Teenagers Shift to a New Gear
For years getting a driver license has been a rite of passage that marks a teenager’s independence. Some teenagers dream of driving across the country, but most of the students at Grace Church School have not even gotten their permits yet. In New York State teenagers are allowed to get their learner permits at 16 after passing a written test at the DMV. Once a would-be driver has had his or her learner permit for six months, they are eligible to take the junior license test. A junior license allows teenagers to drive alone to and from a job.
Nick Carse, an 11th grader at GCS currently studying abroad, got his junior license the day he became turned 16 and a half so that he and his twin brother could drive the truck they bought to work. Nick not only wanted to drive for fun, but he had a job all summer that required him to be able to drive to different ports each day in Long Island. At the age of 17, teenagers are allowed to get their driver license after having their permit for 6 months. This rite of passage gives a teenager, such as Nick Carse, the freedom to travel wherever he or she wants on their own accord.
However, in the last 10 years, the number of 16-year-old permit holders has dropped nationwide from almost 50% to just under 33%, according to Mary M. Chapman and Micheline Maynard and the Federal Highway Administration. The number of students at Grace Church School that have their permits is even lower. Out of the 62 eleventh and twelfth graders I interviewed, 13 have permits, 2 have their full license and 47 have neither, meaning only 23% had their permits.
There are many reasons that a school in an urban setting should have fewer students with their permits than the nationwide average. Along with growing insurance costs that have discouraged students from getting their permits nationwide, in NYC a driver must be 18 or have completed a driver’s education course in order to legally drive within the five boroughs. Furthermore, Mary M. Chapman and Micheline Maynard reported a shift from school-run driving education courses to privatized driving courses, which are hard to come by in the city and even harder to reserve a spot. Additionally, living in NYC, students have access to great transportation systems such as the popular Citi Bike system and, of course, the subway. On top of the public transportation, the rise of mobile ride-sharing companies, such as Uber and VIA, has made it easier for teenagers to get around without out breaking the piggy bank.
However, some students, like Benjamin Usher, are so eager to get their licences that they have tried to find a loophole so they can driver earlier than the New York minimum of 16. Ben, a twelfth grader at GCS, was so eager to drive that he declared his residence at a family member’s house in Alabama and took all his tests there. He was able to get his permit at age 13, three years before he could have in New York. He then got his full license at 16, a year before the New York state minimum.
Teenagers at Grace have changed with the times, and those changes have brought different rites of passage other than driving. Instead teenagers today are taking their independence by taking their ride on the subway or getting their first Uber ride. There will always be teenagers eager to take their independence and get their driver’s license as soon as possible, but, since we live in a city with great transportation and new mobile apps, the percentage of students with their permits at GCS will most likely only go down as the ease of transportation increases.