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Show School and Jifj Home c0 by Dr. Daryl J. McCarty V f Executive Secretary Utah Education Association .s If you have a child who's nearing high school age, you need to discuss a life-or-death matter. It's this thing about getting a car. Courses that teach high school students how to drive are among the most popular ones around. That's good. Youngsters should learn to drive well. The day a young man or woman gets a driver's license is a big day in that young person's life. Inevitably, the next step is the desire to own a car. Car ownership causes a drastic change in priorities for some-but certainly not all-students. all-students. An automobile is the door to many new experiencessome experien-cessome good and some potentially harmful. Authorities iiave suggested that good students can become less than enthusiasitc about school work after they get cars. Most high school students who have cars must also pay for them. This usually means getting a job, which may pull the student away from valuable valu-able school activities-and cut down time available for homework. On the other hand, it can be argued that youths who assume the obligation of making montly payments are learning a valuable lesson in responsibility. But making payments is not the .only element of responsibility responsi-bility in car ownership. Even though a teenager may be ready to accept the burden of making car payments on time, he or she may be entirely too casual about speed laws, "dragging State" or accepting challenges for a fatal race down a canyon. Usually girl drivers are less daring than boys. Ask any insurance agent. Often, the question of whether a high school student buys a car is largely up to the parents. They are the ones who co-sign notes. And they are the ones who are called upon for short-term gasoline loans, etc. That means parents are in a strong negotiating position. They should use that position posi-tion to assure that a car doesn't destroy their child's grades or his life. |