Hey! So I know this is some last minute practicing, especially because I’m taking the test tomorrow, but I’ve just written my first ACT essay and would like to know how to improve it and what grade it would receive. So if you feel yourself experienced enough to grade this, please do! (I’ll check again tonight before taking my final practice test!)
PROMP:
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?
ESSAY BELOW:
In a world today where teenagers look forward to earning their license, many legislators in various states have begun to argue whether or not teens need to maintain a “C” average in school in order to be able to receive their license. Some argue that by maintaining a “C”, the student would be guaranteed to become a good driver. However popular this thought may be, others do not agree. Some can’t make the connection between earning a “C” and becoming a safe driver, and this makes sense as there is hardly any connection between one’s grades and one’s driving skill.
The legislators who are pushing for the maintenance of a “C” grade average in school in order for a student to receive his or her license are most likely concerned parents and adults, other drivers who must share the road with teenagers. Somehow these legislators are making the connection that to have good grades means that one will also become a good driver, and so they call their policy a “good policy”. However this assumption that one must have a “C” to make a good driver hardly makes any sense as driving is very different from studying for a test or writing an essay for English. First, whereas you might be able to study for a driver’s test, you cannot study driving. There is not textbook, no quizzes to look over, no written material to help you learn how to drive. Driving skills are gained only through experience, whereas good grades can be earned from just reading a textbook. The learning processes are much different from each other. Secondly, driving may involve impulsive decision-making, especially when something goes wrong on the road. You may need to swerve out of the way when a little child runs out onto the street or slam the brakes if a car suddenly stops in front of you. There is hardly any impulsive decision-making involved in school and even less in obtaining good grades. School is more of a long-term decision, where you study for a period of time, test, and then earn that “C” or above. Thus it is hardly logical to argue that one must keep their GPA at a “C” level in order to obtain their driver’s license.
Just as how I am opposed against the legislators who want to push for a law making a “C” in school mandatory, so are others. The “others” include legislators who are against the ones already mentioned and most likely your average teenager, eager to earn his or her first driver’s license. They call that those who would require a maintenance of a “C” aren’t making too much sense. They see no relationship whatsoever between the grades in school and the driving skills one needs. Because they do not see this connection, they believe that the policy would be useless and just another burden to carry.
Similar to the legislators opposed to a law that requires a “C” average for teenagers to earn their driver’s license, I am also against this policy. Just like them, I do not see the connection between one’s grades and one’s driving skills. A student’s ability to learn or retain information and then apply it to assessments is not the same thing as driving in a car going at least 15 mph, measuring the space all around you. In school, you do not need a good sense of measurement or even a good sense of motion. But in a car, when driving, that’s exactly what you need. You need to know how you’re moving, how fast you’re going, and how far away you should be from the other car. Besides, a “C” average does not guarantee a safe driver. Just because a student holds a “C” does not mean that he or she is going to go out and be reckless. He or she may still go out to a party, take some shots, and then drive home drunk. He or she might not have the common sense or street smarts to know how to handle situations when driving properly, despite being book smart. And so there is not relationship whatsoever between putting the material you’ve memorized from class onto a sheet of paper and getting at least a “C” and actually being put into a real-life, risky situation driving. Thus I propose that we do not make it a policy to maintain a “C” grade average in order to receive a driver’s license. A student with a “F” may prove to be a better driver with a faster reaction time than a student with an “A”.
Although there are hardly any connections between a student’s grades and a student’s driving skills, there could be repercussions by allowing students below a “C” grade average to drive. Perhaps a student is foolish enough to not know how to read or does not pay attention to anything (which would also be the reason why he or she would be earning bad grades in class as he or she wouldn’t be learning anything as the student would not be listening). Then what? Then the student would definitely get himself or herself into a risky situation and put others’ lives in danger. However this is a very rare case as nearly everybody is able to read at the age of 16 (the age one can earn his or her driver’s license) and most everyone is able to pay attention to the environment around them. And so the benefits of not enforcing this policy would far outweigh the consequences.
Overall, although there may be some limitations and consequences by allowing those with a lower-than-“C” grade to drive, it shouldn’t matter as many students will be fine, no matter what their grade. The legislators who are pushing for a maintenance of a “C” policy to be able to drive are hardly making sense, as those legislators (and most likely teenagers) who do not like the policy see. I must also agree with those who do not like the policy, and so I suggest that we allow any student who passes the written driver’s test and the driving test to earn his or her license, no matter what his or her grade is.
(Time spent: about 25-26 minutes typed; tried to keep the time as short as possible as I know that it will take longer to write it out)