Monday Funday—Surviving Driver's Ed (Again): A True Story
I picked up my fifteen year old son from school. When he got into the car, he announced, "I can drive now." Having been through this with his older sister, I saw the teachable moment and tried to lean into it. "Just because the state of Illinois gives you a permit and says you can now start driving with your parents in no way means that you can actually drive." Unrelenting, my son spit back, "I'm a great driver." Just as unrelenting, I shot back, "Driving the riding lawn mower at home in the yard and driving a car between the lines without actually hitting another car, stationary object, or a person are two different things." "But I took a test in Driver's Ed today and passed. See, I'm a great driver," he affirmed waving a piece of paper in his hands. "Passing a written driving test in a classroom in no way whatsoever means that you can actually drive a real car on a real road with other real cars a