Driven to Succeed

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, you cannot receive a learner's permit to drive until you are 16 years of age.
However, you can apply for the permit 60 days before you turn 16.
Growing up in the 1980s, me and my friends champed at the bit in the final weeks of our time as fifteen-year-olds.  Literally checking off days on the calendar until the sixty-day window opened.
We thumbed through the book and had it memorized by heart.  We were ready.
We took the test, and we passed.  Now the time was to practice for the road test.
I think my dad kept a cardiologist on retainer during this period.
And within a couple months (or several) after our birthdays, we had the coveted prize that we proudly displayed in our wallets.
Most everyone among my peers had a driver's license by this time.  The ones who didn't were usually girls.
Lately, the trend has been reversing.
A growing number of boys have been lax in getting their driver's licenses.  Not because they can't pass the tests, but for whatever reason, haven't prioritized it.
They're content to be chauffeured.
Most girls now get their driver's license right at 16 or soon after.  And...they're hauling their boyfriends around from place to place.
In other words, if the boy asks the girl out on a date, she has to do the driving.
Indulge me while I adorn my Grumpy Old Man hat for a moment.
After all, I AM an Old School Dad.
In my day, every girl in school would run a guy out of town on a rail if he asked her out on a date and then said she had to drive!
It was social suicide.  But today, many girls are perfectly content to pick up their guy and do the driving.
I do find one benefit of this...the chances of going 'parking' are much less if a girl's in charge of the steering wheel.
Having a daughter, this makes me sleep a little better at night.
At least for now.
I actually learned to drive at the age of 14.  When I got my first car.
Yeah, you heard that right.
"By the time you get it fixed up," my dad said, "You'll be 16."
He wasn't kidding.
Fifty years ago, most people owned one car.  Dad usually walked to the office, or mill, or whatever.  Or he took the bus.
But he still had a driver's license and regularly kept it up.
The car was used sparingly if Mom had to run to the market or when Dad took the family on a Sunday drive.
This explains why most homes built in the 1950s had only single-car garages.
If you don't live in a major metropolitan city, you need a car.  It's a part of adult life.
Yet some kids don't get this...and neither do their parents.
Parents may think they have the upper hand because they know where their kid is at all times.
Guess what...you're setting yourself up for trouble.
By not encouraging your child to have this level of independence, they can't be expected to develop further independence later on in life.
Do you really want your child, soon to be a 30-year-old, still living at home and not working?
And with no prospects?
Me neither.


NEXT WEEK:   Prom Promise