Back to School, Back to Balance: Why Families Are Rethinking Kids’ First Phones

As the school term resumes and routines fall back into place, many UK parents are confronting an increasingly urgent question: how do we give our children access to technology without handing them a portal to addictive, adult-first content?

From digital curfews to device-free mealtimes, the conversation around screen use is shifting. What once felt like an inevitable trade-off — connection at the cost of wellbeing — is now being re-evaluated. And according to digital wellness advocates and technology disrupters, that change is long overdue.

The Screen-Time Struggle for Parents

“Most parents aren’t trying to ban technology,” says Chris Kaspar, a father of six and the founder of Techless, the company behind the multiple-sold-out status minimalist Wisephone in the US and soon-to-launch Sage Mobile in the UK. “They just want to make sure it serves their family, rather than hijacks it.”

While concerns about screen time aren’t new, they’ve taken on renewed weight post-pandemic. One BBC-led survey found that 79% of UK parents reported increased screen use in their children during lockdowns, and many say that trend hasn’t fully reversed.

But it’s not just the hours spent online — it’s the quality of those interactions that worries families. Anxieties range from social media pressures to sleep disruption, and the nagging sense that kids are losing touch with real-world play, focus, and face-to-face conversation.

Why Standard Smartphones Don’t Fit Kids’ Needs

“The average smartphone isn’t built for a child’s developmental needs,” says Kaspar. “It’s optimised for attention, not intention.”

That’s led some families to explore alternatives. In the US, where Techless launched the Wisephone in 2020, Kaspar has seen a growing movement towards “offline-first” parenting — introducing tech in stages, using devices that include basic functionality like messaging, maps and music, but without app stores, endless feeds or dopamine loops.

“We’ve seen parents swap a standard phone for a safe-out-of-the-box pared-down device, and the results are profound,” Kaspar explains. “One mother told me her 14-year-old, once glued to TikTok, now voluntarily puts their phone down after 30 minutes. It wasn’t about policing, it was about removing the pull.”

What Teens Really Want from Technology

The shift isn’t just happening in families. A recent British Standards Institution (BSI) study found that nearly half of 16–21-year-olds in the UK said they’d prefer a world without the internet. Around 70% said social media made them feel worse about themselves. It’s a stark reflection of how even digital natives are questioning the tools they’ve grown up with.

“It’s ironic,” says Kaspar. “We assume teens want more tech freedom, but most actually yearn for guidance establishing wise boundaries.”

Leading by Example as Parents

In Kaspar’s view, balance doesn’t come from rules alone, but from modeling. That means parents turning off notifications at dinner, leaving phones outside bedrooms, and treating technology as a tool — not a toy or a crutch.

“Our kids learn far more from our habits than our instructions,” Kaspar says. “If we reach for our phones every time we’re bored, they’ll do the same.”

A Balanced Approach to Digital Childhoods

With Sage Mobile preparing to launch in the UK later this year, Kaspar hopes to bring this approach to more families. The phone, which mirrors the US concept in function but is tailored for British users, offers core utilities without algorithmic distractions.

Still, he’s clear that no device, app or filter is a silver bullet.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about what’s in their hand, it’s about what we’re putting in their hearts and minds,” he says.

As school schedules tighten and autumn routines take hold, many parents are seeing this season as more than a logistical reset — it’s a chance to rewrite the family’s relationship with technology.

Because ultimately, raising children in a digital world isn’t about resisting change. It’s about guiding it, with clarity, confidence, and care.