Driver's ed ... Getting behind the wheel shouldn't be this hard
Yawn … Oh, sorry, that’s me waking up from the snoozefest called driver’s ed. Every Tuesday and Thursday I ready myself at 6:30 for two hours of sheer dullness and frustration. Driver’s ed is so boring, I have stopped falling asleep in history because, in comparison, history class is as interesting and exciting as the NCAA championship.
It’s easy to pinpoint exactly what makes driver’s ed so boring: the needless repetition and the obviousness of most things taught. Why do they feel the need to teach us things that anyone who has ridden in a car for 15 years should know?
Not only that, there are kids in that class who are so stupid, you wonder how they have survived this long. In response to the question of how many times can a driver under 18 get a ticket in one year before his or her license is suspended, one kid answered, “Twelve, one for each month.” That is, of course, a ridiculously large amount, and the child was dismayed and thought it “bogus” that you could get only three.
So now I pose the question, Why must I waste four hours of my life each week for six to eight weeks, just to get my driver’s permit? Especially when I could have passed the test and gotten my permit without ever having stepped in the classroom where time stands still. Sometimes I wonder if learning how to drive is worth this torture. Then I remember I live in Champaign-Urbana. So I suck it up, sit in the back of the driver’s-ed classroom, and do my math homework while trying to block out the drone of the instructor.
Sarah Pfander
Comments
Admittedly, that’s a bit unfair to the driving teacher. It’s not his fault the state asks such dumb, really obvious questions. The whole “driving ed” thing + requirements is a bit over-the-top to me. In Maryland, you had to have 40 hours though, so…
Posted by: Ben H. | March 17, 2006 4:59 PM
We had to watch an hour and a half DVD (the link is above)…3 times…because that’s how many times the teacher thinks it takes to sink in.
Posted by: Kari | January 10, 2007 4:35 PM