Learning to drive is an important event in a teen's life. Your teen is excited and perhaps a little anxious about going through this process. Parents struggle with mixed feelings - some excitement also but apprehension and fear about what can happen to our teen who is driving.
Everyone is excited about developing more independence. Many parents feel some relief at not having to chaffeur their teen everywhere; with those feelings some fear about what may happen during driving time can emerge.
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death in teenagers. This is probably the greatest fear any of us have - that our teen can be in an accident and potentially a fatal accident. So how do we cope with this as parents who want to help our teen?
We begin by making sure our teen gets a good driving education. Parent taught classes can be helpful, as can driving schools. However your teen is educated, make sure tht he has a lot of supervised time behind the wheel once he obtains his permit. The more supervised time, the better. Studies have shown that teens who have a significant amount of supervised driving time have less chance of having an accident. Other ways we can help our teen is by exhibiting good driving behavior when they are in the car with us. After all< how can we expect them to drive safely if they see us speeding or running red lights? Talk with your teen about common driving experiences which may be stressful and how you would handle those situations.
Teaching your teen how to be responsible with driving increases his autonomy but also prepares him for coping with more complex situations.
Good luck!
Dr. Debra
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