Tips for parents with teenage drivers will help with the nervousness you feel. All parents will go through the nerves of turning our kids loose with the keys for the very first time. As a parent, we will never stop worrying. However, I would like to provide you with some tips to help with teenage drivers. If your teen has just started driving or is getting ready to start driving soon, take a look at these tips.
Tips for Parents with Teenage Drivers
Tip 1 – Set a Good Example
The first tip for parents with teenage drivers is to set a good example. Believe it or not, our kids do pay attention to the things we do. So it is important that you set a good example for them. Don’t speed everywhere and then tell your teen they better not be speeding. That’s kind of like pot meet kettle. Basically, don’t pull the whole, “Do as I say, not as I do,” on the kiddos!
Tip 2 – Watch Videos
As dramatic as watching someone wreck is, it could save your child’s life when it comes to them getting behind the wheel. Although you talk to your teen drivers about not texting and driving, it usually goes in one ear and out the other ear. That’s why it’s important to stress to them how dangerous it is to text and drive. One way you can do that is by showing them videos online of people who have wrecked while texting and driving. Some are gruesome, but your child needs to know the possible outcome of their actions. You can find many of these videos online. Trust me, I would rather my son see a video of someone being hurt in a bad wreck on YouTube than me having to visit him in the hospital, or worse, have to bury my child.
Tip 3 – Getting Tickets
Most teens get their license, get around their friends and start showing off in their car. This is where you must step in and put your foot down. You need to lay down rules about speeding, reckless driving and getting tickets. Things such as if they get a ticket, you will take their license for a certain period of time and make them get a job to pay for the ticket. This kind of thing will make them think twice before showing off and getting that ticket. Of course, some kids are going to try you and that’s when you have to put your foot down.
Tip 4 – Drinking and Driving
You also need to discuss the issue of drinking and driving with your teenage drivers. As with the texting videos, you can also look up drinking and driving videos on YouTube or Google. But you need to take this one a step further. Find stories of people who have taken the lives of others by drinking and driving and allow your child to see the prison time they received. Stories like that will surely hit them hard and might make them think twice before getting behind the wheel if they have been drinking.
There is no doubt that parents with teenage drivers are going to worry, but all we can do is teach them right, talk to them and hope that we get through to them. There is no doubt that our kids will try us, but we have to let them grow up and learn from their own mistakes. If your teen has just started driving, I know what you are going through. I hope these tips for parents with teenage drivers has helped you some.