Is it common for American high school students to drive themselves to school?
Posted by Intelligent_Chef9950@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 919 comments
I’ve always seen in American movies and shows that high schoolers drive their own cars to school every day. Is this actually super common in real life?
Branagain@reddit
Yep, and it's also common for parents to punish their kids by taking the keys away and force them to take the school bus with the freshmen and sophmores.
Not-Banksy@reddit
This is an important point.
Driving to school is (or at least it was when I was in school) a rite of passage. Juniors and seniors don’t take the bus — at least not willingly.
And the threat of losing keys was a huge incentive to behave.
Thanks for bringing this up, I’d completely forgotten about the freshman/sophomore and junior/senior driving divide.
blay12@reddit
Yeah as someone who was in HS at the same time, our local hangout after we could drive was usually Taco Bell (buddy worked there)…but also 100% Best Buy for the demo stands haha, and occasionally the mall. Also just remembered how much more relevant our local malls were before online shopping got so easy…Christmas shopping was always a big hangout event for some of my friends and I.
sep780@reddit
The town I grew up in, the thing kids with cats did after school was cruise Main Street. As in just drive up and down in over and over. Not even big enough for a McDonalds.
Blonde_Vampire_1984@reddit
My village doesn’t even have a proper Main Street. It has courthouse square instead.
Jclo9617@reddit
This. I have a September birthday, so I turned 16 at the very beginning of my sophomore year. I got my license and my parents got me a 20-year-old hoopty to drive around in. Suddenly, I became very popular. Half the people in my class were asking me to drive them somewhere in my POS Ford.
God, I miss that thing. Best worst vehicle ever.
pterencephalon@reddit
My parents were clear that I was not getting a car when I got my license. At least, they weren't buying me one. Not environmentally friendly. But I had a pretty decent bike. And I was cheap so I never wanted to get a job just to buy a car, instead of spending my time on school stuff or extracurriculars.
What I'm saying is: I was still taking the bus as a high school senior, or biking up a 2 mile hill.
Not-Banksy@reddit
This sounds like it will become an exaggerated story to your descendants
“Back in ma dayyyy….”
That’s cool though, way better for your health and environment.
pterencephalon@reddit
I definitely give props to my parents, especially in hindsight. I didn't own a car until I hit 30 (I'm now 33) and I'm still a daily bike commuter. But now I have an e-bike to deal with the hills every day.
saint-small@reddit
It was always humiliating if you had to ride “big yellow”.
JimDandy_ToTheRescue@reddit
Our nicknames for the bus: the Shame Train, the Loser Cruiser and the Big Blue Limo (county buses were painted various shades of blue).
ImmediateAd7069@reddit
Mine did that (because I was still doing homework while they quietly ate dinner and I didn't immediately appear to do dishes), but we lived in the foothills and it was 2 miles to the nearest bus, 5 miles to school.
We don't talk anymore.
RealWeekness@reddit
You guys had school buses? My high-school relied on the City busses for the students. Wed buy a students busses pass so it was a little bit cheaper
Well_ImTrying@reddit
You guys had functional city buses?
randypupjake@reddit
Fair warning for those not in the US: The US bus systems in most major cities pale in comparison to even some bus systems in eve some small cities in Europe.
RealWeekness@reddit
Lol, I guess we were lucky living in a suburb of 100k people with main streets that got you within a mile from most locations
originalslicey@reddit
😆 sounds lucky. I live in a suburb of 200,000 and public transportation isn’t a thing here. We had school buses for middle and high school, but it was embarrassing to have to take the bus past freshman year. Hell, even as a freshman it was embarrassing to not drive - or be driven - to school.
TrixieLurker@reddit
City of a 100K, the city buses were used for school buses as well, there were bus stops everywhere.
Mystical-Turtles@reddit
Dude I'm not even joking, My town had like three buses total and two of them only went to the airport. The third basically only went to the mall and a handful of random neighborhoods and that's it. I'm not even from a small town!
loveshercoffee@reddit
This is how it is in my city. The district has school busses for elementary students but middle and high school students take the city bus. It's been this way for at least the 30 years that we've lived here, anyway. Our house is nearby to all three school levels so my kids just grew up walking to school.
