kcra.com: https://www.kcra.com/article/tin-can-phones-children-communication-human-connection/71379718

Speaker: —
Subject: H001091
Source: GDELT news · original
Published: Friday, May 22, 2026

Tin Can phones help kids build relationships old-fashioned way Skip to content NOWCAST KCRA 3 News at 7pm Watch on Demand Menu Search News Policies News Local News 3 Investigates National News Consumer News Get the Facts Entertainment Health Project CommUNITY Dying to Ask Explore Outdoors Farm to Fork Friday Making Cents Upload Weather Radar Alerts Forecasting Our Future Wildfires Traffic Politics California Politics 360 Noticias EstrellaTV Sports High School Playbook Scoreboards Olympics Dignity Health Heart Hub (Ad) Advertise with KCRA About Newsletters News Team Station Contacts Editorials Community Women in Agriculture Very Local California-specific practice Titan TV Guide MeTV My58 Privacy Notice Notice at Collection Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL Weather Search Press enter to search

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Tin Can phones help kids build relationships old-fashioned way Skip to content NOWCAST KCRA 3 News at 7pm Watch on Demand Menu Search News Policies News Local News 3 Investigates National News Consumer News Get the Facts Entertainment Health Project CommUNITY Dying to Ask Explore Outdoors Farm to Fork Friday Making Cents Upload Weather Radar Alerts Forecasting Our Future Wildfires Traffic Politics California Politics 360 Noticias EstrellaTV Sports High School Playbook Scoreboards Olympics Dignity Health Heart Hub (Ad) Advertise with KCRA About Newsletters News Team Station Contacts Editorials Community Women in Agriculture Very Local California-specific practice Titan TV Guide MeTV My58 Privacy Notice Notice at Collection Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL Weather Search Press enter to search Type to Search Search location by ZIP code ZIP Advertisement Families turn to Tin Can phones to help kids connect the old-fashioned way Families turn to Tin Can phones to help kids connect the old-fashioned way HELPING KIDS CONNECT THE OLD FASHIONED WAY. IN WESTERN HOWARD COUNTY, BETWEEN WINDING ROADS, HORSE FARMS AND CORNFIELDS. THERE’S A NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE CHILDHOOD STILL MOVES A LITTLE SLOWER. KIDS STILL RIDE BIKES HERE, RACE HOME BEFORE DARK, AND SOMETIMES THEY CALL JUST TO TALK. HOW DO I SEE? THE CONVERSATIONS ARE SIMPLE. I JUST HAD SOME PIZZA. AWKWARD SOMETIMES. WHAT IS THE BEST THING? VERY SECOND GRADE. AND SOMETIMES WE RIDE BIKES AND THEN IT TURNS INTO A PLAY DATE. THEN WE GO TO EACH OTHER’S HOUSES AND ONE TIME WE HAD ICE CREAM. BUT FOR THE PARENTS HERE, YOU THINK LIKE ASHLEY ALBURY, THESE LITTLE PHONE CALLS REPRESENT SOMETHING MUCH BIGGER FOR HER DAUGHTER EVIE. IT’S BEEN A GREAT TOOL TO GIVE THE KIDS SOME INDEPENDENCE. SO INSTEAD OF SMARTPHONES, FAMILIES THROUGHOUT THIS NEIGHBORHOOD ARE TURNING TO A MODERN VERSION OF A LANDLINE, A WAY TO KEEP THEIR KIDS CONNECTED THE OLD SCHOOL WAY. I WANT HER TO HAVE A CHILDHOOD LIKE I HAD. THEY’RE CALLED TIN CAN PHONES. THEY CONNECT OVER WI-FI, BUT WORK LIKE TRADITIONAL HOME PHONES. ONLY PEOPLE WITH A NUMBER CAN CALL SAM AND LINCOLN A CLOSED LOOP THAT PARENTS SAY FEELS A LITTLE SAFER. ANYTIME I WANT, I CAN JUST COME DOWN FROM MY BEDROOM AND JUST CALL HER AND CHIT CHAT. AND IT’S CATCHING ON. SEVERAL FAMILIES HERE ARE NOW PUSHING BACK AGAINST A CHILDHOOD INCREASINGLY HAPPENING ON SCREENS, WORRIED ABOUT THE IMPACT ON DEVELOPING BRAINS FACE TO FACE INTERACTION WITH HER FRIENDS AND WITH OTHER PEOPLE. THAT’S PARAMOUNT. AND FOR DAD OF TWO IAN UBER, IS IT MY TURN? THAT’S PART OF THE APPEAL. IT TAKES IT OFF OF OUR SHOULDERS, PARENTS, BECAUSE THERE WAS A TIME PERIOD THAT THE KIDS WERE USING THE PARENTS PHONES IN A WORLD BUILT AROUND TEXT AND TOUCH SCREENS, IAN SAYS THESE PHONE CALLS ARE TEACHING HIS DAUGHTER, GRACIE, ENTIRELY NEW SKILLS. AS PARENTS, WE DON’T REALLY MODEL PHONE CONVERSATIONS LIKE OUR PARENTS DID BECAUSE OUR GENERATION IS ALL TEXTING. WHEN SHE FIRST PICKED UP THE PHONE, SHE DIDN’T. SHE DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO HOLD IT

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