Re: DVD/VCRs in cars (was punishment)

Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2003 14:33:22 EDT
Newsgroups: misc.kids.moderated
Size: 2,138 bytes

In article <3f1d6252$0$4824$email-address-deleted>, Scott Lindstrom <email-address-deleted> wrote:
> Mary Gordon wrote:
>
> >
> > I used to hate the drive, since the kids would complain, fight, kick
> > the seat etc. Now, we hit the highway, pop in a tape and wow, complete
> > peace and quiet. The kids each have headphones, so we don't hear the
> > sound of the movie, and hubbie and I get to listen to nice music in
> > the front (stuff WE like to listen to, whether radio, CD or tape) and
> > actually TALK to each other, while the kids are glued to Toy Story or
> > Harry Potter. Tape runs out, they start nattering at each other again.
>
> We taught our kids that is was totally unacceptable to
> distract the driver. I even recall an aborted trip
> because they couldn't settle down. That includes screaming,
> kicking the seat, etc. I think that's a more important
> thing to teach than just about anything in a car.
>
I have to agree, even though we regularly do a similar three-hour drive
to the lake. I understand the temptation to pacify them by popping in a
tape (and my daughter would be completely thrilled if that were a car
option), but having to entertain yourself on a long trip without
electronic aids and without annoying your travelling companions is a
valuable life skill best learned young, IMO. Of course, we only have
one kid, so we don't have sibling nattering. But she's fully capable of
nattering at us enough to make up for it.
At a fairly early age, she started entertaining herself by drawing in
the car, and now she's more likely to read. Now and then she'll
remember to bring her personal CD player and will go under headphones to
listen to music. I much prefer those habits to the movie habit,
especially since it would negate the "brains to mush" message we try to
convey about excessive tv-watching at home. And sometimes we actually
have interesting three-way conversations in the car.
For those reasons, I will veto a DVD player in the car until it's
standard equipment on the economy cars I favor and I can only get rid of
it by physically ripping it out.