Full disclosure: there have been times in my life when I have ignored my mum’s phone calls when I really shouldn’t have. There were more times than I care to remember between the ages of 14-17 when I decided to stay out with God-knows-who doing God-knows-what ignoring my mum’s increasingly distressed text messages pleading with me to go home. If you’re reading this mum, I'm sorry – at the time necking Lambrini with Pete from the boy’s school next door and learning how to make a bong out of a litre bottle of Sprite seemed like the most important thing in the world, but I realise, in hindsight, I was mistaken. Soz for ignoring you and for making you think I was in a ditch somewhere on a weekly basis.
So, yes, there are times when I should have picked up my mother’s calls but there are also times when she should have been ignored. Like the time she phoned me 13 times in one day to ask where the hell I was when I was actually planning her birthday dinner. Or the time she phoned me four times in under an hour when I was lying in bed with a very new boyfriend to let me know that she had successfully de-wormed the dog. It works both ways – she definitely ignored my messages asking how to descale my kettle because, frankly, that’s the most boring question anyone has ever asked anyone in the world ever. I love you Mum, but sometimes ignoring each other is the only thing that keeps our relationship afloat.
That’s why I’m dismayed by the news that American mother Sharon Standifird has helped develop an app that makes it nearly impossible for children to ignore calls from their parents. The app is called ‘Ignore No More’ and is designed to help frustrated parents get hold of their wayward youngsters. Standifird told told CBS New York:
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'After months of design and working with developers, "Ignore No more" was born. With one tap, a list of only parent-selected contacts come up. The child can call, get the password and unlock the phone.
'I'm the person that has the unlock password. It takes away texting, it takes away the gaming, it takes away calling their friends. The child will always be able to call 911.’
So their child will not be able to phone their friend or boyfriend for help if they’re not in their parent’s pre-approved list of contacts but they CAN phone the police or their mum. Is this what it's come to? Have parents become so distrustful of their children that they have to actually disable their technology in order to get them to do as they say? I’m sorry Sharon Standifird but your app is mental and sounds like the living end.
But should we actually be surprised someone’s come up with an app like this? We’re now living in an age where it’s almost impossible to actually ignore someone and get away with it. The ‘read’ feature on Facebook, WhatsApp and iMessage now mean that if you're reading someone’s message and not-responding is now actually seen as an act of aggression. Oh, you’ve seen my message and ignoring it are you? Too busy and important to spare 30 seconds to respond? You cow.
And it’s not just texts and phone calls – now we’re constantly attached to our phones, everyone knows that an email can be read at any time of the day from wherever you are. Once upon a time you could ignore your boss’s email on the weekend and use the excuse that you just hadn’t seen it – these days it’s the sort of thing that could land you in a disciplinary meeting.
This is, quite clearly, a big pile of bullshit. When did having a smartphone suddenly mean you were tacitly agreeing to give away your right to ignore people, when you see fit. Yes, ignoring people is sometimes rude and often we’re annoyed when it’s happening to us, but it’s also a vital way of keeping sane and having a moment or two in the day that are just for you where no one can bother you. So, please, let’s halt all this nonsense and bring back our right to ignore the shit out of each other before we all go completely insane, shall we? Enough’s enough.
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Picture: Anna Jay
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.