Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A ceremony for a driver's license???

What next.

It’s been around for years, dunce.

Yup. It is just how they do it here. You can't get your license as a juvenile without going to court. It is actually quite reasonable. They do a decent job making sure the teens know how serious this privilege is.

I've never heard it called "ceremony" (we always called it "court date") but it was obvious what OP is talking about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad I live in Maryland.

Has this been scheduled during the school day or is it in the afternoon or evening? It doesn't make sense to schedule it during school hours.

I did this many, many years ago. Ceremony isn't an accurate description, not sure why they call it that. It was during school hours because it was for all the kids in my school getting their license after driving ed finished for the year (which used to be a class taught in school, not sure that is the cause in other states).

I'll add it had cheesy PSA videos, police officers talking about gory car accidents, and usually someone sharing a story about how drunk driving or not wearing a seat belt affected them, and a MADD presentation.

Reviving this thread because we have to do this tomorrow. Not looking forward to it. 3:00 in the afternoon and it will take 1.5 hours to get home as they will 'dismiss' us during rush hour.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Some of you clearly don't have teens. FxCo has a mandatory "ceremony" teens have to attend before they're given their license. Police talk to them about safe driving, etc. and a judge issues the license. If you don't go, you don't get your license. It's a pain in the neck, but mandatory.

Oh. I got my license when I turned 16 in 1986 in Fairfax CO. Side/profile photo. If you were underage you had a side photo instead of full face.

They just handed me the license when I came back in from road test. I think we took the written test and if passed went out for the road test.

I remember my ponytail profile shot made me look like I was 12.

I got mine in 1988 in Fairfax Co and remember having to attend this. It was held at Fairfax high school in the evenings and your parents had to attend but they didn't give you the license at that meeting/ceremony because I know I drove myself there and my parents drove and met me there. I know attending was mandatory and my parents griped about having to go as well as I did. Maybe they issued some kind of provisional license and then you had to attend the meeting/ceremony and get a full license??

I got my license in Fairfax County in 1989, never had to attend this ceremony. Took the driving test, got the license.

Sounds like a complete waste of time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Some of you clearly don't have teens. FxCo has a mandatory "ceremony" teens have to attend before they're given their license. Police talk to them about safe driving, etc. and a judge issues the license. If you don't go, you don't get your license. It's a pain in the neck, but mandatory.

I have teens, but I live in Maryland. It was pretty simple. Make driving test appointment, have teen pass test, get license.

In Virginia, you don't even having to take a driving test at the DMV. If you're under 18, you have to use a driving school and they pass you. Other than the Court thing, you don't even set foot back in the DMV after you get your Learner's Permit.

OP again -- sorry for the delay.

We just named dates this summer -- they only do the licensing ceremony on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so there aren't very many teacher workdays that are possibilities.

We waited and waited for the letter to come with the date for the licensing ceremony, and finally called and pestered until we determined that the school system hadn't actually filed the needed paperwork with DMV. I faxed the provisional license to them, along with the info on when my son took drivers ed, and they sent us a new provisional license and we got the card a few weeks later, with the scheduled date about 3 months out. But we were able to move it up.

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Some of you clearly don't have teens. FxCo has a mandatory "ceremony" teens have to attend before they're given their license. Police talk to them about safe driving, etc. and a judge issues the license. If you don't go, you don't get your license. It's a pain in the neck, but mandatory.

I have teens, but I live in Maryland. It was pretty simple. Make driving test appointment, have teen pass test, get license.

Original poster here, in case anyone else reads this and is looking for an actual answer:

If you call the number on the card, there's an answering machine where you (the teen) can give your name and 3 alternate dates that work for you, and they'll call you back and tell you which one you've been assigned. Super easy.

Thanks, OP. Did you just name teacher workdays in the fall?

Do you mind mentioning when your kid received his provisional license? My son got his last month and they told him the court date would likely be in 3 to 5 months, which I thought seemed like a long time!

Original poster here, in case anyone else reads this and is looking for an actual answer:

If you call the number on the card, there's an answering machine where you (the teen) can give your name and 3 alternate dates that work for you, and they'll call you back and tell you which one you've been assigned. Super easy.

