THE NATIONAL YOUTH AGENCY: Youthinformation.com LooksAt ... Learning to drive.
Tuesday, July 8, 2003
However, learning to drive or ride a motorbike is one of the biggest steps into adulthood a young person can make. Being responsible for their own vehicle, paying for petrol, road tax and maintenance are all important lessons in life. Some young people also find that driving gives them a sense of freedom and independence they didn't have before.
Harnessing young people's enthusiasm for the car has been a focus of good youth work for a number of years. Driving school BSM runs a training scheme called Ignition. This course aims to provide young people with the information they need to become safe and confident drivers before they even begin to learn to drive. It also helps them to prepare for the theory test.
Designed to slot into the personal, social and health education curriculum, the BSM Ignition course consists of a series of units, all of which deal with a different aspect of driving and road safety. Units include keep on moving, you and your car, vision and perception, speed and space, the five habits, risk perception, statistics and causes and a supplementary unit dealing with road rage. There's also the chance to get behind the wheel and do some off-road training in a BSM car.
To find out more about running the Ignition course in your youth centre or school, call 01924 298631.
- Extracted from youthinformation.com, The NYA's online information toolkit for young people. For more information, visit the site at www.youthinformation.com.
