Teenage Reluctance to Learn Driving: A Generational Shift in Coming-of-Age Milestones

A parent seeking advice in Slate's Care and Feeding column described their 15-year-old son's active resistance to learning to drive, contrasting sharply with the parent's own experience of obtaining a license as a rite of passage at 16. The son expresses anxiety about road safety and questions the necessity of driving, while the parent worries about enabling dependence. The columnist, acknowledging a generational shift in attitudes toward driving, recommends a compassionate approach that addresses the teen's underlying anxiety and perfectionism without pressure or punishment. The advice cautions against using transportation withdrawal as a consequence, noting that social isolation could worsen anxiety, and suggests that independence and FOMO may eventually motivate the teen naturally. The response frames the situation as normal developmental variation rather than problematic behavior.