I got my license in 1993 in another Virgini County and had to do this as well. It’s been around way before the I internet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Some of you clearly don't have teens. FxCo has a mandatory "ceremony" teens have to attend before they're given their license. Police talk to them about safe driving, etc. and a judge issues the license. If you don't go, you don't get your license. It's a pain in the neck, but mandatory.

Oh. I got my license when I turned 16 in 1986 in Fairfax CO. Side/profile photo. If you were underage you had a side photo instead of full face.

They just handed me the license when I came back in from road test. I think we took the written test and if passed went out for the road test.

I remember my ponytail profile shot made me look like I was 12.

I got mine in 1988 in Fairfax Co and remember having to attend this. It was held at Fairfax high school in the evenings and your parents had to attend but they didn't give you the license at that meeting/ceremony because I know I drove myself there and my parents drove and met me there. I know attending was mandatory and my parents griped about having to go as well as I did. Maybe they issued some kind of provisional license and then you had to attend the meeting/ceremony and get a full license??

Anonymous wrote:I felt that the presentations had a good amount of meaningful content. I wouldn't bash it.

They actually did. I would have appreciated having this ceremony on a weekend afternoon though - right after school in traffic is a horrible idea. But other than that, it was a pretty good ceremony.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Some of you clearly don't have teens. FxCo has a mandatory "ceremony" teens have to attend before they're given their license. Police talk to them about safe driving, etc. and a judge issues the license. If you don't go, you don't get your license. It's a pain in the neck, but mandatory.

Probably most of us have teens who haven't taken their driver's test yet.

This sounds like a stupid idea created either by pinterest moms who like to chronicle everything on social media, or the kind of people who like to micro manage everyone's lives.

Why is it offered during the day instead of evenings?

It's state law. So the mom-bashing seems a bit gratuitous, to me.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Some of you clearly don't have teens. FxCo has a mandatory "ceremony" teens have to attend before they're given their license. Police talk to them about safe driving, etc. and a judge issues the license. If you don't go, you don't get your license. It's a pain in the neck, but mandatory.

Probably most of us have teens who haven't taken their driver's test yet.

This sounds like a stupid idea created either by pinterest moms who like to chronicle everything on social media, or the kind of people who like to micro manage everyone's lives.

Why is it offered during the day instead of evenings?

Highly doubt it was created by moms, pinterest or otherwise. Most parents agree it's a big PITA. This was created by the Fx.Co court system. And it's not the kind of thing you take a picture of and chronicle on social media. Ours was held at 3pm on a weekday - a big pain because I had to pick up my son at school and hightail it over to the courthouse, which is about 35 min. from our high school. If you're late, you're not let in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad I live in Maryland.

Has this been scheduled during the school day or is it in the afternoon or evening? It doesn't make sense to schedule it during school hours.

I did this many, many years ago. Ceremony isn't an accurate description, not sure why they call it that. It was during school hours because it was for all the kids in my school getting their license after driving ed finished for the year (which used to be a class taught in school, not sure that is the cause in other states).

I don't think you're talking about the same thing. This is actually a ceremony, held at the Fairfax Courthouse, with a policeman/woman who talks to all the kids and a judge who actually calls them up, one by one - along with their parent(s) - and gives the parents the license. The point is that it's the parent who gets to choose whether or not to give the license to the kid. And it's not during school hours.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. Some of you clearly don't have teens. FxCo has a mandatory "ceremony" teens have to attend before they're given their license. Police talk to them about safe driving, etc. and a judge issues the license. If you don't go, you don't get your license. It's a pain in the neck, but mandatory.

I'm in Florida and the kids can't get their learner's permit until they've taken and passed a driver safety and alcohol awareness class. They can't get their driver's license until they've completed a certain number of hours of both daytime and nighttime driving. By the time they go in to actually get their license they have already been driving (with a licensed adult in the car) for quite a while.

This driver's license ceremony sounds like a PITA and a little after the fact if you ask me....

All that is true here. It, in fact, takes a flow chart to figure out all the tinges they have to do first. Classroom Drivers Ed. Partnership for Safe Driving With parents, 9 months of learners permit, 45 hours of driving with a parent—- day, night, rain, etc. 10 hour behind the wheel class.

So yes. A PITA and a little late.