I lived in a very small town when I was growing up, and the school busses were a thing for all the students. I got my drivers license in my sophmore year and didn't take the bus after that.
Branagain@reddit
Most US school districts operate huge fleets of yellow school buses, both to ensure everyone gets there at the same time, and for security reasons (parents would go apeshit if their kids had to ride the bus with fent zombies).
sep780@reddit
A lot of school districts are in town too small to have public transit systems.
RealWeekness@reddit
I know we had short busses but not sure if they had busses for the rest of the students. In elementary school when we were in the upper grades we'd walk or ride our bikes the mile to school, same in Jr high school. Then in high school it was too far so its a mile walk to the bus and a 5 mile bus ride
I feel like wed have used school busses if they had em but I was a kid so who knows.
Branagain@reddit
Yeah, in my town every kid my age living on the street would just gather at the end of the street close to the highway sometime before dawn, along with two or three other stops in the neighborhood, then we'd be wisked off the fifteen miles to school. About ten other buses would all show up at the school at the same exact time, and the office would announce on the school's intercom if a bus was late and not to mark a kid tardy to the teachers.
sep780@reddit
Yeah, my school had school buses. Had to get the country kids into town. Also, city transit in that town is still your own two feet. It’s just over a mile to get from one edge of town to the other.
mvanpeur@reddit
There's apparently also the option of no bussing offered. Our kids' school district doesn't offer any bussing after 9th grade.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
This is more common in urban areas than in suburbs or rural areas.
snapsfortiffany@reddit
Lol, city busses aren't a thing in most of the South.
Hawk13424@reddit
No city busses where I live. No city. The nearest city is 20 miles away.
Gilded-Mongoose@reddit
That'll be the case in more urban/large cities. Most suburbs-oriented will have school busses going around.
Gaybeanuwu@reddit
i went to a rural regional school with no public transportation and barely any sidewalks, so yeah we had school buses.
Hoopajoops@reddit
It was embarrassing to take the bus haha
give_me_goats@reddit
I had to do this anyway because my parents couldn’t afford an extra car. It definitely felt like a punishment.
Branagain@reddit
Likewise with me after my dad got a different job in a neighboring city and needed a less gas guzzling car besides his Dodge Ram. I ended up having to ride with my Mormon friends who went to school at like 5 AM to go to seminary class.
TotallyNotABot_Shhhh@reddit
In our area they completely removed school buses except for the kids with disabilitie. Anything like sports teams or field trips has to be paid by the students. To rent a bus it’s usually cheaper for the district to utilize a charter bus. It’s absolutely ridiculous and has increased the traffic so much. Tons of kids having to walk further distances when they can’t get rides from parents. People shit on e-bikes around here but honestly I’m relieved for the kids who have to go so far without a way to get to school otherwise.
mt_thoughts@reddit
I was not have been able to use that as a punishment for my kid! lol. I found out the hard way when my son’s car was in the shop, I told my son to just take the bus…and the bus never came. Unfortunately I was at an early morning appointment so wasn’t home to be able to drive him at that point. I called the school to find out what happened and where the bus was, only to find out his stop had been dropped that year since there were no kids that showed up at that bus stop, meaning the bus was rerouted and didn’t come down into our street anymore.
awakenDeepBlue@reddit
Congrats, your punishment has directly increased government spending by an arbitrary amount.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
Stop. I didn’t need PTSD today.
Libertas_@reddit
Where I lived there weren't really that many school buses. Taking the keys away during the week just would've resulted in kids being late for school
Branagain@reddit
Yeah no two school districts are the same, and some have the logistics all worked out while others just wing it.
Important-Home-2945@reddit
In most states there’s a certain distance away from the high school that a bus will go. I live in a metro city on the west coast (not LA) and when I went to high school a decade ago the school busses are only allowed to pick you up if your house was in a certain part of that radius. My junior high’s school was out of that zone and so was my high school. Got dropped off every day until the day I got my drivers license. Then I was on my own.
spongeboy1985@reddit
In my experience Id say it wasn’t uncommon but of driving age kids most just walked because they were close enough and possibly didn’t have access to a car or have a license. I was involved in an off campus multischool program senior year for juniors and seniors. At lunch we were given permission to leave the school. Most just took a bus that served the program but a few would drive.
