You are correct in your narrow thought - a few fearful, lazy, dependent or unambitious teens are not going to doom humanity. You are WRONG in the real world. How many is a few? How many is too many?

It isn't that I'm different. I'm not expecting everyone to know everything. I am EXPECTING young adults to ACT like adults. I am expecting teenagers to start learning how to become adults. Prior to the early 1900s it was EXPECTED that a child (especially a boy) of 12 or 13 should start work in order to assist his family. In 1942-43 we entered WWII and 17 and 18 year-olds were literally being blasted into bloody chunks by the THOUSANDS, watching their friends die all around them, and sacrificing health, safety and sanity to preserve the very existence of their homes (remember the Germans were working on an H-bomb and long-range rockets). What did we do? We ALL worked. Young women worked in factories and young men died and committed atrocities that none of your videogames could ever emulate. Housewives planted gardens so more food could be allocated from farmlands directly to the military. From the end of WWII until the late 1980s we were involved in the cold war and we actually ran NUCLEAR MISSILE DRILLS in schools -- and yes I am old enough to remember them. My school had a fallout shelter. Lets not forget how many 18 year old boys were killed in Korea and Vietnam -- where if you got a draft letter in the mail it was basically a death sentence. NOW we've had 30 years of safe domestic living and we have these young adults (and at 17-18 you are adults, like it or not) that don't want to learn basic skills to take care of themselves because it is SCARY or inconvenient?

Seriously!? You're seriously alright letting that slide?

Generally it is the hope of parents that the next generation will be an improvement but 30 years of safety and "self-esteem" building education have left the upcoming generation woefully ill-equipped to deal with even basic problems, let alone catastrophes. Being told, "You're about to turn 18, go register for the draft" when the life expectancy of a soldier in Vietnam is a couple of minutes is scary. Telling an 8-year-old "get to the bomb shelter because everyone you know and love not in it is about to be vaporized by the Russians" is scary. Driving and having the legal ability to move about on your own terms is NOT scary and is the exact opposite of inconvenient (once you get past the DMV).

Kindness can't always be kind. There are people like you who say, "maybe they have problems." Well no $hit they have problems. Everyone does (and I'm not referring to those with physical handicaps). You think that you're being kind and reasonable, but what you are doing is fostering an environment that accepts failure. You aren't helping people who have troubles, you're making it easier for them to NOT get over their troubles. It used to be that we had dunce caps in school. When a student failed, they wore a dunce cap like a clown and sat in a corner near the teachers desk. This was done in middle and even high schools until a couple of decades ago. Do you know what happened? A few were troublemakers for the attention, but MOST were ashamed, tried harder and eventually succeeded. Those who succeeded after applying greater effort developed confidence and pride.

You see, shame is a powerful motivator. It is actually a necessary component for a society to function. This has been known for millenia. It is currently used extensively in stricter (especially private) schools and within the military to condition people (and conditioning theory is another interesting topic which is a part of this issue -- but I'll tell you to just go ahead and look up Operant conditioning theory rather than explain it here). Shame is the reason more people don't do drugs. Shame is the reason there aren't more roving pedophiles in windowless vans. Shame is the reason cashiers will usually try to give you correct change. Shame and Pride are essential social conditioning tools to create an orderly society. Every culture enforces its social norms through attitudes of pride, shame, joy and fear.

So what happens when you make one special exception? In the REAL world, two or three more try to get away with something. What happens when you excuse them too? 5 or 10 more try to get away with something. You can watch it happen in the real world in any classroom, business or organization -- 20% of the people do 80% of the work. THAT is the reason that excusing one or two or a thousand people at a time is so destructive -- it becomes exponential. Something MUST be said. If nothing is said, if every hurt feeling is soothed, the problem gets worse. You're right that a few unmotivated teens won't ruin the country, but the few quickly becomes many. That is EXACTLY what happened to the Soviet Union. In a system, when the number who choose to excel are exceeded by those that need support, the system collapses. There were people who had pride and ambitious people who labored forward in life for their own reasons, but at the end of the day they were all treated the same so many people just gave up and soon there were too many people in bread lines and not enough people making bread. The system collapsed (of course there were other factors, but that was a large part of it).

I think of a posts like this like a survey. I see the age groups (what few are honest about their ages) in the column at the side. I see numerous replies. I see that those who are younger encouraged the author of this thread to not bother learning to drive. I see a large portion or older posters encouraging independence and preparedness. If 3/4 of the young posters are against learning an important life skill, that bothers me. That bothers me a lot. That is pathetic and those who refuse to learn deserve to feel pathetic. The whole world, from the roads, the cell phone towers, the computers you're sitting at, the houses you live in were all built by people who exerted effort. Effort is usually not the most pleasant thing but the world as we know it wouldn't exist without it. Some of these kids don't even have the desire to get around by themselves without asking for permission or relying on others! It doesn't even seem to occur to them that they should! It is unhealthy to be stuck at home, it is unhealthy to rely on others forever, and it is unhealthy to have so little ambition! That is pathetic and I want them to feel pathetic so they'll be motivated to BETTER THEMSELVES.

One of the first things asked in a job interview is "do you have reliable transportation?" or "Do you have a car?" In fact, EVERY job interview I've been in has asked that question. You will NOT be hired if you can't get YOURSELF to work. Not many women will go on a second date if you're 22 and have to borrow mom's car. Your teachers are nice to you because they'll lose their jobs if they aren't. Your parents are nice to you because they think of you as their special precious jewel. Your friends and other young people are nice to you because they don't know any better. If you think I'm insulting, The real world WILL kick your ass.

And yes, in some urban areas it is better to use mass transit or walk. 99% of North America is NOT urban area. Even if you DO live in an urban area, there may be times in which you want to leave to go to a beach or visit family. There may be an emergency and walking just isn't fast enough. There may be city worker's strike and the bus just isn't coming (you'll be fired for missing work. The boss doesn't care about the city strike unless you work for the city). Just learn already. Learn once and it is a tool you'll always have available. While you're at it learn how to cook for yourselves, write a resume, do laundry and perform basic first aid.