[Fot] What did you do?

[jimdonick]

Todd:   
    I don't normally get involved in these discussions but this one is important.   The responses I've read so far to your question offer some thoughtful advice.   I raised two drivers, a son and a daughter.  The son wanted to be a racing driver. . . he learned the basics of driving well but, like all young (and older?) males he needed self control.  His high school car was an MG Midget it tought him control at speeds that were relatively low, rather like his old man learning that in a TR3 back in high school, himself. (It may be small and dangerous but the biggest risk our kids run in the car is too many of their friends in there with 'em) I promised him a trip to the Skip Barber School if he survived one year with no accidents that were his fault and no tickets.  He won that prize.  He's now a vehicle dynamics engineer at Toyota, a regional SCCA champ, and a thoughtful parent. We ran the 25 hours of Thunderhill together a year ago.  He was faster than I was.  
     His sister had no interest in driving as anything but a means to become mobile.  The manual gearbox in the MG just wasn't fair as her friends didn't have to deal with that sort of thing.  She had an early accident in the Ford Exploder.  No serious injuries... Her motivations were very very different.  She's now (years later) a perfectly competent driver and will soon be a mom.  She is NOW interested in cars and much prefers a manual gearbox. (and is lusting after an XK-120)
     Why the stories?  Well, the story of my son illustrates the value of motivation.  The kids either have it or they don't. He did. We can't create it for them.   The story of my daughter illustrates the same thing but with the promise that these things sometimes change.  Most importantly, though, you have to build the syllabus to the student.
     Sending a kid to car control school is only of value if the kid is interested.  Racing (high performance anyway) school only means something if the kid has enough knowledge already to put what they learn into perspective.  Otherwise they don't know enough to understand what they are learning.
     Give her time.  Listen carefully to her to understand why she wants to drive and what her interests are.  Then build your plan around that and around the other realities of your lives together.   The fact that you are asking the questions is good enough evidence that you'll likely do the right thing. 
     Good luck with it.

kind regards,
jimdonick

-----Original Message-----
>From: alfetta95 at optonline.net
>Sent: Feb 25, 2009 4:23 PM
>To: FOT at autox.team.net
>Subject: [Fot] What did you do?
>
>Amici,
>
>My daughter just received her driving permit.  I've taken her out driving many times before she received her permit.  I'm thinking about sending her to driving school for car control, confidence behind the wheel, not for a racing license, yet.  What have you done or what are you thinking about doing when your kid gets to this point?
> 
>Thanks!
> 
>Look out Northern New Jersey Drivers!
>Todd Redmond
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