No screen use during car journeys, am I being old fashioned?

[midnightvelvetPart2]

I do not let our DC's (9 & 6) play on screens during car journeys but I'm wondering whether I'm being a little outdated? :) they have regular screen time at home & if we are stationary in traffic jams then they can use them, but if we are just driving along then they are not allowed. I'm talking tablets/DS/handheld gaming things.

I used to get carsick to the point of vomiting if I ever tried to read a book in a car, so I wasn't allowed & this may be influencing it. DS1 used to get carsick but he hasn't been in 4 years.

I'm doubting myself now as we drove back from holiday yesterday & it was a journey of 4 hours. My dad phoned, the kids complained about the journey & that they were bored & he said well they can play on their tablets etc but when I said they weren't allowed to he was a bit taken aback. We play I Spy & Sausage etc & have music & audiobooks on so its not a silent car, DS2 usually sleeps at some point.

What does everyone do?

As for satnav, we don't have it. I use the old-fashioned thing of looking at a map. Works for us.

I imagine smoke signals may have worked for you too, before the advent of other communication devices.

Does your map have advance warning of hold-ups, accidents, diversions etc too? Why anyone doesn't take advantage of technology is absolutely beyond me.

OP You are making life unnecessarily hard. Try a snarled up motorway for 10 hours and then see how quickly your 'yellow car' game fizzles out...

oops - that read back as unnecessarily harsh! Apologies :-) Screen time for all!!!!

Or, you could be really complex like me, and plan the journey on a map but also have a satnav for those moments when you get horribly lost in Rouen.

Blended approach. Multimedia.....etc, etc.

DD is 7yo and the longest trips I go on with her are 2-3 hours. On the way to Cornwall she likes counting windmills. On the way to Dorset we were playing "spot the red car". Her Kindle is available to her, but she doesn't spend the majority of the trip on it.

When she does go on it, she does jigsaw puzzles, reads books or listens to music.

I have three kids 6, 4 and 1, who sit side by side in the back of a five seater. They always have a movie on the way to grandparents (3.5 hours to one, 4.5 hours to the other) and otherwise have screen time in the car if we need to talk.

When we had just two we didn't have it so much but the noise of the three of them entertaining themselves in such a confined space is very distracting. They get only half an hour screen time max on any other day.

I'm just jealous of all you people who can read in the car. I was an avid reader as a child but reading in the car made me instantly pukey.

ooh. middlings

we always get lost in Rouen too

I call it Joan of Arcs Revenge

mind you, we manage to get lost satnav or no. Resigned to it now after about 10 goes and just schedule an extra hour in

I've never had a portable dvd players and they don't associate the car with screens (only windscreens!). We do quite a few long journeys and entertain ourselves by singing (!), playing "first one to see", identifying the countries the traffic is from by their stickers...it is more interesting than it sounds! We also have plenty of chat.

We've been caught by Rouen too, with and without a SatNav. When I'm ruler of the world I am going to build a bypass aroung Rouen.

I didn't intend to divert the discussion on to SatNavs but I have the same attitude as entertainment on screens. It doesnt have to be all or nothing and most people find a middle ground. I have a SatNav and atlas for long journeys, I also use google maps and print out detailed local maps of hotel locations and our destination. Use the tools for what they're good at.

I love my SatNav for:
Seeing the road ahead on and country mountain roads, you know how sharp the next bend or two are.
Lane assist on fast moving junctions, especially ringroads in other European countries. Ive been on a few where you have to get off at a juntion to stay onthe ring road, its not intuitive.
Busy towns where you dont need to concentrate on a map or look out for road names continuously.
Knowing where the nearest supermarkets, petrol stations, restaurants are.

An Atlas will give me a wider geographical context and doesnt need electricity ;)

Just because I've driven for a couple of decades around Europe with only a road map it doesn't mean that I cant embrace what a SatNav does well. Because I am using a SatNav it doesnt follow that I have turned into an unthinking zombie that blindly follows it.

Muddha and Troll let's meet there for wine coffee next summer

We can leave the DCs in the car with all their gadgets and the DP/Hs can have a snooze before they tackle the next leg as we'll be too drunk to drive.

a couple of years ago, sick of getting fucked by Rouen, we decided to stay overnight- as if this would somehow cheat it

we spent hours looking for the hotel- in the end, a French guy rescued us and we followed him and his bike, all sheepish

we thanked him profusely (I'dve had his babies by then) and he said 'eet ees alwize a playzuuure to elp the Briteesh'

I think I dreamed him

We recently spent 8 hours driving to Somerset with 5, 7 and 9 year olds. I did a bit of both, hold out on the screens until they were bored, so we start with playing traffic bingo, i spy, I went to the supermarket and I bought ... and similar. Also they have books in the car and we play story CDs as well as listening to music. But I would much rather they had screen time in the car than at home where there are lots of other things to do so I did let them have their tablets if they wanted them after about the first hour.

