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Parents

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The parents should pay for a teenager's car insurance.

It is essential that a teenager learn to drive. In all but a few (glorious) cities, it is a severe handicap not to have a driver's license. Learning to drive as an adult is a much slower, scarier and more difficult process than learning as a teen. Teaching your teen to drive bestows the priceless gift of independence.

Granting this independence while you child is still a teen means that you as parents will be there in the background to gently guide them when they occasionally slip. This is inevitable, greater freedom means greater potential for mishap. It is better for your child to attain this new level of independence while still globally under your supervision. Exercising good judgment is a skill which must be learned, better that you be part of the teaching.

If parents insist that the teenager pay for car insurance, however, it means the teenager has to get a job. This takes valuable time away from the development of other essential skills. A job generally impinges on extracurricular activities like sports, music, dance, drama, etc. It even take time away from studies. Requiring a job means that the child will necessarily have less exposure to cultural things than peers, and also less preparation for college admission. They will be much less poised for a lucrative satisfying career. It is much better for the parents to pay.

Learn more about this author, Alexia Schulz.
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