For many children, a smartphone can mean much more than making a phone call.
There are games, social media, video platforms, notifications, advertising and constant pressure to check what’s happening online.
That can be a lot to introduce at the same time as a child is learning to manage their first taste of independence.
OwnFone takes a different approach.
No apps. No scrolling. No complicated menus. Just simple calling.
The handset can be personalised with names or photographs, making it easy for a child to recognise who they want to call.
That means their first phone can be about communication and independence, rather than everything else that comes with being online.
The social media conversation is changing
This is particularly relevant as the UK considers major changes to children’s access to social media.
The Government has announced plans to prevent under-16s from accessing certain social-media platforms from spring 2027, alongside additional protections around features such as livestreaming and strangers contacting children.
The changes don’t mean children will be cut off from communication. The Government says children will still be able to use the internet for learning, news and games, and to stay in touch with friends and family through messaging services that aren’t covered by the proposed social-media ban.
For parents, this creates an opportunity to think about what their child actually needs from a phone.
Does staying connected have to mean giving them a smartphone?
Not necessarily.
A simple phone can provide the communication they need while allowing parents to introduce online technology gradually, when they feel their child is ready.
Give them independence, at their pace
The first phone is often about much more than technology.
It’s the phone they take to school.
The phone they carry when they start walking to a friend’s house.
The phone they use to call home when plans change.
Those small moments can be important steps towards growing independence.
OwnFone gives children a simple way to make those calls without requiring them to navigate a smartphone.
And because the contacts are chosen by the family, parents can help create a phone that reflects the child’s real world — the people they know and trust.
Let them make it their own
Simple doesn’t have to mean boring.
OwnFone can be personalised with different designs, colours and contact layouts, allowing children to have some ownership over their first phone.
They can choose the people they want to be able to call and, where appropriate, use names or photographs to make those contacts easy to recognise.
Giving a child choices can help the phone feel like their phone, rather than something their parents have simply given them to carry.
Their first phone. Their first step towards independence.
OwnFone gives children a simple way to stay connected with the people who matter most — without the apps, distractions and social-media pressure that can come with a smartphone.
It’s not about keeping children away from technology.
It’s about giving them the right technology for where they are now.