I got my kids, all 7 and under, a landline. They invited friends over on a snow day without my help, and I was thrilled.

"While my kids are still young and in elementary school, my husband and I have been talking about how we can foster more independence in all three. We both long for the type of childhood we had, without cellphones, iPads, and social media. Earlier this year, we decided to buy an old-school phone and set up a landline for our 7, 5, and 5-year-olds to be able to interact with their friends without needing our supervision."

"After getting the phone and setting it up, which we chose to do through TinCan, there was a bit of lift from my end to collect phone numbers from friends and neighbors. At first, we had to explain to the kids how calling on a landline works. They practiced (and failed often) dialing phone numbers, asking to speak to their friends, and learned general etiquette about being on the phone."

"With time, though, they all began to become more confident. On Halloween, my oldest called our neighbors and asked what time they'd be ready to meet to go trick-or-treating together. I was starting to see signals of what I had envisioned - setting up playdates without me needing to text another parent. I was hopeful we were on the right track. Recently, we had our first snow day of the school year, and by 9 a.m., our phone had been ringing nonstop."

Parents purchased an old-school landline to encourage independence for their 7-, 5-, and 5-year-olds, enabling children to contact peers without parental mediation. Setting up service through TinCan required collecting neighbors' numbers and nudging others to install landlines. Children learned dialing, phone etiquette, and improved through practice after initial failures. Early successes included the oldest organizing Halloween plans by phone. On the first snow day, the landline rang nonstop as the children independently invited about a dozen friends and neighbors to play, prompting parents to text asking for permission. The experiment demonstrated increased child confidence and autonomous social organizing.

Read at Business Insider