I think that too many people learn to drive far too young, when they are supremely confident about themselves and completely unaware of their own limitations.

I felt that the state I lived in when my boys were growing up allowed teens to drive at far too young an age. So my rule was: you get a permit at 17, drive with it for a full year, then get your license. With my younger son in particular, the delay made a difference. I could tell he respected what he was doing far more than if he'd gotten a license at 16.

What I find sad and worrisome is that so many parents let their kids have a license and maybe even give them a car at the youngest possible age so they don't have to drive them places any more. Where is the parental responsibility? And I've heard all of the arguments, especially from those in rural areas.

Oh. I have also read that states that delay licensing, or have a graduated system, have 20 and 21 year olds involved in fewer accidents than those states that allow early driving. Isn't that interesting?

I could use one of the family cars for dates, etc., but that came with a lot of responsibility. If I used the car, I had to wash it. If I used the car, I had to put gas in it. Other rules: Get a ticket and lose your privileges. Get caught just cruising around and lose your privileges. Drink or smoke and lose your privileges. Have an accident of any kind and lose your privileges. Come home way late after curfew time and lose your privileges. I really wanted to be able to take my girlfriend out, so I didn't do any of those things. There was no rule about parking on dates, though. That was sensible, I thought.

Strict parents are good parents, as long as they aren't unreasonable about it. All of those rules made sense, even to a 16 year old boy, and I knew the penalties would be certain if I broke them. So, I didn't break them.

I believe driving an automatic/power steering/brakes makes it to easy to overdrive, over steer, esp. in dicey situations.
and a stick ( 5 gear in my case) forces one to be much more aware of the car, esp. the speed.

I still drive a car with one. Our 2013 KIA Soul has a six-speed. I love it. When I was younger, only exotic cars had six-speed transmissions. Our other car is an automatic, though.

I will only drive a manual. I am convinced that far too many people who drive an automatic just don't understand that driving is actually a bit more than just aiming the car and pressing on the accelerator.

The single thing that astonishes me the most is how almost no one shifts into a lower gear when driving conditions would warrant it. Which brings me to what I like best about driving a stick: I'm far more in control than in an automatic.

I'm 68 years old. When I can no longer drive a stick, I'll know it's time to give up driving.

but have to warn ya....not to give away my age or anything, but when the joints start going bad, you will feel it everytime you push in the clutch.
Or even try to haul yourself out of a bucket seat.
Our other car is a a newer automatic sedan and so much easier for me to get in and out of, but I dislike driving it because
I can't "feel" the road.

problems with the joints.

I don't know about any other cars, but I can tell you that Honda Civics made after about 2001 or so have the lightest clutch imaginable. I've been told that, at least in the past, American cars had very stiff clutches, which was a big reason why so many people took to automatics. Even earlier Hondas weren't that bad. So far in my life I've driven a couple of VW Bugs, a Rabbit, a couple of Subarus, an Infiniti, and so far three Honda Civics. All manual transmissions. None of them had very stiff clutches, although I can assure you the newer Hondas are exceptionally nice.

And so far, getting in and out of the cars, including my current 2004 Civic, is no problem at all. I will confess that on long driving trips I stiffen up more than I used to, so I stop frequently just to move around a bit, but I'd be stiffening up no matter what I was driving or riding in, so the transmission aspect doesn't matter for that.

Of course, I can only speak for myself.

I quit high school for college and that was one of the best decisions I've ever made. The violence stopped.

My high school experience was fucking Lord of the Flies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_the_Flies

They called me queerbait.

One is a work phone, and one is a personal phone....I admit contractually, I'm suppose to be able to answer my work phone 24/7, but actually it stays somewhere down in the depths of my handbag...and my personal phone, folks are always complaining about how it can take me days or not weeks to answer a text...they are appalled as I'm a nerdie tech to boot..
It something is that darn important, it can wait till I get home...

when the phone is back on are available. If someone calls my cell phone and it's off because I'm driving, they can leave a voice mail. When I power up the phone, I'll see that I have voice mail and listen to it. Same with texts. When I power up again, the texts show up, too.

I'm not at everyone's beck and call all the time. I choose when I am available. Leave your text or voicemail and I'll get back to you as soon as I am able. Anyone who doesn't understand that can go pound sand, as far as I'm concerned.

such a short leash by way of their cellphone.

with others. They talk and text almost continuously. I think it's out of fear of hearing their own thoughts, frankly. I treasure my time with my thoughts. I'm deeply offended when those times are interrupted, so my phone is off more than it is on.

My practice is to never answer it talk on a phone while driving. If I know that I will get called about ongoing urgent business, I find a safe place to stop before returning a call. I don't text at all when in my car unless I am stopped in a parking space, I don't even text when stopped safely off a roadway. Those rules have kept me and other people safe.

but if they don't respond quickly, the other person keeps texting and gets angry about the lack of immediate response.

They also admit that they often do the same thing to others, though.

WTH did we do with rotary dials phones, no caller id and answer machines?

I've had answering machines, though, since about 1970. I still have one built into my wireless landline phone system. It gets used, too, mostly for call screening. The phone on my office desk generally has its ringer turned off. I can hear other phones in the house, but they don't cause me to interrupt my work like the phone ringing two feet a way does.

Mostly, landline calls are telemarketers, so I don't miss much. I check for messages once in a while and return them fairly soon if they're important. Otherwise, I return calls when it's convenient for me. Most people, though, email me if they need a fast response. I look up at my email tab from time to time to see if anything new is my inbox, and will check that whenever there's something. But, I don't always answer immediately, unless it's a time-sensitive thing.

I value my focused work time very highly, and it can be difficult for me to get back in a groove if I'm interrupted. I focus intently on whatever task I'm doing, because that gets it finished more efficiently. I work on writing projects on a flat rate basis, so the more efficient I am the more I earn per hours. I have a unique work style, perhaps, but that's what works best for me.