There’s a growing trend for some parents who hope to delay cell phones: the home phone is back.

This return to a simpler form of communication reflects years of research on the effects of cell phones on young brains. Can the landline be a solution to a few of these challenges? Let’s explore three mental health benefits of delaying cell phones in exchange for a home phone.

1. It still grants kids access to communication.

Communication is important, and as children get older, it is developmentally appropriate for them to have their own relationship with friends and family members. The home phone allows them to talk to friends they don’t see daily, schedule meetups, and maintain relationships with far-away family members. This is an important part of adolescence that could be lost with a strict “no phones” rule but can be maintained in a healthy way with a landline.

2. It doesn’t provide the same dopamine hits and withdrawals of cell phones.

Dopamine is a “feel-good” hormone in the brain that spikes when we engage in pleasurable activity, such as eating a favorite food, or from technology, like a text alert, a funny video, or a notification that someone liked your post. But too much technology-produced dopamine can cause the brain to produce less of it, forcing us to do more to feel joy. This makes withdrawals even more significant as the brain recalibrates around the dopamine hits. A landline has much less stimuli and so it offers less dramatic dopamine hits and withdrawals. A person may have a healthy dopamine spike when it rings or while talking to a friend, but without the damaging levels that can cause withdrawal symptoms.