, Navigating the Smartphone Decision: How One Family Found a Balanced Solution with the Bark Phone, explores how Julie, our content editor, used the Bark phone as a “home phone.”

Using the Bark phone as a shared family device, she and her husband allowed their children to be socially connected without letting a smartphone disrupt their childhood.

Our brand new article details:

• How to provide connection without giving ownership of a smartphone — or what I call the gift of access.
• Three rules that make this setup work. The simplicity of rule two might surprise you!
• The benefits of a shared family phone. See how this approach can keep kids connected and protected.

Ready to find a solution that offers connection without compromising safety?

Kindly,

Kristen

P.S. Are you wondering if your child is ready for their own smartphone? Check out our FREE guide, Is My Child Ready for a Smartphone? This popular guide offers 10 questions and powerful tips to help determine your child’s readiness to take on the responsibility of an internet-connected device. Download it HERE.

What I’ve been doing

• Writing the second draft of Good Pictures Bad Pictures for Girls and getting it ready for our first group of beta-readers. #milestone
• Planning our 7th print run of Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids, 2nd edition! #AmazonBestSeller
• Holding my new baby grandson! He gets cuter everyday! #heavenblest