Why do kids seem to be driving later than they used to "back in the day"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The jurisdictions around here have made it much more time consuming to get a license. In MD they can’t test until at least 16.5. Before that, there’s a lengthy (extracurricular) classroom training, 60 hours behind the wheel with an adult driver, and 3 2-hour sessions with a professional instructor. Scheduling all of that introduces a lot of delay.

Beyond that, at least some kids nowadays lived a near-virtual life long before covid. They don’t need to go out to see their friends. Some kids also think cars and responsibility are “scary.” There’s some truth in that. Driving in this metropolitan area is awful. The level of recklessness, aggressiveness, and pure lack of skill is astounding. Many drivers seem at best oblivious to other vehicles, others narcissistically malicious. So there’s good reason for kids and parents to be concerned.

On the other side of the equation, the later a kid learns to and starts driving the less experience they will have when they go away to school or otherwise become emancipated. Better a licensed young driver still being coached by a parent passenger than a half-formed one out on their own.

They need to go out to see their friends in person. You think a FaceTime call is the same as going out with friends? Not even close to being the same mentally or physically.

+1 - My teens are OVER the virtual social *stuff*. If you say, "Zoom" in the house the teens roll their eyes. They play video games, of course, and interact online sometimes, but in person is in person and virtual is never the same.

Cool story. Irrelevant, but cool.

It is not irrelevant at all. You all raising introverts with anxiety

You don’t know what an introvert is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's perfect world would be a car be can get into, tell it where he wants to go, and then sit back and scroll through social media while the car drives him where he wants to go. And I think he is not alone. This generation is ripe for self-driving cars.

Not my kids, but then again I didn't raise them to be like this either. Both of my teens got their licenses first day they could. I still limit screen time on their electronics, but I never limit face to face time, never limit driving, and always encourage independency.

The bolded is flat-out contradictory.

Anyhow, I think what you meant to say is that you are a control freak.

A control freak? You a lazy ass mom setting zero boundaries and letting your kid be helpless. Cool mom.

Fascinating. Totally fine with mommy actively monitoring the electronics of a 17-year-old, and forcing kids who don't want to drive into the DMV, but claims that is "having boundaries." Such a weird opposite-to-reality world. Obviously in the real world the mommy who controls the electronics of a kid who will be a legal adult in 1-2 years and the one who doesn't let kids take responsibility for their own decisions re driving is the one teaching helplessness, but it's wild to see your cognitive dissonance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The jurisdictions around here have made it much more time consuming to get a license. In MD they can’t test until at least 16.5. Before that, there’s a lengthy (extracurricular) classroom training, 60 hours behind the wheel with an adult driver, and 3 2-hour sessions with a professional instructor. Scheduling all of that introduces a lot of delay.

Beyond that, at least some kids nowadays lived a near-virtual life long before covid. They don’t need to go out to see their friends. Some kids also think cars and responsibility are “scary.” There’s some truth in that. Driving in this metropolitan area is awful. The level of recklessness, aggressiveness, and pure lack of skill is astounding. Many drivers seem at best oblivious to other vehicles, others narcissistically malicious. So there’s good reason for kids and parents to be concerned.

On the other side of the equation, the later a kid learns to and starts driving the less experience they will have when they go away to school or otherwise become emancipated. Better a licensed young driver still being coached by a parent passenger than a half-formed one out on their own.

They need to go out to see their friends in person. You think a FaceTime call is the same as going out with friends? Not even close to being the same mentally or physically.

+1 - My teens are OVER the virtual social *stuff*. If you say, "Zoom" in the house the teens roll their eyes. They play video games, of course, and interact online sometimes, but in person is in person and virtual is never the same.

Cool story. Irrelevant, but cool.

It is not irrelevant at all. You all raising introverts with anxiety

You don’t know what an introvert is.

I think there is an angry illogical teenager posting in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The jurisdictions around here have made it much more time consuming to get a license. In MD they can’t test until at least 16.5. Before that, there’s a lengthy (extracurricular) classroom training, 60 hours behind the wheel with an adult driver, and 3 2-hour sessions with a professional instructor. Scheduling all of that introduces a lot of delay.

Beyond that, at least some kids nowadays lived a near-virtual life long before covid. They don’t need to go out to see their friends. Some kids also think cars and responsibility are “scary.” There’s some truth in that. Driving in this metropolitan area is awful. The level of recklessness, aggressiveness, and pure lack of skill is astounding. Many drivers seem at best oblivious to other vehicles, others narcissistically malicious. So there’s good reason for kids and parents to be concerned.

On the other side of the equation, the later a kid learns to and starts driving the less experience they will have when they go away to school or otherwise become emancipated. Better a licensed young driver still being coached by a parent passenger than a half-formed one out on their own.

They need to go out to see their friends in person. You think a FaceTime call is the same as going out with friends? Not even close to being the same mentally or physically.

+1 - My teens are OVER the virtual social *stuff*. If you say, "Zoom" in the house the teens roll their eyes. They play video games, of course, and interact online sometimes, but in person is in person and virtual is never the same.

Cool story. Irrelevant, but cool.

It is not irrelevant at all. You all raising introverts with anxiety

You don’t know what an introvert is.

I think there is an angry illogical teenager posting in this thread.

(By which I mean I agree with you.)

[Anonymous]

I know several people who got their license after 18. The reasons vary.

1. They had to pay for something themself ( driver's ed, insurance, gas, car, etc) and couldn't afford it.
2. They knew they would become the chauffeur for younger siblings.
3. Their parents wouldn't let them due to adhd and/or other factors.
4. They weren't eligible at the time (temporary seizure due to drug interaction).
5. No reason to drive (boarding school, nanny for younger siblings and no car, etc).