Satnavs have caused more near divorce moments than anything else in our house particularly in France.I just don't get the need for them,it over complicates things.

Driving in France is so bloody easy. You write a list of the city destinations from a to b and tick them off. Then turn said list upside down for the way home. Only time things have gone pear shaped is when sat navs are involved. Last time I refused to ever use one again,unearthed a very old French Atlas mid argument and peace was restored in seconds.

Nope, no screens in the car here (two boys 5 and 8). We do what others have said: listen to music, talk, play word games, quizzes etc. I know it probably sounds ridiculous, but I quite look forward to long car journeys together. The kids never fight in the car (they do at home!), and it's one of the few times when we're all in the same place and no-one's doing anything else. I'm not hugely precious about screen time, and if car journeys started to be a problem then I'd certainly consider taking the ipad along; but since the children never complain about car journeys, I see no need to at the moment.

Blimey, we can't manage a journey of an hour without some sort of screen (or several!)

Ds has a talker (which doesn't really count - although it is a screen)

There are 2 DVDs attached to the back of the headrests

Sometimes the girls take their tablets too, and ds will have an ipad

In our defence, we didn't used to be able to travel anywhere, without massive meltdowns and trauma from ds, so we went all out!

You don't have to defend yourself! Screens are wonderful inventions - so are pencils and paper - and if they make car journeys more pleasant for them and you, then that's all that matters

You write a list of the city destinations from a to b and tick them off

Well, that's bloody dangerous if you're driving, isn't it? As is reading an atlas.

No-one is 'helpless' Annie - they simply like a variety of activities.

I don't think that's entirely true, SirChenjin. Plus, we don't know what our kids are going to be like in 10 years time. If all they've known is screens during travel, then they might find it difficult to do without.

I've had some really lovely trips with my DS recently, he says he's enjoyed them too, and I'd have been sorry to miss them because he was stuck in a screen. Even stupid stuff like spotting solar farms as we go past is interesting to a city kid.

(BTW I wouldn't have books in a car, either, as we're all pukers if we read.)

Does your map have advance warning of hold-ups, accidents, diversions etc too? Why anyone doesn't take advantage of technology is absolutely beyond me.

Because I like maps. I often look at them on my tablet computer, or on an old-style road atlas. They fascinate me. I am a map geek and have a very good knowledge of the geography of the UK. I like choosing my own routes and if there's a problem, it takes a couple of minutes to work out a diversion. Is satnav any quicker? I doubt it.

The only time I've wished I had it was when I was on my own visiting a client and I wasn't sure about the last half mile of the journey. I had to pull over and look at a street atlas. If I'd had satnav I'd not have needed to pull over (probably). But it wasn't a big deal, I leave plenty of time for my journeys, so pulling over for 2-3 minutes to check the map doesn't cause a problem.

It would be a very rare child who was completely helpless Annie. Children are growing up using technology in the same way that we used books and pencil and paper. I presume you're comfortable using a variety of tech and mediums? The vast majority of children are too - don't worry about it. My children are almost 18, 16 and 8 - having been through the various stages I can now relax enough to know that they are far from helpless, and if I provide them with a range of activities in car journeys (and elsewhere) they will enjoy them all.

serial - I think you're missing the point with satnavs. They advise you of local amenities, diversions and accidents up ahead so that you can take action. Not much point in trying to work out a diversion if you hit a hold up on the motorway and you've got no way of avoiding it. Satnavs are much, much quicker and far more effective - why on earth do you think so many people use them? By all means use a map as backup, but embrace the progress - your forebearers did, otherwise you'd still be navigating using the stars.

I tend to agree with serial on maps. We once did a road trip in a country we'd never been to before, and did the same journey as some friends in a different car. They used the Satnav, we a map, as like you, I love maps. We realised that a short detour meant driving a lovely coastal road - we arrived at the destination 10 mins later but had a much lovelier drive as they hadn't left the motorway.

Sometimes, after all, the journey is half the fun, not just the destination.

You know you can specify the type of journey on a sat nav? Or that you can plot your route? And so much easier if you're the only person in the car.

Maps are impossible if you are the only person in the car.

Unless you want to keep pulling over.

That reminds me of when we were driving PCH and the sat nav kept trying to divert us onto the motorway. I still wonder if people just follow the sat nav and then wonder what the fuss is about!

You would hope they would specify the route!