Remember when the media warned parents not to let their children watch too much television? A venerable tidal wave of experts pointed to TV as dangerous to “family” time, something increasingly rare in today’s busy world. Well, that warning has moved from the family home to DVD players in the family SUV or–gasp!–minivan.

The benefits of DVD-equipped vehicles are staggering as any harried parent knows. While the little (or not so little) ones are distracted by the thirteenth replay of Barney or Pirates of the Carribean, the parents can focus more on driving or, in the case of the passenger, sleeping, resting, or even casually talking to one another.

But several groups are concerned that the DVD player may hinder “family time” during such trips. States spokesperson Bob Waliszewski of Focus on the Family, “Car time is a wonderful connect with family time. Let’s not crowd it out with DVDs and iPods. A little bit I can handle, maybe 10 percent of a total trip. But this is a neat opportunity to pass on our values and find out what’s going on in our kids’ lives.”

Our take? As usual, the key word is moderation. Just like a little bit of television (say, an hour per day) won’t psychologically hinder family relationships, letting the kids watching Barney to keep them quiet during the long trip to the mountains won’t hurt them. What would be harmful would be relying on DVDs or other devices to constantly pacify the children. Also, any parent knows that, if they honestly want to talk to their children, all they have to do is say “pitstop”.

Via Star News