4 ms·

Why do they want their children to learn to drive?

zeku 4y ago
If they're American, then there is something like a 95%+ chance that they NEED to know how to drive.
ch4s3 4y ago
Probably so they don't have to personally drive them everywhere. My mother has a coworker who has a 22 year old daughter who is essentially unemployable because she can't drive and therefore can't get to work and can't afford to move to a place where walking/transit is an option. The family has a spare car.
- kspacewalk2 4y ago
  The problem in your example is quite clearly not whether she currently knows how to drive. This is a skill that is trivial to acquire (given that there's a spare car, and if it's North America, driving schools are plentiful and a barely detectable pulse is sufficient qualifications for a driver's licence). The actual problem is two-fold: parents who enable this dependency by offering rides and don't charge rent; and the daughter who evidently has no personal need whatsoever for a driver's licence. If she doesn't want a job, why would she care that she can't drive to one?
  - notch898a 4y ago
    The vast, vast, majority of the population lives within biking or public transport distance of some shit corner store for a kid to work in. Right now most of them are hiring. 10 weeks of part time labor is enough to buy a fairly old 49cc scooter, which in many states requires no license.
ghaff 4y ago
Because, per my other comment, whether or not they want to/need to own a car, being able to drive one is a pretty essential life skill. If nothing else, if you can't/won't drive, you'll be cut off from a lot of employment opportunities.
- kspacewalk2 4y ago
  No, it absolutely is not an essential life skill. They will learn it if it becomes advantageous for them to learn it. I understand offering, I don't understand insisting if they say they don't want to.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    I'll disagree somewhat. If they're planning on becoming a lifetime Manhattanite who rarely leaves the city sure. (Substitute international locations.) Sure. But I think parents insisting that not being able to drive is a poor life choice for a bunch of reasons--that they're not going to support through driving their kid around--seems pretty reasonable. Strictly in terms of employment (and even job interviews in my experience) the ability to rent a car, even if not owning a car, is pretty common.
  - dkarl 4y ago
    A need for driving can arise much more quickly than you can learn and get licensed. So many teenagers assume they're going to live in places with dense public transportation networks, but it will take decades to build enough housing and transit for them. The economic winners will get to live their desired lifestyle of density and transit, and the rest will find themselves awkwardly bridging the lag between our aspirations and our infrastructure. "The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed."

zeku 4y ago

If they're American, then there is something like a 95%+ chance that they NEED to know how to drive.

Probably so they don't have to personally drive them everywhere. My mother has a coworker who has a 22 year old daughter who is essentially unemployable because she can't drive and therefore can't get to work and can't afford to move to a place where walking/transit is an option. The family has a spare car.

kspacewalk2 4y ago
The problem in your example is quite clearly not whether she currently knows how to drive. This is a skill that is trivial to acquire (given that there's a spare car, and if it's North America, driving schools are plentiful and a barely detectable pulse is sufficient qualifications for a driver's licence). The actual problem is two-fold: parents who enable this dependency by offering rides and don't charge rent; and the daughter who evidently has no personal need whatsoever for a driver's licence. If she doesn't want a job, why would she care that she can't drive to one?
- notch898a 4y ago
  The vast, vast, majority of the population lives within biking or public transport distance of some shit corner store for a kid to work in. Right now most of them are hiring. 10 weeks of part time labor is enough to buy a fairly old 49cc scooter, which in many states requires no license.

ghaff 4y ago

Because, per my other comment, whether or not they want to/need to own a car, being able to drive one is a pretty essential life skill. If nothing else, if you can't/won't drive, you'll be cut off from a lot of employment opportunities.

kspacewalk2 4y ago
No, it absolutely is not an essential life skill. They will learn it if it becomes advantageous for them to learn it. I understand offering, I don't understand insisting if they say they don't want to.
- ghaff 4y ago
  I'll disagree somewhat. If they're planning on becoming a lifetime Manhattanite who rarely leaves the city sure. (Substitute international locations.) Sure. But I think parents insisting that not being able to drive is a poor life choice for a bunch of reasons--that they're not going to support through driving their kid around--seems pretty reasonable. Strictly in terms of employment (and even job interviews in my experience) the ability to rent a car, even if not owning a car, is pretty common.
- dkarl 4y ago
  A need for driving can arise much more quickly than you can learn and get licensed. So many teenagers assume they're going to live in places with dense public transportation networks, but it will take decades to build enough housing and transit for them. The economic winners will get to live their desired lifestyle of density and transit, and the rest will find themselves awkwardly bridging the lag between our aspirations and our infrastructure. "The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed."