AAA helps monitor your teen's driving . . .BUT . . .

[kenny]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHRLethHNUE

How do you feel about this?

 

[kenny]

Re: AAA helps monitor your teen's driving

Here's how I feel.
Traffic accidents being the leading cause of deaths for 15-20 yr-olds is HUGE and this will likely save lives.

That said I suspect many teens will resent being not trusted and being spied on.
And what does it say about the parenting ability of parents who need to spy on their kids?

This tool may become an explosive issue in the power struggle between parents and kids who are at the age when they are supposed to be becoming independent and let's face it there is no greater symbol on independence than the car keys.
But really, which would you rather have, an angry teen or a dead one?


I'm also worried how this tool may be misused.
What's to stop a suspicious wife from secretly installing this in her husband's car to see if he really IS working late? (or reverse the genders)
I think it's only a matter of time before this data ends up in a divorce court.

 

[lyra]

There is a disclaimer that the "teen" must also be insured through AAA. So I'm not sure exactly whether someone could misuse it. Also, there are other ways of just putting a GPS device on a car and tracking it on your own, so that's something that's already out there for misuse.

I think if used as described, it's okay. What it doesn't take into account at all, and can't do obviously, is monitor distracted drivers. Yes it would monitor for speed, but a lot of accidents are from distraction, lack of confidence, lack of skills, etc. I just don't know how useful it is, but for young drivers 16-18, it seems okay. I imagine a teen would rather have the use of the car WITH the spying, than not have the use of the car at all. It's not something I would have used for my kids. One doesn't drive at all, and the other is a great driver.

 

[aljdewey]

Re: AAA helps monitor your teen's driving

And what does it say about the parenting ability of parents who need to spy on their kids?

What does it say? Not a damn thing. This isn't about parenting *ability* at all. Kids require parents up until age 18 for a reason.....for several, actually. They aren't mature enough to always make the right or safe choices. They aren't often mature enough to resist the pull of peer pressure. By default of their inexperience, they don't yet realize that they are not invincible.

My take on it is this: While you may be old enough to drive, you are still my child. It is still a privilege to drive, not a right, and you are driving my car (or a car that has to be registered/insured in my name since you're far too young to get affordable rates yourself). Because I love you and would be totally griefstricken if something happened to you.....because I'm responsible for you until you're 18.....and because it's my financial health on the line, I'll take advantage of any tools that help me do my job to parent you better. On the positive side, this will give you an easy way to resist pressure from your friends without being uncool. You can tell them, 'sure I'd love to go there after school, and if it were up to me, I'd join in, but my parents will know the moment the cars leaves X boundaries, so I can't do it.'

I realize that building trust in your kid requires giving them opportunities to exercise good judgment (or not), but I feel there are a multitude of other less dangerous opportunities to do that.

 

[kenny]

Re: AAA helps monitor your teen's driving

On the positive side, this will give you an easy way to resist pressure from your friends without being uncool.
You can tell them, 'sure I'd love to go there after school, and if it were up to me, I'd join in, but my parents will know the moment the cars leaves X boundaries, so I can't do it.'

Excellent point I had not considered.

 

[tyty333]

Re: AAA helps monitor your teen's driving

And what does it say about the parenting ability of parents who need to spy on their kids?

What does it say? Not a damn thing. This isn't about parenting *ability* at all. Kids require parents up until age 18 for a reason.....for several, actually. They aren't mature enough to always make the right or safe choices. They aren't often mature enough to resist the pull of peer pressure. By default of their inexperience, they don't yet realize that they are not invincible.

My take on it is this: While you may be old enough to drive, you are still my child. It is still a privilege to drive, not a right, and you are driving my car (or a car that has to be registered/insured in my name since you're far too young to get affordable rates yourself). Because I love you and would be totally griefstricken if something happened to you.....because I'm responsible for you until you're 18.....and because it's my financial health on the line, I'll take advantage of any tools that help me do my job to parent you better. On the positive side, this will give you an easy way to resist pressure from your friends without being uncool. You can tell them, 'sure I'd love to go there after school, and if it were up to me, I'd join in, but my parents will know the moment the cars leaves X boundaries, so I can't do it.'

I realize that building trust in your kid requires giving them opportunities to exercise good judgment (or not), but I feel there are a multitude of other less dangerous opportunities to do that.

Ditto...you hit all my points. I would be happy to have this information but probably wouldn't be on their case about every little thing
it reported. Plus, giving them a couple of years of driving with something that keeps track of what they are doing may help set
good driving habits for the future.

 

[monarch64]

I think it's totally unnecessary. I learned to drive when I was 13 but was not allowed to have my license until I was 17. My parents prepared me as best they could and made me wait an extra year to gain additional maturity before they let me loose on the road. My opinion on this monitoring is that if you have to have a babysitter in the car with your child they aren't ready to drive yet.