should my 17 year old get his drivers license

High schoolers have heavier course loads and more extra-curricular activities than we did growing up. While most parents remember clamoring to get their licenses on their 16th birthday, teenagers today have different priorities. In a study conducted by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, 37% of teen respondents claimed that they didn’t get their driver’s license yet because they were too busy. While my boys and I were postponing the driving rite of passage, I learned we were part of a broader trend. The idea of middle school drivers terrified me, so I delayed the learner’s permit for my sons. I couldn’t believe it the day my eighth-grade son came home and announced that a friend of his had scored his permit, which allowed the just turned 15-year-old to drive as long as he had a parent/guardian in the front seat of the car. Combine that with the increasing numbers of children who redshirt kindergarten, and you end up with kids obtaining learner’s permits in middle school. In North Carolina, where I live, kids can take Driver’s Ed at 14-½ years old and then get a learner’s permit at age 15. I often saw my brother doing things at a younger age than I was allowed to do them, and I swore that I wouldn’t do the same to my kids when I was a mother.īut here I am getting ready to do just that. I didn’t always want to be the trailblazer, however. As the oldest in my family, I often had to blaze the trail for the traditional rites of passage. In fact, my dad couldn’t wait for my brother to get his license. When it came time for my brother to drive, my dad had no reservations at all.

The Year-By-Year Learning to Drive Guide: From Middle To High School

Should my 17 year old get his drivers license