Parent Talk
Ever wish that being a parent came with a set of instructions? Discuss the challenges and rewards of raising children and teenagers in today's complex world with specialist Donna Kane, MA, from Jewish Community Services.Technology and Cell Phones
Teenagers’ use of cell phones, both for conversing and texting, continues to be a concern for parents, especially parents of teenage drivers. The data about the dangers of phone use while driving is compelling. AAA and “Seventeen” magazine surveyed 17-year-old drivers and found that 61% of teens admitted to risky driving behaviors and 46% said they text while driving. William Van Tassel, Ph.D., manager of AAA Driver Training, reports that “Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of teens, claiming more than 6,000 15- to 20-year-olds each year.”
Fortunately, now the Maryland General Assembly, as well as legislatures in other states, has recognized the dangers and passed a bill prohibiting texting while operating a motor vehicle. The Delegate John Arnick Electronic Communications Traffic Safety Act went into effect on October 1. Violators are guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine up to $500.
This new law is a good start, but it has a long way to go before it protects teenage drivers and others on the road. Talking on a cell phone and reading text messages while driving are still permitted, and other states have found that laws banning cell phone use while driving have been difficult to enforce.
Common Sense Media, a non-profit agency that lobbies for safer media use, points out the necessity for parents, as well as all adults, to set an example of safe driving behavior. This really needs no explanation or justification. How many times have you driven by someone talking on a cell phone while driving? I see drivers drifting into another lane, swerving or turning a corner with one hand. How is it possible to give your full attention to safe driving when you are talking on the phone? This behavior has become so prevalent that it is hard to impress upon teenagers just how dangerous it can be. Recently Rabbi Moshe Hauer wrote an essay called “Wireless Teshuva” in the “Jewish Times,” challenging all of us – as difficult as it may be - to change our driving habits. So moms and dads, aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas, please raise the bar, and put those phones down when you are driving.
There are some ways to block car phone use, but they have yet to be perfected. The National Safety Commission reports:
“For $10 a month, Dallas-based WQN Inc. sells software that disables a cell phone while its owner is driving. It employs GPS technology, which can deduce how fast someone is traveling. But it can’t tell if that person is driving, so it can lock a passenger’s phone. WQN, which offers cell phone and Internet security software under the name WebSafety, says about 50 customers signed up during its first month of service.
The Canada-based software company Aegis Mobility is releasing DriveAssistT, a similar Global Positioning System-based product this fall. The company’s vice president, David Teater, said that Aegis is in talks with big U.S. wireless phone carriers, who would support the software and charge families a fee in the vicinity of $10 to $20 a month. The DriveAssistT system disables a phone at driving speeds and will automatically send a message informing callers or texters that the person they are trying to reach is busy driving and unable to answer the phone. But the system will also disable the phone of a non-driving passenger.”
These new products may be an option for some parents. For other parents, modeling safe driving, discussing the dangers, expressing concern and following through on consequences may be the best deterrents to prevent their teens from using cell phone while driving.
By Donna Kane, MA, Jewish Community Services, Baltimore, MD
Jewish Community Services, an agency of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, offers a wide range of supportive services and resources for you and your family. To learn more, call 410-466-9200, or visit http://www.jcsbaltimore.org. Questions about parenting? Send an e-mail to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), and check out the Parenting Tip of the Month at http://www.jcsbaltimore.org.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/07/09 at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)
