SHOULD I TEACH MY TEEN HOW TO DRIVE?
While this seems like a great idea, many parents as well as
their kids may not be that eager to engage in driving lessons with either
party. This is interestingly stated in an article found
on www.verywellfamily.com. The author goes on to state ‘helping your
children drive strikes fear into the hearts of many parents’. How often it is
considered true, remains debatable. However, past experiences and even research
has proven that in many cases, parents do seem reluctant to teach their
children. The transport and accident commission of Australia shares some
not-so-great facts when it comes to young driver related road accidents. The
factsheet goes on to say that the age group of 16 to 24 years make up 18% of
all fatalities and 20% of all serious injuries in South Australia from
2015-2019. And 138 were seriously injured.
Although considered as a marked improvement from the previous
years, there is still much to be gained in way of improvement when it comes to
teen drivers and accidents. This leads us back to the original question, if a
parent should teach their teen how to drive.
While many parents agree their kids could gain knowledge and
training in driving without paying an instructor, many more parents aren’t that
convinced about teaching their kids to drive. Which they don’t consider as such
a great idea. In fact, studies have shown a reluctance by parents to teach
their children to drive even if they could and had the time. Some parents may
opt to teach their children to drive as a way of saving up on instructor fees
or driving classes. But still many parents would prefer not to. According to
the Western Slope Driving institute, USA, For a parent to teach their children,
they must qualify with these criteria: Have a valid driving license, good
knowledge of road rules, they are willing to take full responsibility if anything
goes wrong, which may mean getting his or her driving license revoked in the
event of an accident. These risks are very real and may pose many challenges to
a parent wishing to train his or her child to driver. No doubt all these
parents are bound to ask themselves ‘Can I teach a 16 year old to drive?’. Read
on to evaluate the pros and cons of an Instructor Vs. a parent’s teaching.
During research interviews (also known as conversations with our
driving students), many teen and learner drivers were forthcoming that their
parents had given them wrong instructions to that of a professional instructor.
Many would return home and explain to their parents the correct way of doing a
certain maneuver or particular skill, in turn providing education to not only
the child, but the parent alike. The key is to give your child the opportunity
to learn driving the right way, from a professional driving instructor.
INSTRUCTOR VS. PARENT
Many parents no doubt will gladly hand over the responsibility
to an instructor than put themselves in the ‘hot seat’. And yes it does make
sense to have a professional take charge to teach the teenager. Learning from
an instructor is in many ways the best method of learning for the teenager.
Especially when certain training applications come only from a professional
instructor. In the presence of a parent, children tend to take the easy way out
and may not give much thought to important information, taking instructions for
granted. There also could be situations where the parent is ‘naggy’ and the
teen driver may want to distance himself from the parent. This could result in
non-learning, information loss and losing the element of trust as well. While
these very real problems do exist, making the switch between parent and
instructors definitely has its benefits. Instructors will guide and support the
student driver, while at the same time promoting discipline, comprehension and
gaining the trust of the student. This combination of teaching elements bring
about the best results in student driver training. The Government of
South Australia explains this very well in their website, on how roles
change during the teaching period.
CONCLUSION
In essence, while many parents do not mind teaching their
children to driver, many parents do acknowledge the fact that it would be
difficult. Parents are not professional instructors and may have to face risky
situations even compromising their future ability to driver. However, equalized
it may seem, the clear distinction of choosing an instructor from a reputed
driving school is well established. These instructors have delt and trained
more students that any parent could do, after all it is their profession. When
collectively looking at the more practical solution, it is evident that an
instructors viewpoint will help the students reach their goal better than when
training with a parent.
For more, contact DOS Driving School.
Phone:
03 8738 5185
Mobile:
0490 049 705
We are open 7 days a week
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