In February, SunCom Wireless announced the Firefly, a GSM-based cellular phone that does away with most of the functionality of a standard cell phone. By limiting users (kids) to call only 20 parent-programmed numbers, mom and dad (with dedicated keys), and 911, parents have greater control. It’s simple, but that’s the point: a personal communication device for kids that is impossible to abuse. In fact, the Firefly doesn’t even need a separate account with a wireless carrier, instead coming with a bundle of prepaid minutes.

SunCom is aiming the phone at preteens and tweens, the strange demographic of increasingly media- and technology-savvy kids who know how to use a cellular phone, but might not be responsible enough to manage the temptations and dangers of an unencumbered model. Kids have an easy way to keep in touch with their parents, and parents have an easy way to check up on their kids.

There are questions that instantly spring to mind: do kids really need phones? Could the radiation from phones, especially a lifetime of phone use, be potentially harmful? Can an eight-year-old be trusted with a $100 to $200 gadget? All of these things are up for debate, but I think it’s fair to say that the debate for most is academic.

Increasingly, for better or for worse, kids are getting cell phones. It’s not hard to imagine a generation of kids 20 years from now that will be connected nearly from the womb. If you can communicate with a kid, you can track them.