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Row1 -> RE: How are you teaching your teens to be safe, responsible drivers? (7/22/2008 9:34:09 AM)
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we are in the middle of this.
in some ways, my stepdaughter, now 16, is cautious and fearful, so we have that on our side. but on the other hand, she is i guess a typical teen and it can be a challenge to get her to have a good attitude about listening to wisdom.
we paid to have her attend a local driver ed class. for some reason, she really liked the class, and listened well. she is not often too excited about classroom-type things, so this was kind of a surprise.
she got the 'learner permit,' and we tried to give her a lot of time driving.
now, she has her regular license.
once she did, I made her this deal: i will giver her $50 for every month, in her first six months of driving, that she has no accident or ticket.
to me, i think this adds that level of attention and focus needed.
she earned this for the first two months. on june 1 and again on july 1, i gave her a fifty dollar bill.
this month, she accidently scooted up to the garage door too close and bent it (it is aluminum). so, no fifty.
reader's digest just came out with a couple articles on teen drivers. i offered her $10 each to read these and write me a report on what it said and how it relates to her.
we don't do too many rewards with money. but in this case, i really want to get her attention. it makes sense to me because that is exactly how a little fender-bender will affect me.
i believe she knows enough to not endanger someone's life, but it is the less dramatic, but potentuially expensive, things i worry abt.
also - we pay attn to how tired/fatigued she is. she may spend the nite at friends, and they may stay up late. if she seems really tired, we will say 'no driving.' she usually 'spills the beans' on herself by saying something abt how tired she is!
a few months ago, a kid we all know from the neighborhood (a poorly supervised kid who we would see generally wandering around at all hours) was racing once he got his license - he and another kid were racing, someone swerved out of the way, then another driver who did not see them coming ran off the road and was killed. this real-world event i think has made the danger real to our teenager, although maybe it is so 'different' from her that she does not quite see how dangerous it is to drive - your car could really hurt someone because of a moment's inattention.
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