I imagine it might be more common elsewhere
FlatElvis@reddit
Why wouldn't they?
OptimisticPlatypus@reddit
Yes. Many people live miles from school so they’ll drive or carpool with other students.
thesamerain@reddit
I think most is heavily dependent on where you live. If you're more rural, it'll be more common. Its not nearly as common in cities.
Hoobi_Goobi@reddit
It's also fun because most high schools give the students a parking pass to be able to drive themselves, and students can sometimes paint/decorate their own parking spot
_pamelab@reddit
The current seniors at my high school can paint their spots. When I was in school, the lot wasn’t even paved.
froction@reddit
If it wasn't paved they probably would have been OK with you painting it back then, too.
_pamelab@reddit
Good point. We didn’t have assigned spaces, but we could have.
AsstralObservatory@reddit
I wish we had that. We didn't get yearbook quotes either
MeatEaterDruid@reddit
Same from Illinois. Although the middle school I sub at is going quotes for 8th graders. They asked why we didn't get one and I thought well there were about 800 of us graduating so they probably decided it wasn't worth it.
suboptimus_maximus@reddit
Nurturing an emotional attachment to car storage may be the single mode insanely carbrained thing I’ve ever heard.
Deep_Cellist_4488@reddit
We didn’t get either in the late 90s when I was in high school! Although senior photos in the yearbook were in color, everyone else was black and white.
Senior staff on the student newspaper did get columns in which they could rant on whatever they wanted, and we did funny predictions for everyone…
They got me wrong though - I didn’t steal a bomber while in the USAF.
Agreeable-Ice-2000@reddit
At our local high school they allow the seniors to BUY parking spaces to paint. 🙄
MajesticBread9147@reddit
My school didn't have enough parking spots, so they charged $200 ish a semester to park at school, or you could find a spot on the street.
It makes sense, because you physically couldn't fit 1,000 or so parking spaces in that school while leaving parking for teachers.
Bright-Wrongdoer-227@reddit
That sounds more like a suburban thing I feel like
lawrat68@reddit
Tha fuck is this nonsense?
Honeybee3674@reddit
I don't know about "most". It's very socioeconomic dependent. I never had a car to drive to school in high school. My parents needed the vehicles to get to work. I walked to school. I didn't get my own car until I saved up to buy one after my sophomore year of college.
Although we're a lot better off financially, my kids don't drive to school on a regular basis, only if there's a special situation and a family vehicle available. We drive them to school and they take the city bus home. Many of their peers don't even have driver's licenses. So, I think this is a dynamic that is changing with Gen Z.
Equivalent-Cicada165@reddit
Yeah, it wasn't most when I went to highschool
It was common enough, but the majority were dropped off or walked
MamaMoosicorn@reddit
Agreed, very dependent on location and socioeconomic status.
We couldn’t afford a second vehicle in our family when I was in high school. I got a job just to help pay for groceries. There’s no way we could afford to buy a second vehicle and pay for insurance, gas, and maintenance. I either walked, rode the city bus, or got a ride. No school bus if we were within walking distance.
We are fortunate enough to have and be able to afford an extra vehicle in our family now. My oldest drove to and from school. Middle will too if oldest gets their own car. Walking or biking is not safe here, and there’s no city bus in this area, so the options are school bus or get a ride.
Slow_Concern_672@reddit
See where I lived. There was no bus. I mean there was a school bus but there was no City bus. And if you wanted a job he had to drive 15 to 20 minutes just to get to the nearest place. So even the poor people had cars for their 16-year-olds. They might be beaters and maybe some friends went together on one. But almost all those 16-year-olds had jobs and to be able to have a job you had to have a car.
Slow_Concern_672@reddit
See where I lived almost all people had cars the kids could use including the poorest because to have a job the poor kids had to drive. And most poor kids had jobs by 16 when people got licenses. You couldn't walk or take a bus or bike to a job. They weren't that close. People would carpool to save money since most people drove 15-20 minutes to the next big town for a job. It was often a beater but a car none the less.
