Ontario law would deny licences to dropouts

[no1important]

Ontario law would deny licences to dropouts

A teaser:

High school dropouts in Ontario will be prevented from getting a driver's licence under new provincial legislation aimed at keeping kids in school until graduation or the age of 18.

Officials hope the legislation will help cut the province's current 30 per cent dropout rate (45,000 students) in half by 2010.

The focus of the plan is to give students more relevant, hands-on courses along with co-op and apprenticeship opportunities, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy said Tuesday.

"You really have to combine this with a program," Kennedy said of the new law. "This is a made-in-Ontario solution and we're just saying that this combination of things is what will make students successful in this province." [/end of teaser]

One hand this sounds reasonable but on the other hand, forcing someone to attend school when they do not want to be there is not very productive either.

 

[bevvyd]

I don't think it's a good idea. First off I think everyone should have an education, but what about all the adults without a grade 12, or immigrants, etc.?

 

[MMMike]

Great, now we'll have high school dropouts with no drivers liscences - even more dependant. This is a terrible idea, just what I've come to expect from the Liberals: legislate EVERYTHING!! They made a good move with the co-op terms and more hands on learning. That will be a bonus for those not 'university bound'. Still, there will be dropouts, and you can't force someone to learn.

 

[bevvyd]

I would like to see driving courses offered in the schools. Give some kids whose parents don't have vehicle or license a chance to learn to drive and get their license. Plus it would give them a greater chance of getting a better job. And the ongoing re-inforcement of good driving habits and defensive driving skills needs to be done, IMO.

 

[bhoour]

Great not only will they be uneducated but will have limited means of transportation to get to a job, and even more limits on jobs that are attainable. In rural area's, with no transit systems or taxi's they would be virtually stranded!
Smart idea............not!!!

 

[#juan]

The way I got my driver's license...

I got a Learner's permit. I was given a few hours practic driving on back roads with my older brother. I read the little book, wrote the exam, went for a five minute drive with the examiner and I had my license. All in less than a month.
I don't think kids should be inflicted on the general public with as little training as I had. I learned over the years but there was far less traffic on the roads then and it was a small town.

If kids want a driver's license, I'm sure they can go to a driving school or to Young Drivers Of Canada after they are 18 and get a license. Driving is taught in high schools, but not only in high schools.

 

[Jay]

Re: RE: Ontario law would deny licences to dropouts

Great not only will they be uneducated but will have limited means of transportation to get to a job, and even more limits on jobs that are attainable. In rural area's, with no transit systems or taxi's they would be virtually stranded!
Smart idea............not!!!

These are the hair brained ideas that have come out of this government. I don't think they are going to do very well come election time....

 

[Durgan]

Imagine those poor teachers. Dump another social issue onto the teachers. They have enough problems already.

Imagine a classroom with probably 2 out of 5 students who don't want to be there. They will disrupt the classroom to an unacceptable degree.

This is a babysitting service that will be counter-productive.

I suggest it is a silly, ill devised legislation.

Depriving these people of a driving licence is plain, utterly stupid.

Separate schools for the drop-outs is a better solution, certainly not the main stream system.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. I expect this type of solution from the NDP not the Liberals.

Durgan.

 

[bevvyd]

Driving schools are expensive, YD is $850 but you can pay on installments over the 1 month period. And all you get is being able to take your driven test 3 months sooner.

We don't have, or pardon me didn't have Driving offered as a course here in Maple Ridge, do you have them in Nanaimo? or other areas?

 

[Summer]

RE: Ontario law would den

This is the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. Sure, it's laudable to want to keep kids in school and learning something that will be useful to them (hint: that's the key - usefulness). But sometimes kids drop out even for good reasons. Here in the U.S. I've known people who had to drop out of high school in order to care for elderly, invalid relatives, for example when nobody else in the family could afford to stay home and do it. They generally go on to obtain an equivalency diploma (GED) later - you have something similar in Canada, don't you? - and then on to career or even college or university studies later on. To prohibit someone who dropped out to be a caregiver from having a driver's license harms both the dropout and the person being cared for.

