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Original poster

Do your children know how to use an ordinary landline telephone?

101 replies

TheTecknician · 21/10/2023 13:23

I still have a landline but I rarely use it. I guess they're mainly for business use these days and public telephones seem to be on the way out. I've been thinking if your average youngster would know how to use a push button (or even a rotary) dial telephone in an emergency. Are they familiar with the 999 facility ? Do things like this get taught in school ? Mobile telecommunications are here to stay but the landlines, I hope, will always be an important back-up system.

OP posts:
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MrsSkylerWhite · 21/10/2023 13:24

Yes, though they’re adults. Grandchild no, they don’t have one.

theduchessofspork · 21/10/2023 13:25

They do but they stab at it like it’s a Victorian shop till (teens)

Idratherbepaddleboarding · 21/10/2023 13:26

Probably not TBH, we don’t have one.

BitofaStramash · 21/10/2023 13:30

I don't think they would have a clue. They are 15 and 11 and we haven't had a landline for years.

SoSad44 · 21/10/2023 13:31

We don’t have a landline

megletthesecond · 21/10/2023 13:32

Yes.

Nokoolaidherethanks · 21/10/2023 13:35

We just got rid of our landline. My 17 year old was appalled as it was the only phone number she knew off by heart. But it was never used. Think I did show my kids how to use it when they were little but they rarely had opportunity do so.

Lonesomefetter · 21/10/2023 13:36

It's not exactly difficult

YourNameGoesHere · 21/10/2023 13:37

No I don't think many children would know how to use a landline phone its just not a skill that's required these days really as so few houses have one.

ElleCapitaine · 21/10/2023 13:37

We haven’t had a landline for about 8 years. I don’t even have a landline in work - we use mobiles or Teams/Zoom.

letmesailletmesail · 21/10/2023 13:38

We have a landline and DC1 has known since she was about 3 (she was a very sensible 3yo!) how to dial 999 on it and also how to choose the pre-programmed options for Daddy and each set of grandparents. The grandparents wouldn't have been any immediate use as they lived hundreds of miles away but they could have gathered relevant information and done something about it. I didn't teach DC2 until he was about 5, partly due to speech delays as a toddler but also because if he was at home and awake then so was DC1.
The DC are now teens and I actually rang the landline the other day as I needed to get hold of one of them and they were ignoring their mobiles for some reason. DC1 answered it to my surprise but in the manner of someone who was expecting to communicate with aliens.

Lonesomefetter · 21/10/2023 13:39

We don't have one now, it does make me feel a bit odd. Though the last one we had was fibre, so not even useful if the power went off.

tiglit · 21/10/2023 13:41

No, we don't have one, literally cannot remember the last time I used one, my last 3 jobs have all had teleconferencing through our laptops plus work mobile phones, we don't have landlines on site.

IncomingTraffic · 21/10/2023 13:42

I’m not convinced they even know what a landline is. Even DS 14 has grown up with no concept of a landline being something you’d have at home. I haven’t had a functional landline since about 2007 (when I had to pay for one to have broadband but didn’t own a phone to plug into it).

It’s not some sort of dreadful safety issue. There is no need for a landline. Phone boxes even less so. The last time one of them seemed relevant to my life was probably last century.

ThreeRingCircus · 21/10/2023 13:53

I've taught DD1 aged 6 how to dial 999 if there's ever an emergency but that's it.

AhBiscuits · 21/10/2023 13:57

We haven't had a landlines since they've been alive (7 and 5) so probably not. They can use a mobile though.

CesareBorgia · 21/10/2023 14:06

Lonesomefetter · 21/10/2023 13:36

It's not exactly difficult

Rotary dial might be if you'd never seen one before.

SwedishEdith · 21/10/2023 14:09

My youngest (older teen) asked me what our home phone number is the other day. They've never had conversations with their friends on the landline.

tealcat · 21/10/2023 14:11

Yes, we taught them how to call 999 on it at a young age.

CastlesinSpain · 21/10/2023 14:12

We use our landline as the mobile reception is poor around here. We even have a couple of dial phones, which our kids friends were baffled by 😉

Vanillaradio · 21/10/2023 14:13

Yes. 9 year old ds doesn't have his own phone yet so has been taught how to dial 999 and mine and dh's number from both landlines and mobile. Tbh its its not a particularly different skill- one is just pressing small easy buttons, one a touch screen on a similiarly shaped device. If we had a phone with a dial I think that would totally throw him.

PuttingDownRoots · 21/10/2023 14:15

We teach Beavers and Cubs how to dial 999.
DDs know our address and post code in case of home emergencies, and what they might need to say.

When DDs were 4&6, their father needed an ambulance. He could ring it themselves, but DDs needed to let them in, find everything etc (although in the end they didn't go with him as a neighbour saw what was happening and took charge of them). It is something they need to know.

GoldenKiwi · 21/10/2023 14:16

Probably not, I unplugged ours about 4 years ago as the only calls we got were spam calls!

I can still remember my childhood BFFs phone number even though I haven't dialled it for about 30 years 😂

43ontherocksporfavor · 21/10/2023 14:17

If they can master an iPhone a landline is a piece of cake!

43ontherocksporfavor · 21/10/2023 14:17

Yes at primary school I teach emergency procedures, 999, Childline etc in PSHE.

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