General Discussion

Wait so, I just heard that in America they make you take a driving education course in high school and you learn through the school system instead of doing it on your own??

Isn't that a bit...forceful? I'm wondering if it's actually like that or just like that in certain parts of America (like where my friend is from)

I mean in Canada it's not based through the school system, if you want to learn how to drive you wait and do courses in an institute and have class time, practicals and then instructor one on one test, so I'm just super confused.

@thesmallestshark It may vary from place to place, but where I live in Florida it's just an optional class. That is, you get a choice of electives and that's just one on the list. You could also do drama class or cooking or something like that.

I took it as an elective because it was by far easier than arranging things with the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) or driving schools. I didn't have to give up my weekends for classes, didn't have to pay class fees, and didn't have to wait for eternity in lines.

There are also a lot of places where there is no such thing as public transit, so someone incapable of driving once they graduate is deeply and truly out of luck. They'd have to be totally reliant on the goodwill of friends and family, who would have to rearrange their own schedules to help that person. That's how it is here and, because that's not an option, a lot of places won't hire you if you don't have a licence and a car. The business won't take the risk on people like that not being able to show up on time because they couldn't get a ride. So it's more practical to take it in school too.

@JCStitches

Yeah I was just continuing the conversation with my friend and he confirmed a lot of what you said. It can be frustrating for sure when you don't have a lot of public transport in the city (or if you don't live/work centretown) so I completely understand where having a license would come in handy. I'm pretty lucky with where I am that there are hundreds of available buses (granted them coming on time is highly unlikely) along with a train and soon to be modified underground metro system. Transport anywhere in the corners of the city is accessible, as long as you don't mind short walks to wherever your destination is.

The way he was describing it made it seem a lot more as if they were pushing the class onto students instead of it being an elective and basically force-feeding younger teenagers driving licenses, which I thought would be a very bad idea. I realize he was probably just super tired and didn't explain well.

It seems like a pretty nice idea. I wish it could be implemented here, I feel like a lot of students are apprehensive towards getting one now a days because of the wait time/registration and just being too busy to afford time to even go.

@thesmallestshark This is actually really funny to me, because I just had the same conversation with a friend from Canada a few days ago! They also live in and around a city, so they grew up with public transit always being an option. Where you are definitely dictates whether you view driving as one option among many or an absolute necessity. I think it would be pretty cool to live in a place where driving is optional - I visited New York City for a month once and I never felt better, because I spent time walking between bus stops and subway stations. It was built in exercise!

Now, mandatory wouldn't be a great idea. I do agree that would be an overly aggressive approach. I'm hoping your friend was just tired and didn't explain clearly. It's possible that it is, because things to vary from school to school, much less state to state, but I'd be interested to know if/when you confirm that with him! Another thing I'd say is, in areas like this, most people treat the school version of driver's ed as a formality. A lot of kids learn from a family member prior to the course and they've been practicing on back roads and empty parking lots. Again, since it's hard to function here without driving, people tend to place priority on teaching/learning driving.

Mmhm, I was sorry to hear it's not a thing in the Canadian school systems. I feel like it made it so much easier for me to get my own licence and it could benefit many students up there as an option. I could rant for hours on the utter impracticality of most high school classes, but suffice to say I'm glad a few of them have real world applications. Like driving. XD

It's opitional in IL, I don't have a driver's license.

Kinda confuses some people on job applications though, because they specifically ask for a DL as opposed to an ID card.

(in wisconsin) we had a drivers ed course through my school, but it was optional. it actually got dropped and turned into an after school course instead of an actual class on your transcript. but there’s a decent amount of drivers ed courses in my area that aren’t affiliated with any high school. i took one of those the summer before my sophomore year!

It's sounds like it's much more streamlined in the U.S. I'm also in Canada and found it very hard to come up with the time and money for courses and tests.