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Originally Posted by Tcoat
This is actually very insightful in my families case and I never really thought about it before. Neither of my kids (34 and 32 years old) drive and never had any interest in doing so. They both were very popular in school and such ( son was prom king in high school) and it baffled me how that was even possible. Even though they were at the cutting edge of social media they were certainly using it and did not need to travel or tie up a phone to communicate. Back in my day if you didn't have a car your social life was restricted to people in your immediate area or those that did drive. To use the phone you were tied to one spot in one room so conversations were usually brief and to the point.
I always figured that I somehow turned them off cars or driving due too my passion for both but now have a whole new perspective on the subject. I will have to look for this article or something like it.
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actually there've been lots of articles stating this for years now. teens waiting later and later to get their licenses, percentage of adults with drivers licenses at all time lows, etc etc. i think the reasons that you state are definitely a factor, and i also think the way people parent today is reinforcing it. i'm only a year older than your kid, but when i was a kid, my parents let me walk to school, the arcade, the mall, my friend's house, by myself. i even went to a foreign country by myself when i was 13. it gave me a sense of independence so i couldn't wait to get a license of my own and be able to get around on my own. nowadays parents don't let their kids walk anywhere by themselves for fear of them getting kidnapped by pedos. the parents shuttle their kids everywhere, and they end up growing up with a sense that the person that has to drive is the one who got stuck with the chore. i used to volunteer and mentor teens at my church and was shocked when i'd drive them home and they didn't even know the directions to their house. they had no clue when it came to street names or freeway names. they were just that used to their parents picking them up, leaving everything to them, and immediately zoning out on the smartphone as soon as they got in the car. i feel like i knew where everything in my city was at by the time i was 12.