Being a parent is hard work. There are so many challenges to deal with and obstacles to overcome, starting right from the day you bring your baby home from the hospital, and even as they grow older and more independent, you still need to be there to help out and keep them safe.
One of the biggest challenges in any parent’s life comes when their children enter their late teenage years and want to start learning to drive. This can be quite a stressful experience, and a lot of parents experience nerves and worries when it comes to teaching kids such a big skill.
However, if you have the right approach and plan things out with care, you can be a successful driving instructor to your teen. This guide will go over some tips to get you started and don’t forget to think about adjusting your car insurance policy to avoid any issues when your teen is driving.
Keep it Simple to Start
One of the first tips to follow when it comes to teaching teens to drive is to start off slow and simple. For the first lesson, you may simply want to introduce your teen to the vehicle, walking them around and showing them the key components, as well as demonstrating how the pedals, buttons, and switches work on the inside.
Even if your teen already has a good understanding of how cars work, it’s still wise to start off slow and ease into the process of driving instruction, rather than rushing through it. This will give both you and your teen some time to settle into the process and figure out the best way of working together and listening to one another for future lessons.
Talk About Safety
It’s a sad fact that auto accidents are among the leading causes of death in teens today. Countless teens are involved in accidents every single year, with many being hospitalized as a result of their injuries, and there are several reasons for this. Some teens feel pressured by their peers to drive unsafely, while others simply don’t quite comprehend the risks of the road or make simple mistakes.
It’s important, therefore, to really talk to your teens about the importance of safe driving. Share the benefits of your own experiences and wisdom, as it’s possible that you may have encountered dangerous situations on the road yourself in the past, and tell them how important it is to always buckle up, follow the rules, and obey speed limits.
Adapt to Your Teen’s Needs
Every teen is different. They can have totally different personalities and approaches when it comes to learning to drive. Some of them will be quite confident behind the wheel and learn new skills and techniques with relative ease, while others will be much more cautious and anxious, requiring plenty of feedback and positive reinforcement to affirm their skills.
It’s important for every parent or guardian who takes on the role of driving instructor to adapt to the precise needs and characters of their children. If you have a confident teen driver, encourage that confidence, but don’t let them get too cocky, and be sure to point out any mistakes they make. If your teen is more cautious and overwhelmed by the process, provide the positive feedback they need.
Be Mature and Respectful to One Another
Another key tip for teaching teens to drive is to make sure you establish the right relationship between yourself, as the teacher, and your teen, as the student. This is where a lot of parents make mistakes. Some are too lenient and casual, letting their teens pick up bad habits and failing to point out where they’re going wrong. Others are too strict, yelling and getting mad if something goes wrong and putting pressure on their teen driver.
The key is to find the right balance between these two extremes. You need to be focused and ready to let your teen know if they’ve made mistakes, but there’s no need to be aggressive or angry in your actions either. If both learner and teacher can act respectfully and maturely with one another, the lessons will go much more smoothly.
Final Word
As stated earlier, auto accidents are a leading cause of teen death and many teens can pick up bad driving habits early on that could put them at risk later in life. It’s important, therefore, for parent-teachers to provide proper instruction and set the best possible examples for their kids.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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