Take Me To Post Comment Form What sets excellent parents apart from average parents? Is it saying, “Please be quiet instead of “shut-up? Maybe it’s the difference between rejoicing or careful consideration when the kids are invited to spend the night at a friend’s house. There are many factors no doubt, but talking on a cell phone while driving the kids around town definitely puts a parent in the “average if not “completely ignorant category. According to a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers that talk on their cell phones are four times as likely to get into car crashes serious enough to injure themselves. Kids may not always listen to the things their parents say, but they are watching everything they do and those actions speak volumes to young impressionable minds, especially when parents are yakking into cell phones going 75 mph down the highway. A cell phone is not a pacifier for infantile parents while they are driving, yet, there’s a Chatty Cathy behind the wheel of every car. Some parents are so addicted to their cell phones that meaningless conversations regularly take priority over focused driving. Is there anything worse, or more idiotic than some clueless mom behind the wheel of a massive SUV gabbing on her cell phone while three kids are fighting in the back row? Every time parents pick up that phone in the car, it sends the message (no texting necessary) to their kids that it’s okay if they do the same thing when they start driving. Given the fact that mastering safe driving takes many years of experience It’s not very wise to have a nation of newbie drivers text messaging and conversing on their cell phones as they “try to navigate the roads.
So, if you’re driving along one day and the kids are in the back seat, perhaps making a bit too much noise and you find yourself saying, Please be quiet, I’m on the phone, your're only halfway to becoming an excellent parent. Lose the cell phone pacifier even if you have to toss it out the window. Or at least turn it off, because you have all the makings of setting an excellent example for your children if you make a habit of paying attention to the road instead of the person on the other line. Amazingly, the kids might be quieter and more at peace just knowing you are engaged in the atmosphere of driving.
I’ve heard a stay-at-home mother say that the only time her kids start acting up, is the moment she finally gets to sit down and have a phone conversation with a friend. I think the same phenomena occurs in the car when parents use a cell phone conversation to avoid the responsibility of real driving and real parenting, and rightly so; Do your talking at home or at the office. Here’s an idea for all those mouthy parents raising the next generation of car accident victims, lose the pacifier and assign cell phone answering duties in the car to kids who are old enough to do the talking for you. If your kids are too young to answer the phone, then turn it off and keep quiet until you get to wherever it is you’re going. In my car, my son wouldn’t hand the cell phone over to me if was George Bush himself, but I’d definitely be pulling over to discuss some strict nationwide legislation concerning cell phone use while driving.
That being said, can we all just shut-up, and drive? Or better yet, can we all just “please be quiet and drive?