Are Parents too Plugged-In?

We tell our young people to unplug, hang up, don't text and drive but as adults, ARE WE? Driving around Fargo–Moorhead, I have seen it all too often, head bent down at a red light texting or talking with the cell phone up to their ear. I have seen the crazy driver in front of me swerving as they texted. I will admit that I am guilty of the red light typing and talking on my phone while driving. I have changed how I am with my phone and now I don't text in my car unless I am parked. I don't talk on the phone when my son is in the car with me. However, I must have told Owen at some point to yell at me when I drove and talked because for awhile I was getting a very good talk from a 6yr old. He was very convincing and I have gotten much better with my phone.  I should just stop completely after reading the statistics of distracted driving.

• 20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. (NHTSA).
• Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashed, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (NHTSA)
• In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. (FARS and GES)
• The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group – 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. (NHTSA)
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)
• Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)

 We as adults teach our children by example - If we expect them to not drive and text/chat, then we should not either. This seems to be a huge concern with child development researchers throughout the US - are parents TOO plugged in now.

   There was an article in the New York Times on June 9, 2010, which stated that parents are often too involved on their phone or computer to give their full attention to their child. The reasearch concluded and found that children were having feelings of hurt, jealousy and competition through out the study. It all comes down to whether the parent spends quality time with the child and that distracted time is not high-quality time. Just as the NYT article states about a technology ban in the house, I have previously instated a ban on cell phone, computer use from when I pick my son up from daycare until he is asleep. The only people who we do answer the phone for are my parents and my fiance, everyone else can wait until I have had my family time.

I hope that by doing these little steps, I am starting to show the proper use of technology in our lives for my son. Being more active in your childs' life and putting the iPad/cellphone/laptop down is the key to having technology involved in your everyday life.