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When I was a kid my parents would let me pump their gas. I also ran errands in town by myself, and was left to look after younger siblings before my teens. IM
by arprocter 10y ago
When I was a kid my parents would let me pump their gas. I also ran errands in town by myself, and was left to look after younger siblings before my teens.
IMO the sooner you're given responsibilities the sooner you learn to be responsible.
As when there was talk of raising the driving age because 'all these teens are dying' - it's inexperience, not so much the age which matters.
- pyre 10y agoWell, there's also culture too. If all of your friends are acting irresponsibly, you are more likely to do so. (with respect to children)
- paulrpotts 10y agoYeah, I myself was a latch-key kid, biked everywhere, had a landscaping job at 14 and worked in grocery stores throughout high school. Although I'm not super-excited about putting teenagers behind the wheels of cars until their brains have caught up with their bodies and they don't think they are immortal any more...
- arprocter 10y agoAnecdotal; but my first accident was in my 20s, several years into my driving career. I think the fact a lot of people's first car is normally old, cheap and crappy has a lot to do with it. It's commonly believed it's an inevitability young drivers will wreck and then we put them in the most unsafe vehicles available...