Spiked: Ignore! Me! Don't!

Anyone who has children knows what ignorance is. A cumbersome word for an annoying thing: you say something and it's as if you weren't even there. In there, out there. This trait is particularly pronounced in our almost three-year-old at the moment. The crime scene at the dinner table: "Please eat properly" - and the yoghurt smacks out of his wide-open mouth onto his Sunday trousers, garnished with a cheeky grin. Or crime scene playground: "Wait, not so fast down the slope ...!" - and then he's gone and mom is coughing in the cloud of dust left behind. How lucky I am with our son, who is only seven months old! He's not interested in my wishes either and only answers "glglglglglgl" at best, but at least he can't run away from me yet.

What begins in early childhood apparently continues later: children who receive calls from their parents on their cell phones often simply turn the volume down and don't answer the calls. Call back? How does that work?

To be honest: I probably wouldn't have answered the phone if my parents had called. But luckily I didn't have a cell phone as a child. Just like our parents, we weren't always available back then. And so 35 years ago, not only being an adult, but also being a child was a little easier and more carefree. Just imagine that: You've just found the perfect hiding place while playing hide and seek, you're holding your breath to avoid being exposed - and then mommy calls. Great! Or even worse: you're lying in the arms of the best boy in the class - and dad wants to know what you're doing. Disaster!

Never underestimate your mother

Today, however, you simply have to be on reception. Even as a dwarf. Even as a teenager. Even if you don't want to be. Bradley Standifirds' mother thought so too. Annoyed by the fact that her child was not responding to calls or text messages, she quickly programmed an Android app that definitely makes children pick up or call back quickly when mom or dad ask for them. Because "Ignore no more" locks the cell phone after a short time if calls or text messages are ignored. Playing games, sending text messages, surfing, making calls - nothing works anymore. Only the emergency call and contacts selected by the parents still work. And the password for unlocking the cell phone is, of course, given to the older generation. Really nasty. And really effective.

Crash, boom, bang

I could imagine even more practical applications for such an app: For example, if you're a journalist trying to reach a certain person. And he always doesn't answer. Or if you're waiting in vain for your husband to answer when you go out. And the opposite direction is also missing: when your boss has already called you four times on your day off, when your ex won't leave you alone, when a friend doesn't understand that you're no longer her friend, or when the insurance guy is stubbornly nagging at you. It would be great if you could simply blow up the calling cell phone or telephone with a small implosion at the push of a button. Or else: from now on, we won't always be available, we won't be bothered for every little joke and we'll answer the phone again when it rings for something really important. Just think about it.