AT&T Built a Phone for Kids. Parents Set the Rules

The new AT&T amiGO Jr. Smartphone is here, and as a parent, I wonder if this is finally the answer. Does the amiGO harness the pros of smartphones for kids while avoiding the cons? Or do parents like me still have to wait for a child’s phone that balances freedom with oversight?

Spoiler alert: the amiGO doesn’t provide everything I’d like in a smartphone for my kids, but it’s the best solution I’ve seen so far. AmiGO gives kids a connection while keeping parents in the loop. Better yet, it’s customizable, so I can set the boundaries I’m comfortable with and adjust them as needed.

AmiGO is no Gabb phone. Gabb and similar phones are special kid devices with extremely limited functionality. They keep youngsters off social media and under supervision, but don’t offer much customization for parents who want to offer their offspring a little more freedom. Most frustratingly, when kids grow up, parents can't fully remove those restrictions.

In contrast, the amiGO is a regular smartphone (Samsung Galaxy A16, to be exact) with AT&T amiGO software pre-installed. Parents download the corresponding amiGO app on their own phones and use it to set access schedules, add or allow phone contacts, approve apps, and filter web activities. In short, I get a completely transparent view of how my kids use their smartphones and set all kinds of limits on that use.

As my kids get older, I can loosen those restrictions (or tighten them, if needed). And since there’s nothing kid-specific about the phone’s hardware, I can even remove the restrictions altogether if they keep the same phones through college.

It’s not that I don’t want my kids to have contact with the outside world. I want my kids to have smartphones! Yes, I want to be able to reach them at all times and vice versa, but I also want them to be able to look up movie times, check out books from Libby, or take photos with their friends. I’m just leery of scams, internet strangers, explicit websites, cyberbullies … need I say more?

I’ve seen rants that rip apart parents who limit their kids’ phones, and frankly, I’m sick of it. Monitoring kids’ online access should be considered the baseline, not overzealous helicopter parenting.

Enter amiGO. Now that AT&T is effectively endorsing parental controls, it takes a lot of the heat off parents like me. The mainstream introduction of a carrier-branded starter phone makes us acceptable, not fringe, controlling weirdos.

But the ranting naysayers have one thing right — going too crazy on the parental controls can backfire. It’s up to every parent to draw the line between privacy and safety and adjust amiGO parental settings accordingly.

Some parents naturally lean stricter than others. And with good reason — no one wants their kid meeting up with an online stranger. But you also don’t want to lean too hard on the monitoring. If you insist on approving every tap and swipe of your children’s fingers, they’re going to feel like they’re surveilled at every turn. That can breed resentment, or worse, secrecy. If a kid really wants to bypass your strict parental controls, then they’re going to find a way.

For children already engaged in questionable online behavior, you might need to add a lot of restrictions, but make sure you understand each amiGO measure you put in place. You want to know exactly what each feature does and how hard it is to bypass.

Think about what you’ll do when your kids outgrow a particular boundary. Will you fiddle with the software to create more independence while still keeping a hard limit? Or will you remove that restriction altogether and have a common-sense discussion with your kid about their newfound freedom?

In the end, we can’t keep our kids’ phones on total lockdown forever, even if we start them off that way. We’re parents, not jailers, and we won’t always be around. We can only guide our children safely through their first phone experience until they’re ready to strike out independently.

The amiGO software is like training wheels: necessary and pragmatic, but not forever. You’re trying to keep your child safe while anticipating the day you won’t be there to offer oversight.

When you first get the amiGO, it might be best to start simple: a short contact list, an automated schedule that restricts online access during the school day and at night, and clear rules. Since amiGO is highly customizable, you can create some very specific digital boundaries.

But don’t just rely on the software. You and your child should discuss your expectations, like when and how often they need to check in, and how they should communicate when they want to add something new to their amiGO phone. Most kids crave input into their own lives. Reasonable discussions and allowing your child to participate in rule-setting make pushback and secret circumvention less likely.

Plus, when your kids understand the boundaries you set, they’re more likely to continue those healthy smartphone habits in adulthood.

The amiGO stands out because it’s not just a first phone; it’s one offered by a specific carrier. And where one carrier goes, more will follow. Soon, we'll see other carriers offering similar but different managed devices. After all, our kids have the potential to be lifelong brand customers, and carriers will do whatever it takes to “buy” them, their loyalty, and that landmark first-phone experience.

I, for one, can’t wait to see what first-phone options are on the horizon. As my kids navigate their first mobile devices, I suspect that the delicate balance of trust, freedom, and parental supervision offered by these phone types will help them forge a healthier relationship both with their mobile devices and the wide world ahead of them.