'Moms' Night Out' Stars On Pros & Cons of Cell Phone Parenting

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Does technology help or hinder parenting? Patricia Heaton, Sarah Drew, Sean Astin and their Moms' Night Out co-stars weigh in...

"I think it’s a double-edged sword," says Patricia, mother to four boys of her own, who points out that she's "not a big helicopter parent." But her real fear? "I'm very worried about porn. ... and I've so pounded it into them that I think that they will probably never ever have sex in their lives because I've made them so afraid of it!"


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"We actually have to make rules about when our phones are allowed to come out at home, because it can get really consuming," says Sarah, who has a two-year-old of her own. "My son yells at us whenever we have our phones out: 'No phone, mommy!'"

But Sean, a father of three girls, sees virtues to keeping track of his kids with cell phones: "Try to be aware, try to be analytical a little bit, but not beat ourselves up too much about the fact that it is easier to have a cell phone in your kids' backpack, because if the car doesn't show up to pick them up and they can text you really quickly, it is a pretty great world that way."

In Moms' Night Out, in theaters now, Sarah plays a harried mom who, along with her girlfriends, simply needs a kid-free zone of peaceful, grown-up dinner and conversation. But her long-needed moms' night out quickly begins to derail as real life sets while the husbands grapple with the challenge of holding down the fort with the kids for one simple night.

Described as "an endearing true-to-life family comedy that celebrates the beautiful mess called parenting," Moms' Night Out also stars Trace Adkins, Kevin Downes, David Hunt, Andrea Logan White, Robert Amaya, Abbie Cobb and Glee star Harry Shum Jr.