What's different is the school EXPECTS you to have a cell phone, and come running if they call. After raising two kids this immediacy is really not necessary.
I lot of it goes back to the craziness in the healthcare system. No school wants to be sued, so they don't have a nurse. They can't take the kid to the hospital themselves, since the hospital won't even see the kid unless the have insurance info. And since it takes two working parents to be able to afford to live in this country, one parent is no longer home. The madness ends when we make other choices in our lives. Go Bernie!
Good point. Sometimes I get calls from daycare that my kid fell on the ground while playing and they just wanted to let me know as FYI. Of course kids fall down when they are playing. I don't need to know that everytime it happens unless a serious injury occurs. The fear of being sued and the culture of lawsuits in this country is something that is creating this type of practice.
I have a tech friend who didn't have a cellphone. A few years ago, he and his wife adopted a kid. I gather his wife was actually OK with him continuing to not have a cellphone but a part-time nanny (or something along those lines) that they hired absolutely insisted that he get one--as in wouldn't take the job if he didn't.
