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Prompt: In some states legislators have debated whether teenagers should be required to maintain a “C” grade average in school before receiving a driver’s license. Some people think this would be a good policy because having passing grades shows that students are responsible enough to be good drivers. Other people think such a policy would not be appropriate because they see no relationship between grades in school and driving skills. In your opinion, should teenagers be required to maintain a “C” average in school before receiving a driver’s license?
Throughout the contiguous United States, debates have arisen concerning the implications of teenaged drivers on the road and possible correlations between performance and academic transcripts. In select states, legislators have unprecedentedly pursued policies of mandating student drivers to maintain respectable “C” averages upon obtaining a driver’s license; legislators in other regions, however, believe this practice is ludicrous in that they fail to perceive a connection between proficient academic and driving performances. From a student’s perspective, I believe that students should maintain and exemplify adequate academic work, as students such as my older brother, Stephen, and my neighbor, Chris, namely, have shown striking patterns among poor academics and road incidents.
My older brother, Stephen, is eighteen years old, and was placed onto the autistic spectrum at the age of three years old. Inevitably, he has struggled to handle the various curricula set upon him by his instructors, and was placed into a ‘special education’ program upon his enrollment in secondary school. Currently a senior in high school, Stephen has had ample time to reflect on his four-year academic performance. Cumulatively, he has maintained a “D” average due to his ubiquitous comprehensive and academic abilities as one on the autistic spectrum. Nonetheless, upon receiving his auto license a year ago, Stephen has been involved in varying degrees of auto accidents, and has, for example, been the recipient of auto tickets for offenses such as reckless driving and speeding. Although Stephen’s academic abilities are beyond his control, his record of auto offenses defends the position of those who support “C” averages in exchange for driving licenses.
My close neighbor, Chris, was a precocious child throughout his younger schooling years. He received modest, honors-level grades and stood out on the baseball fields and basketball courts. Upon his arrival in high school, however, Chris began to, inevitably, intermix with teenagers who enjoyed skipping school and enjoying the fruits of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes. As a result, Chris’s grades in school dropped into the “D” range, as he began to attend classes less frequently to pursue these friendships. After he, now seventeen, received his auto license, he began to demonstrate irresponsibility in action such as when he crashed his father’s Ford F150 several months ago. He had crashed the Ford when influenced by alcoholic beverages, and consequently, has been charged accordingly. A student such as Chris, who has shown prevalent lack of academic interests and ambitions, demonstrates the correlation between academic performance and ability to act responsibly, given his reckless actions.
In all, while legislators can argue that academic performance and driving have no apparent relationship, Stephen and Chris embody individuals who show notably poor transcripts and patterns of auto offenses, given their lack of responsibility. Although law-makers can argue that, while some A-students have poor driving skills, and some D-students have excellent driving skills, these instances are far less common, as they fail to perceive the entire scope of the diversity of American high schools. Legislators, therefore, must pay more meticulous attention to students such as Stephen and Chris, while monitoring their disciplinary and academic performances.