Teens waiting later to drive.

I know..off topic....

Kids push the limits constantly. If they aren't disciplined when they are being bad, all they learn is that they can get away with whatever they want...and they continue to push the limits from there. And they learn how to manipulate the parents.

Spoiled brats are the worst example of this. They not only rarely if ever get disciplined when bad, but they also learn how to use people against each other and get paid for it. (ie. Divorced parents...if one tries to set some limits or discipline them they go to the other and get a pat on the head and a toy.)

No one should be beating their kids. But a smack on the bottom when they are bad can go a long ways to making sure they grow up to be decent human beings. (Works best when very young...if you wait until they are teenagers to set limits, you've lost already.)

A lot of "reason" is based on personal experience, morals, and values. So it's hard to reason with someone who is still learning these things. A spank is very understandable to everyone, except infants. Even animals understand the meaning.

And as long as you're not beating the kid, it's not abuse. You're helping to shape them by showing them right from wrong.

A lot of these kids that are left to figure things out for themselves often grow up to be miserable. They expect to get their way all the time, but once they leave the nest they find out that the world is not as easy or forgiving as it was at home.
In fact I've seen that they often continue to use their parents long after they've entered adulthood....becuase they find life to be too unfair.

Although I suppose the spoiled ones might make good politicians, or reporters...as they'll be good at manipulating people.

btw...spanking doesn't mean being a tyrant or not loving them.

My parents were pretty strict when they needed to be. But I don't hate them and I knew they didn't hate me. I knew why I was being disciplined when I was. I knew that some action that I had done was the reason. (And I know that I was a little bastard at times.)

On the other hand I know many kids that were raised without any or much disciplen....they call their parents names, mistreat people around them, and are just general pricks. In fact, I know a number of them, and I can't think of one that turned out okay.

Alright...I'm getting off the soap box now.

And you can also abuse a kid without ever laying a hand on them, too. Mental abuse sucks the big one, trust me, I know.

I'm undecided on whether physical punishment as a deterrence is a good thing or a bad thing, but administering it in a rage is definitely a bad thing.

My nephew had a registered car bought for him, a year's worth of insurance, and a driver's training class all bought in advance of him turning 16. He's now turning seventeen, his insurance and reg are almost expired, and he just got around to taking his driver's training coarse. Crazy...

When I was his age I dug ditches all summer to be able to pay for my driver's training, insurance, registration, and still had $200 left over to buy a '72 Datsun pickup that needed a ton of work to pass smog, (Which I had to do). I still got my license on time and should not have been driving, all my motorcycle riding and back road driving experience made me way over confident. It's amazing I'm still alive.

I think it is the computers and technology that make them not care about driving. My nephew would rather stay up all night and play online games with his "friends" he's never met in person than cruise around, running amok, looking for trouble all night like I did.

01greenjetta said:

I think it is the computers and technology that make them not care about driving. My nephew would rather stay up all night and play online games with his "friends" he's never met in person than cruise around, running amok, looking for trouble all night like I did.

Click to expand...

Through all 64 posts and have to add that it is all dependent on where you live. Both of the high schools that my daughters' attended have had waiting lists for parking spots, even though, for the youngest, this is the first senior class at the school. The article does not take into consideration the stong influx of immigants where the parents may have never driven and so there is no car or insurance for the kids to drive. Public transportation is better here in Charlotte than where I grew up, so that helps. There are a lot more single parent families where the other parent is not supportive and therefore there is no money left for a second car or to insure a teenager.

My first daughter passed all of the tests the first time. The second daughter had to repeat both the learner's permit and the driving test twice. The learner's permit test she failed over the different speed limits. In her defense, NC has some kind of strange limts that are different than what I grew up with. For instance, the school zone limit can be no more than 10 mph lower that the normal speed limit on that road. So you can have school zone limits ranging from 15 mph to 45 mph. The driving test, I think she was just the number to fail that day. The trooper responses from the trooper that failed her contridicted both what she learned in driver's ed and what the booklet said.

NC is changing the licensing program again. In addition to extending the graduated period, the parents are now required to keep a log book and present it when coming in for the license.

That Guy said:

btw...spanking doesn't mean being a tyrant or not loving them.

Click to expand...

I agree ... a quick swat on the behind never hurt anyone. However, anyone using a belt or a spatula or calling them names is a tyrant in my book.

The name calling i mentioned was meant in a vague aspect of how disiplinary action is viewed by society.

By no means is name calling a structurally supporting method of disiplinary action.

But when i was a kid, i knew what the spatula was and i knew what the belt was, and if i thought about doing something stupid, i remebered the belt and refrained from doing so.

The belt and spatula make great waddling tools if not used in aggresion but simply to inflict pain on the arse. then the next time they misbehave, i simply grab the spatula and i won't even need to use it as they know what will happen. i much prefer this than raising my hand in an aggressive manner as raising the hand just feels wrong...

Im glad i was disiplined as i was, as this taught me to disipline myself.

Now that I think of it, I suppose that the kids today not getting their license isn't totally a bad thing.
Most of us live in urban areas where there are many other ways to get around.

And frankly....there are just too many bad drivers on the roads today. And the congestion just gets worse and worse every year as the population grows.


So if less people are getting their license:

1) it's better for the rest of us who drive
2) it'll be safer for the kids to take public transportation....usually, and compared to driving themselves
3) They can use their smart phones all they like
4) Insurance rates should drop
5) Fuel prices might go down

There will be cons too, but I'm looking for the silver lining here.