Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sweet Jesus. How old are your kids? Because my son is 17. He has a job. He drives himself to sports- for example Legion baseball doesn't have buses, kids carpool and travel together, sometimes up to an hour away. He takes his girlfriend out on dates. He's going shopping today to buy her an gift- kinda tough when both parents work.

Listen- my kid is moving out of our house in about 14 months. If you honestly think you can foster independence by keeping him in bubble wrap until he's 18, I will strongly disagree. Driving a car has very little to do with being the "cool kid".

Does fostering independence require a driver's license? You can't have an independent kid unless the kid has a driver's license and access to a car?

I think it adds to it. Are you seriously going to drive your kid to and from a job? Drive him on dates? Take him to his friends' houses?

How old are your kids and when did YOU start driving? I'm genuinely curious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
However UNintentional it may be, parents are completely enabling this HIGH risk activity of the kids driving.

Few families have a truly dire need for a 16 or 17 year old to be driving. But most every mom and dad wants their kid to be the cool kid in high school with a car.

We should rethink this mentality.

Unless you can be in two, three or four places at once, this is not true if you have multiple children and they are involved in activities.

I'm sorry, which activity is worth risking your kid's life?
Let's not kid ourselves here. It's a HUGE risk.

Sweet Jesus. How old are your kids? Because my son is 17. He has a job. He drives himself to sports- for example Legion baseball doesn't have buses, kids carpool and travel together, sometimes up to an hour away. He takes his girlfriend out on dates. He's going shopping today to buy her an gift- kinda tough when both parents work.

Listen- my kid is moving out of our house in about 14 months. If you honestly think you can foster independence by keeping him in bubble wrap until he's 18, I will strongly disagree. Driving a car has very little to do with being the "cool kid".

The real question is, does he drive himself to drinking parties?

He doesn't drink. Yeah- I know, I'll get the "in denial" responses. But we have a very close, open relationship. We've talked about it at length. And based on his close circle of friends and his girlfriend's close circle of friends, I believe him.

He does drive to and from a friend's house on weekends to watch UFC Fight Night. I'm definitely nervous about him driving home at 11pm. But based on the host and a number of other factors, I'm confident there is no drinking or drug use.

Now- here's another conversation my wife and I have had- do we really want him to experience alcohol for the first time at college? What are the risks of dangerous binge drinking when he gets on campus for the first time next year? We haven't condoned drinking yet- but we've talked about it privately.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sweet Jesus. How old are your kids? Because my son is 17. He has a job. He drives himself to sports- for example Legion baseball doesn't have buses, kids carpool and travel together, sometimes up to an hour away. He takes his girlfriend out on dates. He's going shopping today to buy her an gift- kinda tough when both parents work.

Listen- my kid is moving out of our house in about 14 months. If you honestly think you can foster independence by keeping him in bubble wrap until he's 18, I will strongly disagree. Driving a car has very little to do with being the "cool kid".

Does fostering independence require a driver's license? You can't have an independent kid unless the kid has a driver's license and access to a car?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Sweet Jesus. How old are your kids? Because my son is 17. He has a job. He drives himself to sports- for example Legion baseball doesn't have buses, kids carpool and travel together, sometimes up to an hour away. He takes his girlfriend out on dates. He's going shopping today to buy her an gift- kinda tough when both parents work.

Listen- my kid is moving out of our house in about 14 months. If you honestly think you can foster independence by keeping him in bubble wrap until he's 18, I will strongly disagree. Driving a car has very little to do with being the "cool kid".

Does fostering independence require a driver's license? You can't have an independent kid unless the kid has a driver's license and access to a car?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
However UNintentional it may be, parents are completely enabling this HIGH risk activity of the kids driving.

Few families have a truly dire need for a 16 or 17 year old to be driving. But most every mom and dad wants their kid to be the cool kid in high school with a car.

We should rethink this mentality.

Unless you can be in two, three or four places at once, this is not true if you have multiple children and they are involved in activities.

I'm sorry, which activity is worth risking your kid's life?
Let's not kid ourselves here. It's a HUGE risk.

Sweet Jesus. How old are your kids? Because my son is 17. He has a job. He drives himself to sports- for example Legion baseball doesn't have buses, kids carpool and travel together, sometimes up to an hour away. He takes his girlfriend out on dates. He's going shopping today to buy her an gift- kinda tough when both parents work.

Listen- my kid is moving out of our house in about 14 months. If you honestly think you can foster independence by keeping him in bubble wrap until he's 18, I will strongly disagree. Driving a car has very little to do with being the "cool kid".

The real question is, does he drive himself to drinking parties?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
However UNintentional it may be, parents are completely enabling this HIGH risk activity of the kids driving.