Quantity-Used@reddit
Or ride a bus. School buses exist, and most kids ride them. Only older students actually have drivers licenses, and a lot of them don’t have cars.
Hawk13424@reddit
My daughter drove as soon as she could. The drive was about 20 mins. The bus was over an hour because of the route and stopping.
MajesticBread9147@reddit
How many stops? Our school bus growing up had 1 or two stops depending on the year.
Slow_Concern_672@reddit
Lol my bus stopped at everyone's house because no one lives close enough to each other to walk. I think the closest people were 2 miles to us. It was a 2 hour bus drive and if you had after school commitments or a job you'd need a ride anyway no public busses.
whatevendoidoyall@reddit
Mine had I think 4 stops? Sometimes more if it was picking up another route who's driver was out. I also lived 12 miles from school so it'd take awhile with all the stops.
DrScarecrow@reddit
The school bus that went by my house had around 30. The route took about 75 minutes. Driving was a 4 minute drive. You bet your ass I started driving the moment I had my own wheels.
rognabologna@reddit
Also, many students are in after school activities, so they can’t take the bus. Younger kids typically get rides home with older kids on their team, in their club, or whatever it may be.
I don’t think it’s common for European schools to have teams, like we do in the States.
travelinmatt76@reddit
Yes, I bought my first car at 16 and started driving to school
SummertimeThrowaway2@reddit
Yes, very common amongst the older students. My high school even let seniors leave campus during lunch
oceansapart333@reddit
Yep. The only time I ever got in “trouble” was when some friends and I tried to sneak some underclassmen off camps for lunch. We were given detention for like, an hour. I think it mostly amused the staff as are were all honors students/band nerds/never got in trouble type kids.
Reddittoxin@reddit
Sometimes I think back to the time my highschool boyfriend and I went to different schools, so we had different breaks. I was on spring break but he was still in school, so I thought I'd bring him lunch one day and have lunch with him.
The lady up front told me I couldn't go into the school to eat with him, so I was texting him like, ah sorry dude they won't let me in :(
And he told me to go to this outdoor courtyard. No fences or nothing, and he just walked out, ushered me into the school, and I just sat down at his lunch table like I was any other student there lol.
I think about it bc like, damn. That shit would never happen anymore. I woulda put the school on lockdown with how much more security they got these days.
TheGreatPornholio123@reddit
We had an off-campus IT course that we had to drive to. We were all honors students, etc. We'd skip that shit regularly and go grab food or fuck off to a movie a lot of days. No one ever blinked an eye at us as we all had 4.0+ GPAs, and it was a small town. They could easily find us if they wanted, but the parents personally knew all the teachers/admin, etc, so if it would've ever been a problem the parents (at least mine) would've been like "Why does it matter? What's his grades again?" My parents did not give two shits what I did as long as I didn't get in trouble, had a job, and produced good grades.
GreenBeanTM@reddit
I once audibly confused the in school suspension lady by being there. I got ISS for talking back to my shit chorus teacher (got away with it like 4 times the previous year tho) and was just in there for one block. I walked in, sat down and pulled out the homework I needed to do for my 4th block health class, asked if I could use my phone for it since I needed internet, didn’t complain when I was given a Chromebook instead, asked for a second CB when the first didn’t work, and then sat there quietly doing my work while needing no help.
Another teacher came in to talk to the ISS lady while I was there, and I heard the ISS lady literally question why I was there to her 😂
FlyByPC@reddit
They technically didn't let us leave during lunch, but senior year, I was a TA for the period right before lunch, so I could sneak out before they posted someone at the lot entrance.
They'd let you sneak back in, so as long as you got there first, it was all good. I was just making a McDonalds run, anyway.
nicholas818@reddit
At my school seniors would sell the food to underclassmen for a profit rather than sneaking them off campus, which seems more funny honestly
cownan@reddit
My daughter is currently making bank selling McDonald’s double cheeseburgers for $5 each at her high school, lol.
