Teenager Before Smartphones

[WEDWDW]

For everyone who lived their teenaged years Pre-Smartphones,do you feel you were "cheated" by not being able to have constant communication with Boyfriends and Girlfriends and Friends,etc. during those special years?

Or is anyone glad they weren't tethered to a handheld computer during the days of teenager life?

 

[Dan Murphy]

no

 

[nw6675]

I'm thankful I didn't. It was nerve-racking enough waiting for the phone to ring from a boy. LOL! There are so many things wrong with having constant communication, social media, etc. Even my DD11 gets upset if her friends have read a text and don't response ASAP.

However, kids now have more privacy than I did. When answering machines and caller ID became a thing, I didn't always appreciate the fact that my parents always knew who I might be talking to

 

[amylevan]

I had my own phone line in my room, so I had pretty constant connections to my friends and boyfriend when I was home. (Ie i had my own line because the thing was practically attached to my ear and my dad got tired of sharing….).

That said, being able to go to practices and my after school job without having to be tethered to a phone was also good. If someone needed me while I was out, they just left a message on my answering machine and I got to them when I could. No instant gratification for our generation.

 

[nw6675]

@amylevan that's a good point! I forgot about me and my sister having our own phone line at one point. We had a very easy number to remember 867-6767. Everyone knew how to get ahold of us!

 

[mylilnikita]

Nope lol. Had my own line as well. And there were times I would be ticked at a boyfriend or friend so I wouldn’t want them to been able to reach to me if I was out lol.

 

[TippyThomas]

Heck, I didn't even have electricity much less a phone. No problem at all.

 

[prairie_girl]

Had my own phone line so I could talk to my boyfriend or friends any time I wanted to.

I’m glad I didn’t grow up in the age of smartphones and social media because man, I did some dumb stuff back then lol

 

[superme80]

So glad I grew up pre social media and cell phones.

 

[fla4fun]

I don’t like talking on the phone, and leave my cell phone off more often than it’s on (all evenings, overnight, and weekends). I text my close friends and family from my iPad, but none of us expect an immediate response. I shouldn’t have to be on call to the world.

My sister and I had our own phone as teens, but it didn’t get a ton of use. We preferred to be with our friends instead of hiding behind a phone. I am glad we didn’t have to deal with cell phones and social media. Being a teen is hard enough without them.

 

[WEDWDW]

@amylevan that's a good point! I forgot about me and my sister having our own phone line at one point. We had a very easy number to remember 867-6767. Everyone knew how to get ahold of us!

We had an 867 number as well.

It was 867-5309 and we got a lot of strange calls for some reason.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

Nope. So glad I didn’t have a cell phone when I was a teen. It was so much easier to hide! If you didn’t talk to someone it wasn’t that big of a deal.

 

[tvguy]

Not at all. My parents had a landline and was known to spend hours on it talking to friends. Or since most of my friends were on my street, I just walked to their house and knocked on their door.
Of course even today I'm not tethered to my cell phone. It is my emergency phone, I don't give out my number, and all my calls are still done on a landline.

 

[loves to dive]

Nope, didn't have cell phones (hadn't been invented yet). Heck we only had one land line and that was the one hanging on the wall in the kitchen. It did have a looooooooong cord though. Most of the time we lived in the burbs so most of my friends lived in the neighborhood and we would just walk to each others houses. We did call each other every now and again but we didn't need to be in each others back pockets.

 

[kymom99]

My dad worked for the phone company. We got call waiting as soon as it was available. It was so nice not being fussed at to get off the phone because someone was expecting a call.

 

[luvnwdwgal]

No I’m glad we didn’t have smartphones back in the 70’s. My parents had a landline with a wall phone in the kitchen that had a super long cord. My room was close enough that I could stretch it to my room and close the door.

 

[hopemax]

I wished for a Star Trek datapad, so I would have really liked a smart phone. But not for the phone features.

Actually, I really hate talking on the phone. Or in person too. I'm not good at extemporaneous speaking. The words get all jumbled up and I think I sound like an idiot. But I don't mind texting. So I probably would have had better relationships with my classmates. Sometimes people would call, and I hated the phone so much I would try to get off as fast as possible. Which probably sent a signal I wasn't interested.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

After a debacle with a secret much older boyfriend, my parents put the strict rule in place that all calls for me took place on the kitchen extension where I could be heard from the living room. Believe me when I tell you I felt lucky to be able to talk to my friends and to the occasional boy. I didn't feel like my privacy was being invaded because I deserved their distrust. Had there been cell phones, I could have gotten into real trouble with this guy instead of just skirting the edge of it. So I'm glad that we only had landlines.

Nowadays, I only use my phone for making calls and texting with my sister; I actually loathe cell phones. It took me forever to finally get one. People today have their noses stuck in their phones all the time-I think it's made for a less friendly world.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I think today it can be “too much”. Some space is nice. So no, I didn’t mind.

 

[WEDWDW]

I have to say I am shocked-I figured it would be close to 50/50.

Are you glad they are around in present day or do you wish they had never arrived on the scene at all and not just in Teenager Land?