And no, I realize that this is not the sort of reason behind most instances of dropouts, but honestly, these people are putting themselves somewhat behind the 8-ball anyway in most cases; is there any GOOD reason for hampering them even further?

How many of us, I wonder, had grandparents or great-grandparents who perhaps had less than a 12th-grade education and yet managed to work productively, contribute to society, and raise excellent families?

My own uncle dropped out of high school at age 16 during WWII to enlist in the Navy. After his time in the service was up, he did return to our hometown and complete high school - graduating with his younger sister, my mother. But some who returned home did not go back to high school, and still did just fine. No, it's no longer the 1940's and the world is different now, but still there are certainly avenues to get a high school dropout into a solid trade or career and on the road to a stable and productive life. But you don't put them on that road by restricting them from driving.

 

[missile]

Having gone to our Vocational School and had access to the Free Driving & Licensing course[sadly,this school and it's courses are long gone!], Ontario is trying to solve one problem but,instead,will be creating many more. Teach save driving in all high schools,but it would be free to those with passing marks & a graduating scale of fees to those with less than good marks.

 

[Colpy]

Ontario law would deny licences to dropouts

A teaser:

High school dropouts in Ontario will be prevented from getting a driver's licence under new provincial legislation aimed at keeping kids in school until graduation or the age of 18.

Officials hope the legislation will help cut the province's current 30 per cent dropout rate (45,000 students) in half by 2010.

The focus of the plan is to give students more relevant, hands-on courses along with co-op and apprenticeship opportunities, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy said Tuesday.

"You really have to combine this with a program," Kennedy said of the new law. "This is a made-in-Ontario solution and we're just saying that this combination of things is what will make students successful in this province." [/end of teaser]

One hand this sounds reasonable but on the other hand, forcing someone to attend school when they do not want to be there is not very productive either.

Having been both a high school dropout and a teacher, I think this policy is insane.

If you want a decent education system, you have to allow those not willing to put forth any effort to get out, so you can concentrate on the willing.

Those forced to be there would simply be disruptive, often in the hope of being kicked out. I've seen it.

I often said that, because of Stronach and the TV budget thingy with the Ontario PCS, I would have voted Liberal in the provincial election had I lived there.

Boy, would I EVER be sorry.

McGuinty is an complete idiot. No other word to describe him.

 

[Summer]

RE: Ontario law would den

I took driver's education in 11th grade in my high school. It ran for half the school year, but was fairly in-depth and I aced it. Didn't get my license right away, but that was due to some parental stupidity.

 

[missile]

I remember my parents couldn't come up with the buck or two to get the actual license[this was back in The Dark Ages!] But,we didn't have a car or access to one either.

 

[Summer]

RE: Ontario law would den

My family had two cars (both my parents worked and we lived in the sticks). But my dad decided, after being the one to have me take Driver's Ed in the first place, to follow his own father's example and tell me that he wouldn't sign for me to get my license until I could afford to buy myself a car. Dunno how he expected me to do that, as the only way I could get a job in the first place was to be able to get there, and where we lived there was no public transportation and it was rather far to get to any sort of job on a bicycle, especially in midwinter.

Can you say big family argument? But he won, and mom and I lost.

 

[missile]

I never won an argument :? Outnumbered 5 to 1 by my wife and 4 daughters[even our dog and cat were female!]

 

[MMMike]

I never won an argument :? Outnumbered 5 to 1 by my wife and 4 daughters[even our dog and cat were female!]

Poor poor missile. Luckily there is a balance of numbers in my home. No wonder you're always on the computer! :wink:

 

[missile]

It's a hard life,but somehow I make the best of it

 

[Reverend Blair]

RE: Ontario law would den

I started driving well before I got my license...I think I was about 8. By the time I was fourteen, I was driving my friends' and brother's cars in the city.

I doubt the Ontario plan will work...kids that are dropping out of school have more problems than whether they have a driver's license and they can always drive anyway. What they won't be able to do is get jobs as couriers or on a lot of construction sites...the kinds of jobs open to people without high school diplomas and the kind of jobs that sometimes convice kids to go back to school.

 

[Jo Canadian]