Are ‘tattle phones’ a good idea? Here’s what experts say.

Tania Johnson, co-founder of the Institute of Child Psychology in Alberta, discusses what she thinks about the classroom management tool.

Some teachers in recent months have shared their experiences on social media of using “tattle phones” to avoid being overwhelmed by kids who complain about anything from a classmate making faces to someone farting.

A TikTok user named Miss Hoffman introduced the tattle phone to her kindergarten class, saying in a post in March that “it’s getting a little crazy in here with tattle tales.” Her video received more than 745,000 likes as of Friday.

What is a tattle phone?

Tattle phones are imitation phones, some with the ability to record, that can be used by kids to vent or report minor issues instead of frequently interrupting teachers with their tattle tales.

The reaction to the tattle phone has been a mixed one. “This is cute but I feel like we shouldn’t encourage gossiping,” a TikTok user with the handle “J” commented in response to Miss Hoffman’s post.

A user called Tweaker Hunters said the tattle phone could help children. “They also need to learn that most small issues they can handle themselves without needing to get adults to help them,” the person wrote.

Described as a "classroom management tool," the imitation phones offer benefits, experts say, but they should be used carefully.

Dr. Todd Cunningham, a school and clinical psychologist and associate professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, said the tattle phone can address children’s common habit of tattling as a way to learn life’s social rules on what is appropriate behaviour.

“I think that can be used in a good way because one of the things that we’re actually teaching students in the tattling that they’re doing … is when is this something that needs to be reported to an adult or to an authority figure, and when is this something that you can figure out and kind of deal with on your own," Cunningham said in a Zoom interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday.

The tattle phone can be useful if teachers review the recordings, find general themes to discuss with the class, and identify any tattle tales that may actually be safety issues, he said.

Still, he said relying too much on the device could result in “a missed opportunity” for adults to help children develop and practise essential social and communication skills.

‘Part of a toolbox’ for kids: expert

The tattle phone can be “part of a toolbox” during kindergarten, a period when children learn the “foundational skills of social and emotional well-being,” though it can’t replace human connection, Tania Johnson, a registered psychologist and co-founder of the Institute of Child Psychology, said in a Zoom interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday from St. Albert, Alta.

“All that a tattle phone can do is create the pause for the kid to actually think, ‘OK, is it something I actually need to share with my teacher?’ (and) it also helps to externalize some of their worries, but it would never, ever replace the teacher,” Johnson said.

She said children learn how to self-regulate from adults over time. Self-regulation is the ability to slow down and recognize your feelings and the feelings of others before deciding what to do next, she said.

Depending too much on the tattle phone could also contribute to the loneliness “epidemic” driven in part by devices, Johnson added.

She said the tattle phone is a “solitary activity” that doesn’t provide children with “essential non-verbal cues” for communication and learning.

“I think that when kids don’t have an adult who they feel they can talk to, who listens, who cares, I think they end up feeling really alone in the world,” she said.

Natalie Coulter, an associate professor of communications at York University in Toronto, said the device can provide a way for children to feel heard, but she worries about privacy if the recordings are shared outside the classroom, such as on social media.

“One of the concerns is about posting these little silly things that kids do when they’re young … that child themselves isn’t making that decision,” Coulter, whose research includes the relationship between youth and technologies, said in a Zoom interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday.

Dr. Emma Duerden, a neuroscientist and associate professor in the faculty of education at Western University in London, Ont., said the tattle phone could help address the challenge of dealing with large kindergarten classes.

“But I think overall … we just have to think about using these tools … in a balanced way,” said Duerden in a Zoom interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday.

The tattle phone could affect emotional development, particularly for children struggling with emotional regulation, she added. She said immediate feedback from a trusted adult can help children manage their emotions and navigate social situations.

“So in turn, it’s all right to have the exposure, I think, but just not to rely on it and to be aware of potential harms,” she said.