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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not have a mobile phone?

65 replies

madeoficecream · 06/09/2018 17:18

I did have one once but havent for the last 5 years.
I have a landline and I have a laptop. So I can get skype and facebook messenger and emails. My husband has a mobile and sometimes people send him texts for me but he has it with him at work usually and works long hours.
My eldest son had just started school. My friend was amazed I did not have a mobile and suggested I would need one so I was always contactable by the school.

What are peoples thoughts on this? Is there anyone else out there without a mobile phone?

OP posts:
PeaceRaven · 06/09/2018 17:24

Sadly not and I need one for work, but good on you! Delete your social media accounts for bonus points 😎

CircleSquareCircle · 06/09/2018 17:26

wow Smile.

maybe get a £5 pay as you go for emergencies.

but really, people managed in the past, imagine!

plus you don't get all the pesky random phone messages from schools that allegedly people get (though I didn't myself).

SneakyGremlins · 06/09/2018 17:26

What if you're out and school need to contact you?

Original poster
madeoficecream · 06/09/2018 17:27

I love social media!! Blush Dont want it with me constantly though...

OP posts:
MabelFurball · 06/09/2018 17:27

The human race has survived this long - minus the last 20 years or so - without them. Shock

CrispbuttyNo1 · 06/09/2018 17:28

Just get a simple basic phone with no internet on it then.

Original poster
madeoficecream · 06/09/2018 17:31

sneakygremlins thats the main issue. I dont ever go that far away if its just me and my daughter when my son is at school... just to the local shop or the park for an hour or so. I was thinking that school would not be able to contact people who are at work immediately. There would be some delay in getting hold of most people in that circumstance so surely this is the same?
If they left a message on my husbands mobile he would send it to me via email or messenger and id see it when I got in.

OP posts:
SheepyFun · 06/09/2018 17:31

I'm bemused by having one so the school can contact you at all times - a friend is a surgeon. I don't think he has his phone with him in theatre, and it would be similar in many jobs.

continuallychargingmyphone · 06/09/2018 17:32

People managing in the past is beside the point, it’s like saying how did we manage before cars, we didn’t travel as much. Life moves on. YABU.

sleepismysuperpower1 · 06/09/2018 17:33

I would say that you probably do need one, so you could be contacted by the school in an emergency, or if you are in any sort of trouble then you can get help. you could always get a simple one like:

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00O5EUBSI/ref=as_at?psc=1&linkCode=g14&slotNum=2&SubscriptionId=AKIAINYWQL7SPW7D7JCA&imprToken=mnxDs.8oTiVFzuG7rM60Ag&creativeASIN=B00O5EUBSI&tag=mumsnetforum-21&creative=165953&camp=2025

which literally only does calls and texting.

sprinklesandsauce · 06/09/2018 17:33

What happened in the olden days when school needed to contact parents? I presume the same thing will happen now. They leave you a message and you get back to them. if you are not in, they will contact the next person on your list and so on.

No, you shouldn't feel obliged to have a mobile.

crazydoglady6867 · 06/09/2018 17:33

I do have a phone but forget to take it everywhere so may as well not, mind you I don’t have young children and absolutely NO friends so not sure anyone will need me that urgently. If I had children at school I think I would get myself a simple PAYG phone for piece of mind if I were you.

CircleSquareCircle · 06/09/2018 17:34

people coped in the past. what "red alert" are parents meant to be on all day in case of an "emergency"? completely ridiculous.

Original poster
madeoficecream · 06/09/2018 17:36

Well ideally I do not want any type of mobile phone at all. I just hate them. Not just the internet but people being able to constantly contact you 24/7. Id very much prefer not to have one but I just wondered if that was completely unreasonable because my friend made me think of the issue re my sons school not being able to get hold of me immediately...

OP posts:
Purpleartichoke · 06/09/2018 17:36

Given the lack of pay phones, I don’t view a mobile as optional. You can get a pay as you go emergency phone very cheaply.

Original poster
madeoficecream · 06/09/2018 17:38

sheepyfun yeah thats what I was thinking... there must be many working people who cannot answer their phone or have it on them all the time... so perhaps it is not so unreasonable to not be on 24/7 alert.
Like I said im never out for the entire day when my son is at school and my husband isnt with me... so id get any messages within a couple of hours

OP posts:
Distancehelp · 06/09/2018 17:39

I think you may end up missing out on social stuff. We have a lot of group chats for school things, and people tend to text to arrange play dates, park trips etc. Although they could fb message you or talk in person, I think it may end up getting forgotten.

I feel like people have become more apprehensive about calling, and we tend to rely on text a lot more.

Emmageddon · 06/09/2018 17:39

I agree with the others, get a cheap PAYG just in case. Call boxes are virtually obsolete now and if you needed to contact someone in an emergency you'd have the wherewithal to do so.

Homemadearmy · 06/09/2018 17:41

If the school need to contact a parent and you aren’t at home, they will ring your husband and if necessary he will be able to pick your son up.

Haberpop · 06/09/2018 17:41

Not unreasonable at all but then I am of an age that remembers how well the world functioned before their invention. Payphones were unreliable even back in those days and I cannot remember the last time I needed to use my phone 'in an emergency'.

sleepismysuperpower1 · 06/09/2018 17:42

you could always not give your number out if you didn't want to be contacted. that way only in emergencies would you be phoned

EvaHarknessRose · 06/09/2018 17:46

Its not essential but it is a norm and you would be less contactable or involved in terms of things like
GP appointment reminder texts
Whats app chats (organising football club for dc, for example, not fun)
Texts from guides leader
School reminders
People like to arrange meet ups by text - no one calls a landline any more!

indianwoman · 06/09/2018 17:49

Hoe are you going to arrange play dates, text a friend in an emergency to pick your son up from school, be told if there's an accident and the main road is closed, find out when the class or a group of friends are meeting after school in the park? A mobile , and WhatsApp seem pretty usual ways to communicate with school parents. Do you check your computer every half an hour ? Seems a daft stance to take. You don't need to take it everywhere but I think you'll find you'll get left out of a lot of social things if you can't text or WhatsApp as people won't bother to communicate with you the long boring way.

BloodyDisgrace · 06/09/2018 17:54

Both husband and I have Nokia 2G, no internet, no camera, nothing. Press 3 times to produce one letter - so yeah it's pretty much the same as having none :)
I'm like you: landline and laptop. I would categorically refuse to read anything longer than a sentence or respond while using a small screen of a smartphone and kill my eyes. I'm already shortsighted and need to keep it not worsening because I like to read.

Andylion · 06/09/2018 17:54

I have only had my cell phone for three months and I am really glad I got it.
I was being picked up by friends to travel out of town when they had car trouble. If I hadn't had my cell, one of them would have had to take a cab to find me, while the other took care of the car. They also used their phones to find a mechanic.