Tag Archives: teen reads

Teens and the Coveted Driver’s License – Or Is It? Part I

Clean Teen Reads

Surprising StatisticClean Teen Reads

Recently I saw a statistic about teens and driving that surprised me.

It appears the majority of teenagers in the U.S. are delaying getting a driver’s license. A recent study  found a significant drop in the number of young people licensed to drive by the time they are 18.

Twenty years ago, two-thirds of teens had their license before age 18. More recently that number has dropped to just over half.

What a change from the day when for nearly every teen, getting that coveted learner’s permit, or the actual license, was like a teen rite-of-passage. So what’s happening?

Those who track such statistics are noticing a distinct shift in the sense of urgency.

Clean Teen ReadsWhy The Shift?

So why the shift? Below are a few reasons given in the study:

  • 44 percent – Did not have a car
  • 39 percent – Could get around without driving
  • 36 percent – Gas was too expensive
  • 36 percent – Driving was too expensive
  • 35 percent – “Just didn’t get around to it”

 

Lack of Driver’s Education

This one isn’t listed in this particular study, but fewer and fewer high schools are offering classes for driver’s education. Some families are unable to pay for driver’s schools outside the high school curriculum. Without that education, the student is unable to meet the graduated driver’s license (GDL) laws that apply in nearly every state.

Delay Memo Clean Teen Reads

In spite of all these studies and statistics, I don’t think the “delay” memo has reached the youth in the Midwest where I live. Most students are still over-the-top excited to have that coveted “freedom card” known as a driver’s license.

Here in this vicinity where clusters of small towns prevail, public transportation is practically unheard of. Plus, parents are oftentimes eager for that teen to be able to drive to cut down on the constant, unending parent/chauffeur duty.

The Cause for Concern

Those who delay are waiting until they are 18, at which time most of the GDL stipulations no longer apply. They can simply take the test and obtain a license. This, obviously, is where the concern comes in, because it means new drivers on the road, all of whom are untrained. Untrained young drivers (statistics show) are among the most dangerous drivers. Not good.

What’s Your Take?

So how about you as a teen? What’s the consensus among your friends? Are they waiting till age 18? Are you waiting? Or is everyone still excited to get a learner’s permit, and their key to freedom, ASAP?

Stay Tuned for Part II of Teens and the Coveted Driver’s License – Or Is It? 

Teen drivers play integral roles in several of the novels that I’ve authored. We’ll take a look at them in Part II.

Clean Teen Reads

Clean Teen Reads

 

My newest release, Brought To You By The Color Drab, is a story that has A LOT to do with a teen driver. A teen who is almost FORCED to drive!

You can read the first two chapters right here. Just click below.

Download Chapters 1 & 2 of Color Drab FREE

Just CLICK HERE!

Clean Teen Reads

Clean Teen Reads

Clean Teen Reads

The Agony of School Tests — Nothing New

Clean Teen Reads

How are you when it comes to taking tests at school? Clean Teen Reads

You’ve been faithful to keep up with your homework, you’ve studied for this test, you feel fairly well prepared. Then test day comes and you’re a nervous wreck. You feel tense, jangled nerves, stomach is in knots. The nervous anticipation is so strong, you can hardly concentrate on the test itself.

You’re in good company!

I’m here to tell you that you’re in good company. It’s been true throughout history.

Get a load of this poor chap.

There were no questions about the subjects he felt he had mastered: grammar, history, French, geography. Instead he was asked to translate passages in Greek and Latin. His mind went blank. He couldn’t even remember the Greek alphabet. Then, as he recalled afterward, he found himself…

“unable to answer a single question in the Latin paper. I wrote my name at the top of the page. I wrote down the number of the question, ‘I.’ After much reflection I put a bracket round it, thus, ‘(I).’ But thereafter I could not think of anything connected with it that was either relevant or true. Incidentally there appeared from nowhere in particular, a blot and several smudges. I gazed for two whole hours at this sad spectacle; and then merciful ushers collected up my piece of foolscap* and carried it up to the Headmaster’s table.”

The Last Lion by William Manchester

* Chiefly British. a size of drawing or printing paper, 13.5 × 17 inches

Ever feel this way? You’re staring at a sheet of paper as the minutes are ticking by. Only difference, you’re probably not staring at an ink blot. Nor is there a Headmaster. We call them “teachers.” Right?

Written by a famous world leader

This agonizing bit of reflection was written, and the incident experienced, by none other than the man who later in life would defy the entire realm of the axis powers in WWII with these powerful words. Words that carried a nation, and the free world, to victory:Clean Teen Reads

…we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender… 

“Never surrender!” These words were spoken by Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain on June 4, 1940, a year and a half before the U.S. entered the war. And as a side note, Winston was 14 years old when he blanked out and failed his test in school. In the long run, that test meant very little in his life.

Put things in perspective

While this is not to advocate that you muddle your way through school and not care about tests and grades, it does help put things into perspective.

When you get the butterflies and sweaty palms before a test, just remember you’re in great company. And that test will not determine who you are, where you’re headed, or what you will become. Your own initiative, determination, and creativity will determine that.

Aim high!

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. 

–Michelangelo

Always aim high!

NOTE: Be aware there is such a thing as test anxiety which is much different (more serious) than the normal level of test nervousness. More about that subject right here! 

Clean Teen Reads

Clean Teen Reads

 

My newest release, Brought To You By The Color Drab, is a story of a teen who had many obstacles to overcome. But comes out a winner! You can read the first two chapters right here. Just click below.

Download Chapters 1 & 2 of Color Drab FREE

Just CLICK HERE!

Clean Teen Reads

Clean Teen Reads

Clean Teen Reads