LieutenantStar2@reddit
Brilliant
ImmediateAd7069@reddit
I did a Wendy 's run every day and sold off kids meal components. It was across the street, but I drove so I could beat the pedestrians there. It paid for gas
kreativegaming@reddit
The kids just door dash the food even in a little town of ~10k these kids be door dashing taco bell and sonic and mcd for lunch
Prinessbeca@reddit
Heck, back in 1993 my friend had pizza delivered to him at the middle school. As a 7th grader. Met the delivery guy at a side door, snuck it into the boys' bathroom, and he and a few friends had lunch in the handicapped stall.
Ewww to eating in the bathroom, but points for ingenuity I guess.
Ok_Preparation_3928@reddit
This is straight out of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”.
kreativegaming@reddit
Holy grail for us was having a doctor's appointment and someone convinced their mom to buy then like 10 jack tacos lol
Snawer_brillant@reddit
Yup
eyeroll611@reddit
This is a good HS fundraiser idea
Available-Database21@reddit
We had a crave case eating comp for a fundraiser teams of 2 and who could finish the most within a time limit
raggidimin@reddit
This is the way. Some seniors in the year above me made bank off some Crave Cases from the local White Castle.
Illustrious-Art-7465@reddit
We were not allowed to leave campus for lunch despite getting a full hour. When I was a sophomore I had a senior friend who would drive us to zaxbys, but you had to sneak out. It only qas possible because right before lunch we had weight training in the football field house. You still had to get past one more guy patrolling in a golf cart
Ok-Entertainment5045@reddit
Oh you rebels, looking back some of the rules put on high schoolers are just stupid. Everyone is being taught how to be an adult. As long as you’re back on time who cares.
Mountain_Economist_8@reddit
The year before I was a Freshman, some kids were late coming back from open campus lunch, probably speeding, 2 or 3 died in a car accident. Boom, new authoritarian principal, no more open campus, big crackdown on all things fun at my high school the year I entered,
3lm1Ster@reddit
Same with my high school so many years ago. Some kids tried to beat the train and lost.
Hello_Hangnail@reddit
Man, that's a rough one.
Imaginary_Ladder_917@reddit
Sadly, the first day of senior year for my cousin, he and friends were in a car accident at lunch, racing against other friends. The driver of my cousin’s car was killed. My cousin suffered severe head trauma and stayed basically in vegetative state for the next 20 years until he finally died, I think of pneumonia. I don’t think they closed the campus for lunch after the accident, though. I’ll never forget it. I had graduated there year before and knew all the kids involved, and I had been pretty close to my cousin. Scary.
ENovi@reddit
lol we did that with my little brother (I was a senior and he was a sophomore). We put him in the trunk of my buddy’s car and I could see he was surprisingly a little nervous. He didn’t say anything but I knew so I came up with some excuse to ride in the trunk with him. When we were in there I told him it’s no big deal and he could map out every turn in his head since we pulled out of that same parking lot every day.
I had literally just finished that sentence when the car rapidly accelerated and started rocking so bad I thought we must have ran over a land mine. We were banging into each other and smacking against the inside of the trunk. All I could say to my brother was “Okay I don’t know what the fuck that was” when the trunk pops open and we’re in the middle of a neighborhood. The way my school was laid out was the parking lot, a park next to it, and then residential houses. My buddy realized the teachers checking lunch passes weren’t paying attention, didn’t want to wait in line, and gunned his piece of shit Oldsmobile through the park and into the neighborhood. The bumps were curbs and tree roots. We get out and I go “What the hell was that?” his only reply was “That line was bullshit, dude.”
SummertimeThrowaway2@reddit
I remember sneaking out as a sophomore and cooking pork chops at my buddy’s house
Sooner70@reddit
At my high school ALL students are allowed to leave campus for lunch.
Red_Sox0905@reddit
We were only allowed to leave campus as seniors during finals. But it was a small town and Subway was the only place to eat anyway.
amyn2511@reddit
Ok that was my experience too, down to Subway being the only place in our small town. That was 20+ years ago, now they have a Burger King too lol I don’t miss living in small country town.
