Keeping Kids Safe on Cell Phones (Episode #172) with Bill Brady CEO @Troomi Wireless

Helping of Happiness

Show Notes:

A little about our guest:

Bill Brady and wife, Heidi, have 5 kids, and they have been married for 21 years. One thing they agreed up on early in their marriage, was they didn’t want family life to center on technology. They wanted real life experiences for themselves and their children.

What Bill has to say:

There is a full spectrum of cell phones for kids: Iphone 14 pro is like the Wild Wild West option, then you go to the other end that is so locked down it’s not practical or kids grow out of them really quickly. Troomi is the middle ground. Safe and practical, but will grow with your child, and super easy for parents.

Troomi comes with a kids safe operating system that you can tailor as a parent, where you can give them what they need but not more.

What age is best for kids to get a cell phone? That needs to be decided on a family by family basis. For example - if family is divorced, a mom often wants her kid to have a phone at his dad’s house so she can stay in direct touch with him.

Our oldest daughter babysitting is what brought the need for our first child to have a cell phone. She needed a way to communicate. More and more schools are expecting kids to have a device in the classroom to complete and submit assignments. The cell phone age for kids seems to be coming down.

Personal take- delay as long as makes sense. We don’t want technology to be the default - not the go to of what to do during downtime. We want kids to be fun, productive, creative people on their own with face to face relationships.

The Troomi Operating System gives parents ability to schedule when kids can do certain things at certain times on their phones. When different features are available, the phone polices itself. It also helps kids get into good habits.

There’s a few different plans. The first one is for easing into the phone: talk and text only. Once they are showing confidence in showing appropriate etiquette, and understanding what are inappropriate things to say and send, they can move onto picture texting and group texts.

As needs evolve, introduce apps that you can use for school, church or healthy hobbies. Sit down with your child and have a discussion about what they really need. There is no app store on the phone, instead they have curated a suite of apps that Troomi has vetted for safety for parents to choose for the phone in the parent portal. None of the apps available have backdoor access to predators or pornography.

It’s essential that parents take the time to have the discussions. It’s easy to assume kids are figuring it out on their own, or maybe parents just get caught up in life and don’t make the time to talk about it.

One of the goals in Troomi, is to take the tension and stress out of the parent/child relationship with kids. As your kids get older, have an open respectful conversation with them. Listen to them. What do they need for school? Are there hobbies, interests, and creative pursuits that could be helped? Explain your own family boundaries. So many problems start with social media. Troomi doesn’t have any social media apps. Don’t just say no, but have ongoing respectful conversations about why.

This is true with any parenting principle: be the parent that has the why conversation. Kids are smart. Talk about the why, and not just this is the rule and it’s black and white and we’re not going to talk about it. Have the why conversation first.

Some apps that are in the Kids Smart Library: apps for education: canvas, google classroom, skyward, etc. Spirituality: for different faiths and backgrounds. Apps for streaming music. Apps for healthy hobbies. In the parent portal you can pick what apps they have on their phones.

The dangers of cell phones: predators, pornography. But sadly, it seems it’s the little things that really add up and seem to be even bigger problems: stress, anxiety, depression, detachment, loneliness, leading to suicide.

Troomi’s goal is helping kids have a safe environment to have healthy relationships with technology. The name “Troomi” comes from kids connecting with their real potential their true selves “true me”.

Tips for keeping kids safe on other technology: have filters, use parental controls wherever possible. Don’t give up, don’t stop trying. Don’t ever think that it’s just someone else’s kids that are going to get into trouble. Be vigilant. Have open, trusted, non shameful and constructive conversations. Make sure your kids know what to do when they come across destructive content.

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Where can you find More about Troomi?

Website: www.troomi.com

Instagram: @TroomiWireless

PROMO CODE for $50 OFF a Troomi phone: HAPPY

Helping of Happiness Cell phone email course

Parenting cell phone use can be super overwhelming. I am a mom of 7 kids, and this has been quite the challenge for us. I learned a lot of good and bad things with my older 3 kids, and have made some changes for my younger kids. Putting a device into the hands of your kids can be a terrifying thing. Making sure we were all on the same page and that they were taught proper usage, manners, expectations, and safety has helped us avoid a lot of frustration and angry moments.

This course takes you through different conversations to have with your kids about cell phones. It is targeted towards new phone users, but is very helpful even with experienced phone users. Maybe you don’t even know where to start? Or possibly the screen time is getting out of control at your house? Or you are looking for a good resource to teach your young user how to be kind online? Are you worried about bullying, pornography or predators? We cover all of that!!

If you have a friend who is also interested in this course, please have them use this link to sign up:

https://www.helpingofhappiness.com/cell-phone-training-course-sign-up

What To Expect in the Cell Phone Readiness Email Course:

This is a 4 day email course. Each day you will be emailed a different step. Today is the first day. Your link to Step One is at the bottom of this page. Each step will include phone safety, etiquette, a printable packet, & fun stuff. The course is meant for the parent to take, but then share the printable packet with their young phone users. There are also things included in this course that are meant to be used as a discussion. Every family has different rules and boundaries for the technology in their home. I have shared what works for me and my family, but ultimately want you to do what works best for your family.

This is what the course will cover. It moves from very light on Step 1, to the heavy in Step 3, and finishes up on a happy note:

Step 1 : Polite Phone Manners

Step 2: Rules, Boundaries & Apps

Step 3: Understanding the Dangers of Pornography

Step 4: Spread Kindness