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Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

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Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#41

Post by DonHopkins »

vegetablepotpie wrote: post #18

I grew up in a suburban community. Nothing was in walking distance and everywhere I went, I was driven. When my mom asked me where the roads were in our city, I listed all the ones I could remember, but I listed none in order and missed a lot. My mom was perplexed, she said “how could you not know where the roads are? I drive you everywhere.” I think we don’t realize that the amount of control we have over a situatio…

The first time I drove my own car to the mall and parked it deep in the huge parking lot, I went in, did some shopping, then realized that I had completely spaced on remembering where I parked, because every other time in my life, whoever was driving took care of that for me, and I just followed them back to their car.

I'm sure there were times I remembered where my driver had parked, but until the first time I drove to the mall myself, I wasn't in the habit of conscientiously making note of where I parked.

Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#42

Post by wirthjason »

To rephrase the title, “people who don’t do things themselves don’t learn to do things.”

Growing up in the Chicago suburbs I never knew where I was going until about age 15 my Dad got me a giant laminated map of the city and surrounding areas about 4’ x 5’. I hung it on my wall and it was my job to give directions. Until being forced to learn I never cared. The article is unsurprising. It’s like learning a new programming language, you don’t learn it by watching YouTube videos, you learn by writing code.

Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#44

Post by netsharc »

james_s_tayler wrote: post #19
nchelluri wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i chuckled. do you use gps?

It's for the explicit reason I refuse to use it, basically. So I at least know the routes I take frequently and have a chance to learn new ones from time to time. I remember years ago when I still used a GPS there were routes I would drive frequently that I couldn't drive without the GPS. But what I really meant by the comment is despite living 30 years in the same city I barely know where anything is. Especially in…

Apparently the trick is to set the GPS to always be North-Up. That way you can see which compass direction you're heading.

Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#45

Post by megablast »

tristor wrote: post #10
sdan wrote: post #4

This is true to an extent. But at the same time the argument is kind of flawed: can kids safely walk around their neighborhoods nowadays? At least where I lived, the city was nice but there were too many cars and it was unusual to see anyone walking... nevertheless kids walking.

Not sure where you are in the world, but in most of the developed world things have never been safer. So, the answer to your questions is a resounding "yes". Yes, it's safe for kids to walk around their neighborhoods these days.

> Not sure where you are in the world, but in most of the developed world things have never been safer.

In the US cyclists and pedestrians are getting killed at a higher rate than ever before. Partly because 50% of people are driving huge trucks and SUVs.

Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#46

Post by cgriswald »

vegetablepotpie wrote: post #18

I grew up in a suburban community. Nothing was in walking distance and everywhere I went, I was driven. When my mom asked me where the roads were in our city, I listed all the ones I could remember, but I listed none in order and missed a lot. My mom was perplexed, she said “how could you not know where the roads are? I drive you everywhere.” I think we don’t realize that the amount of control we have over a situatio…

Maybe I’m a freak but I always knew where I was going. I could tell you the street names and guide you turn by turn. What I lacked was knowledge of the side streets I’d never been taken down, or how to get from A to C without going through B. Or how to get somewhere new. But I would always pay attention to where we were going (partially because I get car sick); and I’d look down side streets and wonder where they went or what was down that way. And when I would move into a new neighborhood I would explore all the streets. (I still did that when I moved into my new house five years ago.)

Once I got my license it was almost like explosions going off in my head as I turned a corner and realized A is only a couple blocks from C, or Smith Road turns into Johnson Road and that whole thing is connected somehow.

Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#47

Post by mjevans »

I must be the exception to this rule. As a kid I always preferred 'shotgun' and/or the window seat so I could look out and see where I was going. I think I must have been paranoid to always know the safe route back to 'base' (school, home, etc).

This also applied to when my parents took me to things like swimming lessons (in a suburb over).

Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#48

Post by richardw »

Adults too. As a young adult I was amazed at my friend's ability to know where we were in the city. When I started driving I learned fast.

It's similar to learning something by either being told or by coming to the conclusion yourself. The latter feels much more solid.

Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#49

Post by toastal »

I bet we could help people regain some of this ability via video games. A lot of time people are fast traveling or following from point A to B on a minimap without needs to understand how landmarks and directions relate to your position. Anecdotally, I've found people like myself who prefer GPS when traveling to always keep the map pointed north have a better understanding of how and where to get from place to place because landmarks are also tied to a sense of cardinal direction. Many games offer this as an option as well. Despite growing up in a 900-person town, memorizing the Los Santos and San Fiero in GTA: San Andreas made city navigation later in life something I had already trained my brain on.

Re: Kids Who Get Driven Everywhere Don't Know Where They're Going (2012)

#50

Post by cam_l »

toastal wrote: post #49

I bet we could help people regain some of this ability via video games. A lot of time people are fast traveling or following from point A to B on a minimap without needs to understand how landmarks and directions relate to your position. Anecdotally, I've found people like myself who prefer GPS when traveling to always keep the map pointed north have a better understanding of how and where to get from place to place…

>people like myself who prefer GPS when traveling to always keep the map pointed north

Argh, google maps appears to have pushed an update which seems to remove the ability to use directions in this mode. The driving mode to me is absolutely useless as it only shows me which direction i am heading, not where i am going or how i will get there.

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