It is a reality that phones today are becoming very complex, lots of people want a phone that is just a phone, I understand that.
Here in Japan, we have a "kids phone" that is very cool.....
It has only three preset numbers, and it has GPS monitoring, also if the kid is bothered by anyone the kid can hit a "Panic" button and three things happen, one is a 100db alarm goes off, two is an emergency text message gets sent to the parents and the kids school, and three is a "Secom" (a private security company) staff member is dispatched to find the kid. To be signed up for the Secom thing is free, but if the kid hits the panic button and the Secom guy comes, you get charged about $100. Not cheap, but if you kid is lost or scared and both parents are at work, could be a big time life saver.
Talk about peace of mind for the parents, I think this is a good use of technology. The phone also locks to the kids backpack (more on that in a second) and is waterproof.
Kids here from grade 1 - 6 use a backpack called a "Randoseru"
which all the kids use and they are very durable, they honestly last all of elementary school.
We also do have phones for the elderly
Here is one that NTT sells...
You can pre-program 10 numbers into the phone and there is a little slide down memo that you can write on with a pen the name for each pre-programed number. Also, when the phone is put on the charger, a text message is sent to someone in your family, for example, if you elderly parent has this phone, a text message will be sent to you (you have to set this up) each time the phone is placed on the charging stand, or removed. Sounds a bit odd, but if you live quite far from your parents, and you worry about them, you would at least know they are moving around and such, saves on the phone bill
FYI