Red_Sox0905@reddit
We had a couple pizza places, but they were dinner only restaurants. There's a Chinese restaurant there now too. But they'll never have a BK or anything like that lol.
amyn2511@reddit
We also technically had a diner and a gas station that grilled burgers and had a couple of tables but you would never get your food in time to eat and get back. And a pizza place that was also dinner only. Not much out there even still, the diner burned down
Frecklefishpants@reddit
I live in Canada and same. If you aren't expected in class how are they monitoring this?
ancj9418@reddit
We had teachers at the doors who checked if you were allowed to leave or not. We had some type of pass if we were allowed that we had to show. The also checked it when people returned and if you were caught returning without one you were in trouble. Only the oldest two grades could leave at my school - all seniors could leave and juniors could leave if they had parental permission.
Frecklefishpants@reddit
I don't understand why. If you don't have a class why do they care where you are?
ancj9418@reddit
Because you’re a minor and you’re required to be in the building. Letting a bunch of minors loose to do whatever they want and go wherever they want is a huge liability.
Frecklefishpants@reddit
I think this might be an American problem.
ancj9418@reddit
Okay, well it’s happening in America. So.
dobbydisneyfan@reddit
Because having potentially hundreds of high school children out and about at the same time all trying to walk or drive somewhere generally isn’t a good idea.
In my city, local businesses near the high school have to shut down business for about an hour or so after school gets out because of the problems they were having with all the teenagers crowding their businesses, fighting, smoking, not even buying anything, harassing paying customers etc.
Not_A_Crazed_Gunman@reddit
I'm also Canadian and same, but you could barely go anywhere and get back in time for class so everyone just stayed for lunch anyway
Frecklefishpants@reddit
We had 1 hr and 15 minute periods when I was in high school. The mall was 15 minutes away. We could drive there, shop, eat lunch and drive back before our next class. Even in the younger grades we would often go to the home of someone who lived close by and had parents who were both out of the house.
unexplainednonsense@reddit
My school had automatic locks on all the doors that were activated at the start time. They did not unlock until the last bell. If you had to leave you had had a note and go through the door at the attendance office.
LabInner262@reddit
Was locked doors not a fire code violation?
unexplainednonsense@reddit
Tbh it might have worked like the person who replied to you, but the parking lot security guard or the other guards at all the exits would stop you. We also had an onsite police officer.
Frecklefishpants@reddit
I guess I don't understand why you can't leave campus if you don't have a class.
PandaBean1@reddit
At our local schools, the doors are only locked for entry and everyone needs to be buzzed in. You can still easily open the doors from inside to get out.
linkxrust@reddit
Youre school had 1 building? I walked to different buildings for almost every class.
Particular_Bet_5466@reddit
I’m pretty sure you must live somewhere with a mild climate then.
EatLard@reddit
Where I live, winter makes this a terrible idea. No one wants to walk to a different building when it’s -30f and windy.
linkxrust@reddit
Alaska? Northern Minnesota? North Dakota? Not many places experience -30 degrees frequently. Also they close schools at that temp. lol
EatLard@reddit
-30 windchills are not uncommon where I live. Neither is snow that falls in November and doesn’t melt until the end of march.
beenoc@reddit
I think that's pretty much a California/West-only thing. In the Midwest and Northeast it gets too cold, in the Southeast it's too hot and muggy.
Potential_Phrase_206@reddit
Nope, Georgia schools = mostly multiple buildings.
linkxrust@reddit
I went to high school in Santa Fe NM, Hot in the summer, Cold as shit in the winter.
hiketheworld2@reddit
This has a lot to do with whether the school is in a cold area or a warm one. When I moved from super cold to perfect weather every day, I was shocked that there were a bunch of buildings in the school and the lockers were in outdoors areas and not inside. In cold areas you need to take off all of your coats, gloves, hats? Scarves and put them somewhere for the school day.
CrownStarr@reddit
It’s a regional thing. In my experience 1 building is more common nationwide but multiple buildings (or courtyards and open passageways) are common in places like California and Florida where the weather supports it.
HopperHapper_Eternal@reddit
I'm also a Canadian who was allowed to leave
StormFallen9@reddit
For the middle school they sometimes have people watching nearby fast food places or gracery stores to catch any students off campus
Deep_Cellist_4488@reddit
An honor system, and campus monitors. I worked as one for half a school year back in 2013, and we could challenge any student out of a classroom as to where they should be.
