Smartphones put children at risk and leave parents torn. So we built a better one

What a marvel, I thought. They could text me when they got on the bus, send a photo from school, even keep track of their perpetually lost Oyster cards. I felt like I was giving my kids a little piece of the future.

Of course, we were the guinea-pig generation – no more clued-up about the potential pitfalls than our children were.

At first, it all felt liberating. But as time went on, most of us started to sense that something wasn’t right about giving children unfiltered access to the world – or indeed, giving the world and Big Tech’s algorithms unfiltered access to them.

Fast-forward to 2025, and few parents are still in denial. We know about social media’s addictive design, the dopamine loops, the endless scrolling. We’ve endured the rows about screen time and witnessed the hits to self-esteem.

Every day on Mumsnet, we hear from parents wrestling with the same dilemma: when to give their child a phone and how to keep them safe once they have it.

Parents aren’t just worried about strangers or explicit content. They’re worried about what this constant drip of stimulation does to mood, attention span and mental health. But they also don’t want their kids to be isolated.

A smartphone is the ticket to social belonging and a necessity for school, travel and homework. Parents are trapped between two bad options: connection or protection.

And the truth is, the odds are stacked against them. Social media companies make money from attention, not wellbeing.

The longer your child spends online, the more data they harvest and the more ads they can sell. The brightest minds in the world are paid to design apps that exploit developing brains.

One Mumsnet user put it bluntly: “I know how damaging it can be, and sometimes I feel like I’m letting a child crack addict take crack in their room. But socially, and in terms of our relationship, it feels unwise to take it away completely.”

She’s not alone. 77% of parents say keeping their child safe online feels impossible, and nearly three-quarters think exposure to inappropriate content is inevitable.

Many start out with firm boundaries – no phones before secondary school, strict limits, proper filters – but are worn down over time. This is the bind Big Tech has placed families in.

So at Mumsnet, we decided to stop wringing our hands and start building something better. Our mission has always been to make parents’ lives easier, and this felt like the next frontier.

Working with two innovative UK companies – Nothing for hardware and SafetyMode for software – we’ve created The Other Phone: a smartphone designed for children’s wellbeing.

It’s a device that gives parents real control. You can manage downloads, set time limits and decide when apps can be used.

SafetyMode’s AI monitors harmful content, bullying and inappropriate images – even inside WhatsApp – and alerts parents if something looks off.

It’s the only system that tracks in-app activity, rather than relying on blunt “block or allow” filters that kids can dodge in minutes.

Our research shows why this is so needed. We found that 88 per cent of parents worry about excessive screen time and exposure to sexual content; 86 per cent worry about mental health and attention span. Yet only a third say current parental controls work well.

The Other Phone offers peace of mind. It looks and feels like a modern smartphone – no “kids’ phone” stigma – but with safety at its core. It’s affordable, high-performing and designed to evolve with your child.

You can start with what’s basically a “brick” phone and gradually unlock more features. Parents can block social media entirely or open it up step by step as their child learns to navigate online life responsibly.

For years, parents have been told the only options are bad ones: give your child the tools they need to keep up, and accept the risks, or keep them safe and risk cutting them off. The Other Phone provides a third way.

It’s a small but significant act of rebellion against the idea that Silicon Valley gets to decide what’s “normal” for our children. We don’t have to wait for billion-dollar companies to design with families in mind. We can do it ourselves.

Because kids deserve a safer way to step into the digital world, and parents deserve to feel confident, not guilty, when they hand over that first phone.

We were the guinea-pig generation. It’s high time our children had something better.

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Justine Roberts is the Founder of Mumsnet.

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