Understanding where your children pick up bad habits is one of the biggest issues that leave parents scratching their heads. While you might be tempted to blame your daycare provider, at least a few of these habits are acquired from none other yourself. Like a 16-year game of monkey-see, monkey-do, children use their parents (or any other adult with whom they spend the majority of their time) to learn how they should act in their day-to-day lives. Often, when you’re shaking your head and saying, “They get that from your side of the family,” you really aren’t that far off.
Showing your children good habits in the car is one of the most critical things you can do not just to protect their safety while they are young, but also to get them started on a lifetime of safe driving. Because children start learning when they are babies, it’s critical to begin their safe driving education with the first time you take them home from the hospital.
Seat Belts
If you don’t ordinarily wear your seat belt, all the while providing excuses for your reasoning such as, “It isn’t comfortable,” or “I need to be able to get out of the car quickly in an accident,” then your kids will pick up on this. From the time they are babies, get in the habit of putting on your seat belt before you even start the car, and it will become second nature over the course of your child’s life to put theirs on, as well.
Traffic Behavior
Sure, that guy that cut you off while talking on his phone didn’t help your bad day at all, but beating the steering wheel, making rude gestures or yelling at them isn’t going to help either. If you do this with your kids watching, they’ll think that it’s appropriate to act like that, and they will emulate you. Get in the habit of driving defensively so that you can avoid situations such as this, and you won’t teach your child that road rage is the way to solve traffic disputes.
Cell Phones
Cell phones become easy toys for children whenever they pick them up. Not only will they call anyone on your speed dial list, they’ll also be mimicking they way you answer and make calls, even if they’re talking to Elmo. This means that if your child sees you answer the phone or a text message in your vehicle, they’ll think that it’s OK for them to do it, as well. When this is seen as “no big deal,” during playtime, the child won’t see it as a big deal when they begin driving. Recent statistics have indicated that nearly 25% of vehicle accidents happened because of “distracted driving,” generally involving a cell phone.
Sources:
Nationwide Insurance: Cell Phone Driving Statistics: www.nationwide.com
Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association: Teen Driving Statistics: www.rmiia.org