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What happens when two parents who have spent years saying “not yet” to devices finally decide their kids are ready?
In this conversation, Nicki Petrossi and Sarah Gardner share their very personal experiences giving their oldest children a first device — the Bark Watch — and why they chose a tool designed for communication without opening the door to social media, browsers, games, or endless scrolling.
Joined by Bark Technologies’ Titania Jordan, they talk honestly about what parents are really trying to solve when they give a child a device: staying connected, managing anxiety around pickups and activities, traveling apart, and giving kids a little more independence — without handing them a smartphone.
But the conversation goes much deeper. They explore whether constant access to parents can actually get in the way of building resilience, when a watch should become a phone, why delaying smartphones is becoming more normalized, and the uncomfortable reality that even adults struggle to resist addictive technology.
They also discuss Apple, addictive design, the need for regulation, and what a healthier relationship with technology could look like for both kids and parents.
Most importantly, the three moms share the advice they would give before handing a child their first device — including one message every child should hear: If something goes wrong online, come talk to me. I won't be mad.
Because the goal isn't to keep our kids away from technology forever. It's to give them the least amount of technology necessary to solve the problem at hand.
