Choosing our child’s first phone: A Gen Xer's approach.

Mobile phones are a visible attestation of wealth and choice. Mature adults probably don’t give this a second thought, they are tools, right? But to young minds they unlock a plethora of playful experiences that feed into social growth and status.

Like most people we live within a budget and consider carefully the things we bring into our home. We have a dumb tv and are too sceptical of corporate intentions to install an open mic voice assistant. However, mobile phones fall into a different category because they accompany us into the wider world. 

Mobile phones are a visible attestation of wealth and choice. Mature adults probably don’t give this a second thought, they are tools, right? But to young minds they unlock a plethora of playful experiences that feed into social growth and status. 

When our son arrived, discussions about children’s use of mobile devices were already commonplace. There were worries about social development, the ill effects of back-lit screens on the sleep cycle, fears around brain cancer and emergent data suggesting adverse retina development - plenty of stuff out there for the nervous new parent to mull over. So why was I thinking about this when we had a newborn?

I love technology, and while I wish we had had more growing up, my own parents’ approach was both practical and sensible. We upgraded from a black and white to a colour television when my brother and I were 4 and 5, well after many family friends. The same with a video player - we were probably the last in our social circle to get one. But, we had a wealth of other things that many families didn’t. My parents busted their guts converting derelict houses into homes, not for flipping, for living. By the time my brother and I were 10 and 11 we could wield sledge hammers, mix cement, lay walls, drive excavators, build bridges, harvest vegetables and plough fields. I had no need for city building or farming games. I was a builder and a farmer before becoming a teenager.

But the world today is very different to the one of my childhood. How could I inculcate this same love and respect for the real world while extending our son’s understanding of technology?

Fortunately, my wife is passionate about horses. Come rain or shine, our son accompanied her to the yard for mucking out, grooming and riding even before he could walk. Since dot, he has been a fully paid up member of the Pony Club, which like Cubs and Scouts, seeks to teach youngsters practical outdoor skills. My role as “Tech Dad”, therefore, was to make sure technology didn’t steal him away from this healthy outdoor lifestyle. 

Tech Toy #1 arrived on his second birthday. An 8 channel remote control excavator. Even though it was plastic and not very strong, it was a lovely thing. The tracks worked independently of each other. The cab rotated. The arm had three parts - boom, stick and bucket - that together went up-down, forwards-backwards and scoop-drop. It required him to think in three dimensions. And when standing in a fixed position he had to de-centre and consider the world from the perspective of the toy. It didn’t give him hours of fun. It provided many years’ worth. 

While this didn’t address the issue of the mobile phone it set a precedent. He understood tech required thought. Obviously, he is special and unique, but so is every child. Therefore he probably isn’t alone in having become a reasonable drone pilot by the age of 6. And this is when the question of the mobile resurfaced and the challenge of finding a solution became real.

There is a solution, but there is one more thought worth sharing. That thing Steve Jobs gave us in 2007, the iPhone. It is a thing of wonder. So sleek. So powerful. So Diverse. I honestly think that if we put one into the hands of an ancestor born before 1900 they would struggle to think of it as a human creation and likely conclude it to be a magical, sorcerous thing. The questions I asked myself developed: How could I help our son understand technology isn’t magical, that it is produced by and serves humanity, that its workings can be accessed and understood?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my love of tech led me to innovative projects on Kickstarter. This is where I came across CircuitMess. 

In October 2018, CircuitMess announced their second project on Kickstarter. The MAKERphone, now called Ringo, is a self-build smartphone. This was perfect. This was IT! 

From now on, whenever our son asked for a phone I could say, “Sure. If you build it yourself.” 

I ordered several packs because I had to try building one myself so I could help him when the time came. I also knew a nephew would enjoy the experience. Surely, my work was done and I could now sit back and let our son embark upon a personal journey of growth and discovery. How wrong I was. When I shared the building of the Ringo with my nephew it quickly became apparent my skills were seriously lacking. The phone didn’t work and there was no point in complaining to CircuitMess because I was the weakest component in the foolproof plan. 

This could not be the end of the journey. The principle was sound. Failure could not be permitted. Thus a new journey began. Birthday and Christmas gifts contained all manner of electrical component kits and school projects became bespoke builds. He loved it. To this day, we can hand him a blown hard drive to squeals of delight and get two hours of silent concentration as he disappears down a rabbit hole of deconstruction.

Most importantly, CircuitMess is on the ball. They have great channels for feedback and a determination to deliver products of real value. In 2020 they went back to Kickstarter to raise funds to produce a series of STEM boxes. The completion of these would teach the skills I lacked. I went all in.

Over the last year or so we have taken delivery of a STEM box every few months, supply chain issues notwithstanding. Our son has built a voice assistant, a mixing console, a programmable smart car, a pair of bluetooth linked text communicators and most recently a games console. This weekend, completely unprompted, he announced he was ready for the phone.

Thanks to CircuitMess, he is.

Individually and as a family we are proud of this progress, of the development of our knowledge, understanding and skills. Our intention is to record the building of the Ringo as a timelapse video, which we will share in a future article.

In the meantime, check out CircuitMess here https://circuitmess.com/ and if you need convincing about the provenance of their crew, watch this video of their founder, Albert, announcing the MAKERphone in 2018. Seriously, how could you not buy from this dude? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYtRgzp43So

Stay tuned.