Slashdot Mirror

This phone, the firefly, has just 5 buttons: call mom, call dad, phonebook, call, hangup.

http://www.fireflymobile.com/store/firefly/

-molo

First off, write a letter explaining what has happened and send it to your school board

Who said I haven't?

local newspaper-who-might-give-a-crap-about-this-kind-of-thing.

Ok, now that's a bit creepy, but I see it on the news in other places.

Talk with your daughter's teachers, the school principal, and whoever else you need to to get some assurances that they're not going to do this again.

Did that too, but since this has been happening for years, how am I to expect my complaint to fair any better?

Then ... talk with your daughter about what happened and how she can make sure she gets home on the right bus.

Again, been there done that.

If you really want a technological solution then buy her a mobile phone, maybe something like one of these beasties which can be locked down to only calling a handful of numbers (not a product endorsement, just giving an example), and make sure she knows how to call you at home if she has trouble again. Keep it charged and have her stash it in her jacket or backpack where she's unlikely to lose it. There's no need to weld it onto a metal cuff around her ankle, just let her use it to call you when she needs to.
Hopefully you can both feel better about her security that way. You need to know that she is safe

Five year olds are great at breaking things they can play with.

and she needs to know that you trust her and that you are able to help her out if she has troubles.

She already knows this.

Strapping a prisoner restraint collar around her neck and monitoring her every move isn't going to do that.

I was actually thinking something to attach to her clothes or backpack, and also why I wanted an off-switch.

Get her a Firefly or similar device. You can add it to your phone plan or get it prepaid.

Even very young children can use these. Several of the first graders I used to work with had them, and were perfectly comfortable using them.

http://www.fireflymobile.com/

First off, write a letter explaining what has happened and send it to your school board, city council, and local newspaper-who-might-give-a-crap-about-this-kind-of-thing. Talk with your daughter's teachers, the school principal, and whoever else you need to to get some assurances that they're not going to do this again.

Then, if you're still worried about your children being sent to the off-world colonies while you're not looking, talk with your daughter about what happened and how she can make sure she gets home on the right bus. If you really want a technological solution then buy her a mobile phone, maybe something like one of these beasties which can be locked down to only calling a handful of numbers (not a product endorsement, just giving an example), and make sure she knows how to call you at home if she has trouble again. Keep it charged and have her stash it in her jacket or backpack where she's unlikely to lose it. There's no need to weld it onto a metal cuff around her ankle, just let her use it to call you when she needs to.

Hopefully you can both feel better about her security that way. You need to know that she is safe, and she needs to know that you trust her and that you are able to help her out if she has troubles. Strapping a prisoner restraint collar around her neck and monitoring her every move isn't going to do that.

You're touching your firefly and having fantasies that it is an iPhone, don't you?

The problem is that it's so cool that you want to use it all the time... something I wasn't used to do with my previous cell phones :)

1. The one commercial I remember seeing for the series was hyping up that it was from the producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. This Buffy/Angel hype led me to believe Firefly was a Drama series mixed with Sci-Fi elements.
2. I don't watch FOX. It's banned from my channel listing.

They already have one. It's called Firefly Mobile

I ended up taking pity on him and adding him into my service with an upgrade to a family plan, and now he pays half of the bill by recycling soda cans and mowing lawns. He even pays extra for a text messaging package on his phone, which I don't have on mine. He gets to keep in contact with all of his friends and is quite happy with it. The best part for him is that 80% or so of his friends have the same provider, so free Mobile-to-Mobile means he'll never dig that deeply into the shared minutes. He racked up 7 hours of talk time last month and used about 16 of our anytime minutes. Making the kid pay for the phone themselves- overage charges and all- makes them suddenly more responsible with cellphone use.

If you're getting an emergency "where are you" phone for your elementary school kids, the Firefly is it; it only receives or sends calls from people already in the phone book, and the Mommy and Daddy buttons make it especially effective for young children. Even so, it would have to be instilled in the kid that these phones aren't so you can call Mommy during her big meeting because you wanted to show off your pretty plastic thingie to your friends at preschool.

You don't have this in your area?

Easy. Anyone under the age of 18 -- with virtually no exception.

In my experience, many problems with family harmony can be either traced back to cell phone use -- or cell phones helped compound the problem.

I don't think ANYONE should have a cell phone until they are emancipated *AND* pay for the damn thing themselves.

That said: I've seen the FireFly -- and T-Mobile's new "kidconnect plan". Both look very interesting and may force me to rethink my position.

It seems that even the basic phones are starting to get all the fancy features now. Basic, meaning the low end phones that are usually "free" when you sign up for a 2 year contract with your wireless provider. Fancy, meaning a camera and/or color display and/or multimedia messaging.

So far, I've only seen three recent/upcoming cell phones that are essentially phones..

• Motorola W220. It has a similar form factor as the Motorola V3 RAZR, but it lacks the multi-functionality and hip styling of the V3. The only bells and whistles you get on the W220 is an FM radio. It's supposed to be released at the end of the year.
  
  
• FireFly. This is as simple as you get. But it's way too simple, and it's marketed towards kids. Only 20 numbers can be stored in the phonebook, a few built-in ringtones, and some parental control features. That's it. Even if you want a phone that is stripped down like this, I don't think you would want this particular phone, since it looks like a toy.
  
  
• Emporia EmporiaLife. This phone is marketed towards senior citizens. It has a large LCD display, large buttons, a simple phonebook, speakerphone, and it runs on AAA batteries too. This could be a good choice for people, other than seniors, who are looking for a simple phone. Not sure if this phone will hit markets outside of Europe. But the tech specs show quad-band operating frequencies, so it's possible.

I certainly hope mobile phone companies will continue to offer simple phones. Other than being overwhelmed by features, some people need a phone without a camera or data storage capabilities. Particularly those people who work at companies that forbid such devices for security reasons.

http://www.fireflymobile.com/phone/

Basically, it's a cell phone you can give to your kids, with prepaid minutes, locked phone numbers, and big buttons (one for mom, one for dad) Small size for small hands.

Neat idea, but i'm floored thinking about a 5 year old with his own cell phone to call me with...