A Bayview family is bringing back an old technology to solve a modern parenting dilemma: when to give children their first smartphone.
The Gorelik family has installed a home phone as part of its commitment to delay smartphone use until their children reach eighth grade. The decision is part of a growing movement among local families grappling with the same question.
Watch: Bayside family brings back landlines to delay smartphone use
“We've started a landline movement and are excited about all the momentum,” Samantha Gorelik wrote to TMJ4 in an email.
Samantha and Mike Gorelik have two young daughters, including Lilah, who is in third grade and starting to crave more independence.
“Believe it or not, there are already kids at this age who are starting to get phones,” Samantha said. “We activated something called the ‘Wait Until 8th’ pledge,” she continued.
When the Goreliks started talking with other parents, they found many families were trying to be intentional about introducing technology. They discovered the "Wait Until 8th" pledge, a commitment parents are making to delay giving their child a smartphone until at least the end of eighth grade.
The Goreliks are far from alone. More than 125,000 families across the country have taken the pledge.
The family got its landline last spring. A home phone is one way parents are keeping kids connected without the full internet access, social media, or apps that come with smartphones.
“It impacts so many things about their life, their focus, their concentration, sort of, their emotional health. I think there are so many benefits to it,” Mike said.
“There’s definitely a growing interest,” said Robyn Gruner of AT&T.
AT&T has even developed a special resource page on its website, touching on things like digital literacy and cybersecurity.
“There’s actually a checklist available to parents that you can fill out to say, ‘Is my child ready for a wireless device?’” added Gruner.
Samantha says it’s comforting to know they’re on the same page as other parents.
“The first few days (after we got the home phone) they were like, ‘Okay, we’ll call Grandma, we’ll call our uncle,’” Samantha said. “It’s really caught on. I mean, we have at least probably 10 good friends now that have them in the area, and the kids love to come home after school and call each other.”
Lilah is now part of a younger generation learning how to stay in touch without constant mobile connectivity.
“I call my friend Harlow. I call my friend Olivia. I call my friend Clara,” Lilah said.
Lilah enjoys having her own way to connect with friends.
“I don’t wanna call my friends, like, on my mom’s phone. This (home phone) kind of feels like it’s mine, and I can call my friends on it and have, like, my own number on it, and it just makes me feel really happy being able to know I can answer the phone when it rings,” she said.
The Goreliks say the pledge is not about shaming parents or judging — it’s centered on how to safely and responsibly teach kids to use technology.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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