What The Tech: Smartphone designed specifically for kids
BY JAMEY TUCKER, Consumer Technology Reporter
Franklin Goins is 11 years old. Like all of his friends, he wanted a smartphone, almost demanded it. But even though he’s a good kid, his parents were hesitant.
“I would say all of my friends have one, and they sometimes all go bike riding and hanging out and I’m not allowed to go to another neighborhood,” said Franklin. “But I could with a phone because they could text me.”
His mom Rachel says she felt the pressure, from Franklin and others. She wanted him to have
freedom, but wants to keep him safe.
“There are times he’s watching something that’s appropriate, but it’s two clicks, two recommendations to something that’s not appropriate at all,” says Rachel Goins.
They tried a flip phone but other kids teased him about it. So they settled on Bark , a Samsung Android smartphone built for kids.
“We give parents full ability to control their child’s phone from their phone or from their
computer. The controls are tamper-proof,” says Titania Jordan, the Chief Parenting Officer at Bark.
If he wants to download an app, Rachel has to approve it.
“So for any social media or the internet, I haven’t approved those requests,” says Rachel.
If he gets a text message from an unrecognized number, his mom gets a notification and must approve it before it reaches his phone.
And if one of his friends sends a message with certain words or secret codes and suspicious
acronyms and emojis?
“It’ll pop up and it’ll say ‘this person is using foul language’ and they’ll check it and have
to approve it so I can see it,” explains Franklin.
“It allowed us to give him a phone maybe a little earlier than we would have otherwise,
But it was exactly the kind of device I wanted him to have,” says Rachel.
For Franklin, it’s a way to stay connected without standing out. For his parents, it’s reassurance
they’re keeping him safe, online and in the real world.
