Driving with male teens is risky!
Washington August 29, 2005 10:17:21 AM IST
Here's a great article that seems to confirm some of the empirical 'knowledge' many of us carry around. Male teens are high-risk drivers, and male teens with other male teens in the car are significantly more risky. My daddy had an old saying which has often proved true ... one boy is half a man, two boys a quarter man and three boys is no man at all.
What's a parent to do? One place where technology can help make things better for today's parents than they were for my parents is to give serious thought to requiring your teen driver to be tracked full time by a GPS device.
The issues of privacy, trusts and caring always surface, but the fact is, a parent has the duty and the responsibility to do what they must to bring a child trough to adulthood. Start working with your children at the earliest possible age to teach them about road responsibility. Make sure _you_ always drive as you want your children to drive. And broach the idea early that the privilege of driving will be conditioned upon monitoring.
The most trusted drivers in the country ... long haul truckers who go out on the road for days or weeks at a time, carrying precious or dangerous cargo are almost always under constant monitoring. Trust but verify.
There are many devices and systems you could use, but whatever your decision, use one. There is no greater responsibility, nothing about your job, your children's friends opinions, your feelings about privacy, etc. that is _anywhere_ near as important as your primary parental responsibility.
No one can guarantee that monitoring your child will someday result in them thanking you for caring, but one thing for sure, if they don't live to adulthood, you won't be getting any thanks at all.