For me, it was 1 and 2. But about half of the kids I knew as a teen didn't start learning to drive until 17-19.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think all of you who aren't doing the (yes, hard) work of making sure your teen gets their driver's license are really bad parents. Really bad.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know several people who got their license after 18. The reasons vary.

1. They had to pay for something themself ( driver's ed, insurance, gas, car, etc) and couldn't afford it.
2. They knew they would become the chauffeur for younger siblings.
3. Their parents wouldn't let them due to adhd and/or other factors.
4. They weren't eligible at the time (temporary seizure due to drug interaction).
5. No reason to drive (boarding school, nanny for younger siblings and no car, etc).

For me, it was 1 and 2. But about half of the kids I knew as a teen didn't start learning to drive until 17-19.

Sorry, but how are you all in the same group of people with nannies and boarding school, and also people who can not afford driver's ed. Like give me a freaking break with your lies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think all of you who aren't doing the (yes, hard) work of making sure your teen gets their driver's license are really bad parents. Really bad.

+1

Why, thank you! Now I'll just slide over to stand next to the other neglectful parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several people who got their license after 18. The reasons vary.

1. They had to pay for something themself ( driver's ed, insurance, gas, car, etc) and couldn't afford it.
2. They knew they would become the chauffeur for younger siblings.
3. Their parents wouldn't let them due to adhd and/or other factors.
4. They weren't eligible at the time (temporary seizure due to drug interaction).
5. No reason to drive (boarding school, nanny for younger siblings and no car, etc).

For me, it was 1 and 2. But about half of the kids I knew as a teen didn't start learning to drive until 17-19.

Sorry, but how are you all in the same group of people with nannies and boarding school, and also people who can not afford driver's ed. Like give me a freaking break with your lies

I think pp was saying that those are all different reasons from different groups of people.

[Anonymous]

This weirdly aggressive poster whining about kids not getting drivers licenses and boarding school has to be a troll. Nobody is that dumb in real life, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid's perfect world would be a car be can get into, tell it where he wants to go, and then sit back and scroll through social media while the car drives him where he wants to go. And I think he is not alone. This generation is ripe for self-driving cars.

Not my kids, but then again I didn't raise them to be like this either. Both of my teens got their licenses first day they could. I still limit screen time on their electronics, but I never limit face to face time, never limit driving, and always encourage independency.

The bolded is flat-out contradictory.

Anyhow, I think what you meant to say is that you are a control freak.

A control freak? You a lazy ass mom setting zero boundaries and letting your kid be helpless. Cool mom.

Fascinating. Totally fine with mommy actively monitoring the electronics of a 17-year-old, and forcing kids who don't want to drive into the DMV, but claims that is "having boundaries." Such a weird opposite-to-reality world. Obviously in the real world the mommy who controls the electronics of a kid who will be a legal adult in 1-2 years and the one who doesn't let kids take responsibility for their own decisions re driving is the one teaching helplessness, but it's wild to see your cognitive dissonance.

Not the PP, but I am curious. You have zero restrictions on your teen's phones. Like as soon as they get a phone, they can have it 24/7, by their bedside, any app, any website, any social media they want. You don't monitor it at all.

Because the PP only said they limit how much they can have their phones which by my common sense means they set up downtime and/or the amount they can use apps. I was under the impression most parents did this. At least in my circle they do. I couldn't imagine just handing a phone to a child with unlimited use. Once they pay for it, maybe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several people who got their license after 18. The reasons vary.

1. They had to pay for something themself ( driver's ed, insurance, gas, car, etc) and couldn't afford it.
2. They knew they would become the chauffeur for younger siblings.
3. Their parents wouldn't let them due to adhd and/or other factors.
4. They weren't eligible at the time (temporary seizure due to drug interaction).
5. No reason to drive (boarding school, nanny for younger siblings and no car, etc).

For me, it was 1 and 2. But about half of the kids I knew as a teen didn't start learning to drive until 17-19.

Sorry, but how are you all in the same group of people with nannies and boarding school, and also people who can not afford driver's ed. Like give me a freaking break with your lies

+1

Also, they didn't want to drive their siblings - aka help out their parents. So instead the parents agreed to not let them get their license so they could still drive all of their kids around all the time, even the 16/17? Like what?!? Parents are so naive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know several people who got their license after 18. The reasons vary.

1. They had to pay for something themself ( driver's ed, insurance, gas, car, etc) and couldn't afford it.
2. They knew they would become the chauffeur for younger siblings.
3. Their parents wouldn't let them due to adhd and/or other factors.
4. They weren't eligible at the time (temporary seizure due to drug interaction).
5. No reason to drive (boarding school, nanny for younger siblings and no car, etc).

For me, it was 1 and 2. But about half of the kids I knew as a teen didn't start learning to drive until 17-19.

Sorry, but how are you all in the same group of people with nannies and boarding school, and also people who can not afford driver's ed. Like give me a freaking break with your lies

+1

Also, they didn't want to drive their siblings - aka help out their parents. So instead the parents agreed to not let them get their license so they could still drive all of their kids around all the time, even the 16/17? Like what?!? Parents are so naive.

You can’t read.

[Anonymous]

Listen

There is no shock that parents cater to their kid's needs and have made lazy entitled kids.

Why is this even an argument. Getting a license takes work that most kids do not want because for them, it is still okay to have Mommy drive you to school as a senior in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Listen

There is no shock that parents cater to their kid's needs and have made lazy entitled kids.

Why is this even an argument. Getting a license takes work that most kids do not want because for them, it is still okay to have Mommy drive you to school as a senior in high school.

She's baaaaaaaaaaaccccccccckkkkk!