How to deal with kids who take mobile phones to parties

"How do we deal with kids who bring mobile phones?" is a question asked by every client planning their simcha. Mobiles can be party-poopers at parties. They disconnect kids from the celebration and they reinforce cliques.

It's a tall order to expect other parents to moderate their own kids' use of phones at your party, especially if their kids aren't accompanied. And enforcing rules isn't really in the spirit of a party.

Here are a few ideas...

Idea #1 Start a phone-free trend

Tonight I sent my child to a simcha without their phone. Believe it or not, there wasn't much fuss. Why? Because my child's friends weren't taking theirs! All it took was a couple of particularly strong friends of mine who stopped their children taking phones. My child easily followed suit.

Maybe this can start a trend! From experience, it's easier if a few parents can coordinate.

Idea #2 The phone check-in box

I've seen phone check-in boxes used at shul on yom tovim. It's pretty straight forward and an increasingly accepted practice. A box with sealable, plastic, labelled sleeves into which people pop their phones for collection at the end.

Request your young guests to drop off their phones at the door, give them a cloakroom ticket, and offer a sweetener to every child who parties without a phone.

For a small fee (see our pricing) we can provide a phone check-in service.

Idea #3 Dress code: Dress to party. No phones.

On children's invitations, simply offer an instruction alongside the dress code. Guests like to know what's expected of them dress-wise. Chances are their parents will appreciate a collective instruction about phones, knowing their children won't be left out (for those who care about their children being the odd-one-out).

Idea #4 The request to parents after invitation acceptance

Here's another great idea from a close and thoughtful friend.

Once you get your invitation replies, send a message to all the parents of your young guests saying:
"We'd prefer children to not bring mobile phones if at all possible. Instead, please can you send me your contact details? Because we're providing the security guard with a list of all parents' contact details so that children can easily contact their parents for any reason. Thanks in advance for helping us out with this little request! X"

Good, eh? I'd love it if I got a message like that from a parent hosting a simcha my kids were attending.

Please tell us more of your own ideas.

We really think it's worth taking kids' mobile phones out of the simcha. So please do share your own ideas so we can add them to our list of ideas.