Driving is most times an ordeal for anyone now a days, with road rage, excessive cutting in front and speeding. How do our kids handle it?

Drive, Driven or Ride

I intended to write this article last year but set it on the shelf. Then quickly I was right back to the reason why I wanted to write it. I am a mom with a high school son who attends a high school that has no transportation for the students.
Several years the school levy failed and buses were taken away from the high school. Last year I started to drive my child to school. It was not a far commute, but very inconvenient for me. The rush was on. Drop off my son and make it to work on time, which rarely happened. Then into the work day, I would have to stop and pick him up. Bummer ugh. It was rough.
But as I thought about my inconveniences and worries, I began to think about the children who had to drive. The weekly commute for an adult can be overwhelming. What toile was it taking on our children? In a daily school day, they already have so many things to worry about now-a- days. How much more pressure of commuting is adding to their young lives. They could be worried about so many things the moment they wake up, a big test, a project, a speech, hitting that note in chorus, making right choices, talking to a girl or boy they like or just blending in. If they are driving, added to these worries is making it to school safely.
I do not think children should be made to drive while still in school. They will have enough to deal with once they have graduated. However, I like most parents have to abide by the school rules. If we don’t drive our children or they do not drive we as parents are blamed and penalized. So then starts the rush to get them in driving school, drive time in the car and then the road test. Often they past but are not experienced enough to drive carefully or safely.
This morning as I drove my son to school, three cars were pull to the side. The drivers were children on their way to school. Fortunately no one was hurt. What an awful experience for them. It must have been frightening. Most of us know how we feel when we get pulled over or how it is in an accident. Can our children handle that? I don’t think so.
The Levy at my son’s school passed a few years ago. There are three new schools being built, but the high school students have not gotten their buses back. Although they are high school children I don’t think that all of them are ready for the challenge of daily driving hassle. They are still children. Believe they will grow up soon enough with many responsibilities. There should be some type of option. Some children may feel confident and want to drive daily, while others know they are not ready and do not want to drive.
They are rushed into taking a test to get a temporary permit. Then they have to attend a two week class which includes over the road driving for only eight hours. Then the parents must make sure that their child have at least fifty hours driving with them. They take the road test and if they pass, they are out on the road. I don’t think they are ready. My son only yesterday passed his over the road test and I just like many parents will have to get some type of vehicle for him. And I will pray from the moment he leaves home in the morning until he returns in the evening, that he is safe. We live in a suburban area with no city buses. With no school buses, the only other option is our children driving. There should be other options. At least a promise that if the buses are taken away because of a failed Levy, that if the next Levy passes the buses will be returned. That never seems to happen. Where does the money goes that was put back? Not towards the return of school buses.


What do you think? Are there other parents who feel like I do? Should our children continue to drive or do we continue to drive them or why not return the buses? Drive, Driven or Ride.

Katherine Freeman, Fairfield, OH
August 17, 2016