Long Drives with Technology and Senior Trips for 04/07/2017

Dear Family Coach: When we go on vacation, the trips often include long drives. My wife thinks it's perfectly fine for the kids to use their electronic devices for a big chunk of the journey. She says it's their downtime. I strongly disagree. Why do they need to be staring at screens for so long? What do you think? — Car-Sick Dad

Dear Dad: While there are certainly limits that should be enforced when it comes to iPads, iPhones, Kindles, etc., I do believe that it's OK to exceed set boundaries under certain circumstances. Do you remember being a child stuck in the back seat of Mom and Dad's station wagon on the annual drive from New York to Florida? My family never drove that far, but I can tell you it was mind-numbingly boring. There was constant bickering, and oftentimes my parents had to place a divide between my sister and me. They would put her on the seat and me on the floor with the crumbs.

Updated: Fri Apr 07, 2017