Try balancing a job and kids, reaching companies and schools without a smart phone. It will cost you time if you can’t just reach into your pocket. Example, schools in my area put school closures on Facebook and through email. Guess you could listen to the radio if you didn’t have access. Or watch the news on TV (Oh, actually, TV is a luxury, nevermind, much less useful. I don’t have TV, don’t have time to watch or the money to waste on cable).
Smart phones are not an expensive luxury anymore, they’re a tool. They’re a tool that the younger, employed and child-raising part of society is assumed to have. I’m not saying you can’t do it, it’s just, well… Hope your kids can adjust to college life if they haven’t been exposed to tools like easy access to the internet. Their peers will probably have smart phones, at least as teenagers/young adults. Doesn’t bode well for them. You can get a cheap smart phone, even used iPhones aren’t always that expensive, though I think androids are far more economical.