Does your child need one at all?
Most parents want one thing: for their child to be able to reach them if a bus doesn’t come, a club finishes early or they need help. If the journey is short and plans never change, a fixed arrangement and a school office that can ring you may be enough. Our walking to school alone guide covers how other families judge this, and the readiness check takes about a minute.
Kids’ smartwatches
A children’s smartwatch, often sold as a phone watch, has a screen, a SIM and a mobile connection. Most include:
- calls to and from numbers a parent approves
- messages, as text, voice notes or emoji
- location, shown to the parent in an app
- a camera
- apps and games, from a step counter to a full app store
You set it up and keep it up to date in a companion app. The screen also means more charging, and a flat watch can’t call anyone.
Many kids’ smartwatches are sold as having no internet, and it usually means the watch has no web browser. It still uses a mobile network for calls, messages and location. What matters more is what it can do: who can message your child, whether it has a camera or apps, and whether your child can switch off its school mode.
What schools make of smartwatches
The Department for Education’s guidance on mobile phones in schools asks schools in England to prohibit phones throughout the school day, along with “other smart technology with similar functionality to mobile phones”. Its examples are the ability to send or receive notifications or messages over mobile networks, and to record audio or video.
Most children’s smartwatches can do at least one of those, so many school policies name them. A screenless device can do neither, and some, ours included, can be set to go completely quiet at school so they can’t ring or alert during lessons. The guidance also asks schools to consider children’s journeys to and from school, so a school may let a child bring a device and keep it out of use during the day.
Each school sets its own list, so check the policy before you buy. Is a safety device a phone? sets out how the guidance applies to each kind of device, and talking to your school covers how to raise it.
Choosing between them
You pay twice for a smartwatch that makes calls: for the watch, then every month for the mobile plan. A screenless device that calls works the same way. Add both together over the time your child will use it before you compare. Bluetooth tags cost less and usually have no plan, but they only show where the tag was last seen near a phone, and your child can’t call you on one.
Our comparison of GPS devices for children lists the ones on sale in the UK with their prices.
A screenless device suits a child who needs to reach you and nothing else. There is no screen to scroll, it goes longer between charges, and there are no apps to manage. It gives up messaging, and if your child’s friends organise everything by message, a device without it may leave them out and go unused. It also has a limited life, since at some point your child will need a phone.
A smartwatch suits a child whose friends are already messaging, or a family that wants texts as well as calls, as long as the school allows it or it stays at home on school days. It is also a step towards a first phone. Some families want that step now, and some would rather wait.
Check the security basics
Since 29 April 2024, makers of connected products sold in the UK have had to meet minimum security rules: no universal default passwords, a published way to report security problems, and a published period for security updates. Look for that period before you buy. The National Cyber Security Centre’s advice on using smart devices safely applies to a child’s device too: set a strong password, turn on two-step verification if it is offered, and install updates.
Tell your child what the device does
The Information Commissioner’s code for children’s online services says a child should get an obvious sign when a parent can see their location or their activity. It is written for the companies, but it works for parents too. Tell your child what you can see, and talk about it again as they get older.
Who wrote this
We make a screenless device, so we have an interest in your answer. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it and log the change below.
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Yado makes a screenless safety device for children, so we have a commercial interest in this subject. About these pages.
- DfE, Mobile phones in schools, updated 29 June 2026, gov.uk
- DSIT and OPSS, Consumer connectable product security regulations, gov.uk
- NCSC, Smart devices: using them safely in your home, ncsc.gov.uk
- ICO, Age appropriate design code, standard 10: geolocation, ico.org.uk
- ICO, Age appropriate design code, standard 11: parental controls, ico.org.uk
- September 2026. First published.