Few families have a truly dire need for a 16 or 17 year old to be driving. But most every mom and dad wants their kid to be the cool kid in high school with a car.

We should rethink this mentality.

Unless you can be in two, three or four places at once, this is not true if you have multiple children and they are involved in activities.

Anonymous wrote:

Sweet Jesus. How old are your kids? Because my son is 17. He has a job. He drives himself to sports- for example Legion baseball doesn't have buses, kids carpool and travel together, sometimes up to an hour away. He takes his girlfriend out on dates. He's going shopping today to buy her an gift- kinda tough when both parents work.

Listen- my kid is moving out of our house in about 14 months. If you honestly think you can foster independence by keeping him in bubble wrap until he's 18, I will strongly disagree. Driving a car has very little to do with being the "cool kid".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
However UNintentional it may be, parents are completely enabling this HIGH risk activity of the kids driving.

Few families have a truly dire need for a 16 or 17 year old to be driving. But most every mom and dad wants their kid to be the cool kid in high school with a car.

We should rethink this mentality.

Unless you can be in two, three or four places at once, this is not true if you have multiple children and they are involved in activities.

I'm sorry, which activity is worth risking your kid's life?
Let's not kid ourselves here. It's a HUGE risk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
However UNintentional it may be, parents are completely enabling this HIGH risk activity of the kids driving.

Few families have a truly dire need for a 16 or 17 year old to be driving. But most every mom and dad wants their kid to be the cool kid in high school with a car.

We should rethink this mentality.

Unless you can be in two, three or four places at once, this is not true if you have multiple children and they are involved in activities.

I'm sorry, which activity is worth risking your kid's life?
Let's not kid ourselves here. It's a HUGE risk.

Sweet Jesus. How old are your kids? Because my son is 17. He has a job. He drives himself to sports- for example Legion baseball doesn't have buses, kids carpool and travel together, sometimes up to an hour away. He takes his girlfriend out on dates. He's going shopping today to buy her an gift- kinda tough when both parents work.

Listen- my kid is moving out of our house in about 14 months. If you honestly think you can foster independence by keeping him in bubble wrap until he's 18, I will strongly disagree. Driving a car has very little to do with being the "cool kid".

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is to get them to stop, or never start. Jail doesn't always do that. But if they have an intractable problem, sometimes jail is the only way to keep others safe.

The goal should be to raise them right to obey
(yes, I actually said the dirty word)
OBEY their parents.
This needs to start early.

If your kid doesn't obey you,
why in the hell are you giving him car keys??

Drunk driving isn't about obeying parents, its about obeying the law!

If you haven't been taught to obey, well... what can you expect?

Really???? Little Soldiers?????

Say what you want, but do you prefer them ALIVE or DEAD?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
However UNintentional it may be, parents are completely enabling this HIGH risk activity of the kids driving.

Few families have a truly dire need for a 16 or 17 year old to be driving. But most every mom and dad wants their kid to be the cool kid in high school with a car.

We should rethink this mentality.

Unless you can be in two, three or four places at once, this is not true if you have multiple children and they are involved in activities.

I'm sorry, which activity is worth risking your kid's life?
Let's not kid ourselves here. It's a HUGE risk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is to get them to stop, or never start. Jail doesn't always do that. But if they have an intractable problem, sometimes jail is the only way to keep others safe.

The goal should be to raise them right to obey
(yes, I actually said the dirty word)
OBEY their parents.
This needs to start early.

If your kid doesn't obey you,
why in the hell are you giving him car keys??

Drunk driving isn't about obeying parents, its about obeying the law!

If you haven't been taught to obey, well... what can you expect?

Really???? Little Soldiers?????

Say what you want, but do you prefer them ALIVE or DEAD?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is to get them to stop, or never start. Jail doesn't always do that. But if they have an intractable problem, sometimes jail is the only way to keep others safe.

The goal should be to raise them right to obey
(yes, I actually said the dirty word)
OBEY their parents.
This needs to start early.

If your kid doesn't obey you,
why in the hell are you giving him car keys??

Drunk driving isn't about obeying parents, its about obeying the law!

If you haven't been taught to obey, well... what can you expect?

Really???? Little Soldiers?????

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The goal is to get them to stop, or never start. Jail doesn't always do that. But if they have an intractable problem, sometimes jail is the only way to keep others safe.

The goal should be to raise them right to obey
(yes, I actually said the dirty word)
OBEY their parents.
This needs to start early.

If your kid doesn't obey you,
why in the hell are you giving him car keys??

Drunk driving isn't about obeying parents, its about obeying the law!

If you haven't been taught to obey, well... what can you expect?

Really???? Little Soldiers?????