With kids often being given smartphones made for adults, it’s no surprise they are getting overwhelmed by all the technology at their fingertips, said Nate Randle, CEO of Gabb.
After all, most adults are practically tethered to their screens themselves, he said.
People are giving regular smartphones to kids, Randle said, “and then we’re shocked when our elementary school, junior high and high school kids are getting into trouble on their phones, whether it’s pornography, sexting, gambling [or] bullying.”
That’s why the Utah company created a kid- and teen-safe smartwatch and smartphone designed to protect young people by shielding them from experiencing too much technology too early.
A Gabb phone or watch — which has the capability to text and place calls — is made to keep kids in communication with their parents or guardians and friends. Randle said a piece of Gabb tech is less about any features that were added to it and more about which features were left off.
For example, no Gabb watch or phone has the capability to access the internet or social media. Parents can trust that when they give the phone to their child, they have a “quick way to get in touch, but not be into all the dangers and addictions of a full smartphone,” Randle said.
Gabb also works to keep its employees safe by having a zero tolerance policy for toxic or abusive behavior, he said, and brings a focus on family and community to its workplace as well.
‘The safe solution’
Gabb looks at the idea of safe technology as a triangle, Randle said.
First, a parent has to have an open relationship with their child, as well as an open conversation about technology with him or her. Second, the child has to have those things with their parent. Gabb is at the third point of the triangle, “helping to deliver the safe solution,” he said.
For kids 5 years old and up, the company offers the Gabb Watch, which acts as a safe cellphone, a GPS device and an interactive watch. As kids get older, they can graduate to the Gabb Phone or the Gabb Phone Plus, which offer more features, such as maps and health-tracking apps, without any access to content that parents may consider explicit, harmful or time-wasting.
Gabb conducts focus groups with children, and Randle said he believes the public would be surprised to hear a 13-year-old girl say, “I am so tired of my phone. I wanted it, and now that I have it, if I could give it back, I would,” without parents or friends within earshot.
“Most kids unfiltered will tell you that their phone makes them feel depressed,” Randle said. “It makes them feel left out. It makes them feel behind, it makes them feel less than. And so our mission is to give kids hope. And to give kids an opportunity to realize ... you can use tech in a healthy and positive way.”
Instead of encouraging kids to use Gabb products more, the company wants children to only use them when they need to.
“Whatever a kid may need the phone for, to feel safe or feel connected, that’s it,” Randle said. “Then go play outside, go find a new hobby, go get better at math. ... Which is why we don’t offer all those addictive apps and other experiences, because we don’t want kids camping on devices.”
Protecting employees
Randle said it happens rarely, but there has been an instance or two where someone was toxic or verbally abusive at Gabb, and “we immediately removed them, without question.”
Instead of going through a counseling process or finding a way to work with that person, Gabb has zero tolerance for such behavior, Randle said.
“It doesn’t make any sense to build safe technology for families, and talk about how we want to protect kids, and then not protect our employees,” he said.
Accompanying that policy, Randle said, is a culture of transparency, where employees can “trust that your teammates will have your back and support you in whatever your role is so that you can add the best value possible and help us grow Gabb.”
Gabb’s focus on being family-friendly is reflected in their policies; whatever your family structure, “family comes first,” Randle said.
“This is not a culture where you have to worry that if your uncle passed away and you need to go to a funeral on a Thursday that you have to lie about it, or beg to get the time off,” he said. “It’s just not even a question.”
Connecting with community
Whether two employees are having a one-on-one meeting or Gabb is donating a device to someone in need, Randle said, the company is all about staying connected internally as well as connecting with the community.
A mother reached out to him, Randle said, saying her 10-year-old son had a stage 4 cancer and was missing football practice, school, birthday parties and more because he was going through chemotherapy.
Gabb partnered with the family and gave the boy a Gabb Watch with unlimited service. So now, he wears his watch to chemotherapy, where he talks with his football team or calls his grandmother. “His parents have described him having this Gabb Watch as a lifeline to him not feeling left out,” Randle said.
By now, the company has given away thousands of Gabb watches and phones, Randle said.
Gabb is always looking for those opportunities to lend a hand, Randle said, seeking out “unique situations when you drop the safe tech device in the middle of it, it changes the day-to-day for those individuals.”
Follow @@kolbiejpeterson