Adolescents are late to get driving licenses. Parents want to know why

CNN
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For many middle-aged and elderly people, obtaining the driving license was their first taste long awaited-and one they confiscated as soon as they could.

But many of today’s teenagers eliminate this rite of passage, the data shows.

Nearly 40% of teenagers were late to obtain a license from one to two years, and 30% delayed with more than two years, according to A 2020 study conducted by Dr. Federico VacaProfessor and executive vice -president of the Emergency Medicine Department of the University of California Irvine Medical School.

This continues a trend over the past 20 years: between 2006 and 2015, the number of high school seniors with the driving license decreased from 81% to 72%, According to a 2017 study.

It may seem like a mind for adults who have led for decades that anyone would delay such a stage, but makes sense, given the economic and mental health problems around the teenagers, the cow added.

However, the elimination of the driving license can have an impact on the safety of adolescents, as well as their development of independence, say the specialists.

Here’s what parents need to know.

There are several factors that contribute to the fact that teenagers are reluctant to start driving, and some are practices.

It was used to be that only children in public transport cities such as New York and Washington DC could easily go into the city. Now, with the availability of Rideshare applications, more teenagers can get where to go, said psychologist Dr. Lisa Damour, author “The emotional life of teenagers: Increased adolescents connected, capable and compassionate. ”

They are also so busy with all the additional activities that I think they have to enter college. A Recently Pew survey He found that most teenagers feel the pressure to get good grades and list academics as one of the greatest stress factors.

Many teenagers “do a lot more work than you and I have ever done it in high school,” Damour added.

Also, teenagers socialize a lot online, she said, which means she doesn’t have to leave home to stay with friends.

Also, the economy plays a role. Parents and caregivers who have to spend more time working to keep the line of lines do not have time to give leadership lessons, the cow said.

“When we have an economic crisis, things gather. People drive less. They travel less in cars,” he added.

Mental health problems are frequent among today’s teenagers. Forty percent of students replied to 2023 Study on risk behavior for young people He said he experiences persistent feelings of sadness and lack of hope.

This is a big problem that often prevents adolescents from getting their license, said Dr. Rhonda Boyd, a psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences for Children and Adolescents at the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia.

Boyd works with teenagers who have mood disorders, such as anxiety and depression, and she has discovered that teenagers with mental health are often delayed to get driver’s permits.

Adolescents with depression usually have less energy and can be isolated and have concentration problems, which can affect their achievement, said Boyd.

“Maybe only the passage through school occupies so much time and energy they have,” she said. “Further things, such as getting the driving license or doing things that can lead to more independence are truly heavier.”

When it comes to anxiety, teenagers can have fears and concerns about the next and more independent life, so they can avoid those things that bring them there, Boyd added.

Impacting their independence and safety

It may be a relief not to have the teenager eager to get on the road, but it comes with some consequences, said the cow.

Being able to move on their own – which in many places means driving a car – opens other opportunities for teenagers to practice things they will have to do in adulthood, he said.

These landmarks include obtaining summer jobs, reaching sports or other extracurricular obligations and managing their own health care appointments.

“Do not learn those experiences you have to build later,” Boyd said.

There is also a safety element that becomes especially in terms of the moment when teenagers are waiting until they are adults to learn to lead, said the cow.

The United States has a graduated driving license system, which means there are rules, restrictions and educational requirements that stop with the greatest experience they have at the wheel.

First of all, a teenager receives his permit and has to drive with an adult. Even when I receive a license, there is a period of measures to reduce the risk, such as not allowing the driving at night or limiting who they can have in their car when driving, he added.

“Driving is a truly complex task. It is a complex behavior and we forget about it after led 10, 15, 20, 30 years,” said the cow.

For the most part, this relief of driving does not apply when someone receives their adult permit, he said.

However, although it is useful for your teenager to learn to drive in a graduated program and to earn independence at the steering wheel, he is not always better, added the cow.

“There are pieces of development of neuro-development that are truly important with executive decisions,” he said. “These types of things, work memory and inhibitory control … are truly important, and these things mature over time.”

That means you should make your teenager get a license even if they don’t want to? That doesn’t tend to work well, Damour said.

“The question becomes: for whom is a problem? Because if the family is tired of driving the child and wants to be exempted from carpool taxi tasks, they are certainly good in their rights to say:” We will ask you to do so, “she said.

If your teenager would rather use a rider than get his own license, then the adolescent should be responsible for paying for it, Damour added.

Ideally, conversations about leadership would start early with teenagers – because there will be 15 or 16 before they know him, said the cow.

Families should have an eye on their child’s maturity and emotional development, he said. Are they responsible enough to get to the wheel? Are they prepared for the responsibility of driving?

Also, be aware that a delay in these landmarks is due to an untreated mental health condition and seek resources for your teenager, if you think it may be the case, Boyd added.