Plus, when lunch periods were active, we’d shift coverage to parts of the school closer to the student parking lots.
Worst damn job I ever had. Couldn’t pay me enough to do it now.
greeneggiwegs@reddit
On the flip side, at my high school, none of the students were allowed to leave during lunch, it it’s very much a YMMV thing.
We had Peking but the number of spaces were so few that essentially only seniors got to use it. No off lot parking because we were on some busy residential roads. No room. But I knew another school where private individuals rented out spaces in nearby lots.
William_Maguire@reddit
I took a tech class my junior year and had an hour between the time it let us out and when my next class at the high school started (the two campuses were about 10 miles apart).
No one was allowed to leave school for lunch, so most days I'd text me friends to see what they wanted then pick up lunch on the way back to school
WinterMedical@reddit
My poor daughter snagged an awesome Senior spot at the start of Covid. 😖
Ok-Humot9024@reddit
I think it depends a lot on location. Small town schools are often built on large tracts of land outside of the business district and away from restaurants, so letting kids leave is just inviting accidents. Schools that are closer to fast food chains and convenience stores tend to have open campuses.
jda404@reddit
Yeah, my high school was kinda rural, getting to some restaurants for lunch would have been about a 20 min drive, until you eat, and drive back 20 mins you probably would be gone an hour. There wouldn't have been enough time to let us go out of school for lunch.
Surprised-elephant@reddit
My high school didn’t allow anyone. I was a senior and 18 was not allowed to leave. I graduated in 2009
Richard_Thickens@reddit
Same, except for the kids who had dual-enrollment or Skill Center (off-campus technical training). I used to leave all the time though. Just had to be discreet about it.
somearcanereference@reddit
I learned pretty quickly that because I was one of the "good kids," anyone monitoring the doors assumed that I had a good, approved reason for being off-campus during lunch.
Particular_Bet_5466@reddit
Yeah i graduated in 2010 in Wisconsin and they gave me detention for leaving during my like 3 off periods when i was 18 close to graduation.
DogLord92@reddit
You may been allowed to but not understood how. In my state once you turned 18 you could write your own absence notes.
Surprised-elephant@reddit
I tried this and the said no. They will call my mom.
madbro91@reddit
Class of 09! Hell yeah!
Yoshimaster55@reddit
I graduated the same year and we were allowed off campus. I remember barely making it back in time for the bell lol
Mystical-Turtles@reddit
There was no rule against it at my school but there was also no point because we only got 30 minutes for lunch. You didn't really have enough time to go anywhere and get food and still get back in time.
Secondary answer to OP's question, we also had very few people actually drive to school. But that had more to do with the fact it was in a poor area. Most of us didn't have driver's licenses, And if we did, we certainly did not have a car.
joanmcq@reddit
At mine, no one was allowed to leave for lunch.
hisamsmith@reddit
Mine either but lunch was around 30 minutes long in the 1990s.
TrixieLurker@reddit
Yep, younger kids just rode with older ones, walked to the neighboring plaza, or just went home, since a couple neighborhoods were just that close.
itsmejustmeonlyme@reddit
We had an open campus at my high school too while I was there. I think they changed it at some point so that freshmen had to stay, but I’m not sure.
And yes, many people drove. There were school buses but it took way longer. Driving was more fun and way less crowded.
DoctorBaconite@reddit
Same. All of our high schools allow that.
SummertimeThrowaway2@reddit
The parking lot at my high school wouldn’t been a mess and nobody would show up to class on time
moonbunnychan@reddit
Wow. My high school was SUPER strict and I remember my senior year they took away what was the senior privilege of being allowed to eat at a picnic table just outside the cafeteria.
MyauIsHere@reddit
At my high school we went to smoke weed during lunch in the schoolyard, Balkans eh?
DieHardAmerican95@reddit
It depends very much on where you are. At my high school no one could leave campus unless they were signed out by an adult. Which means seniors over the age of 18 sign themselves out. At the high school my kids went to, it was an open campus and anyone could leave. The difference was that, many years ago, a student was hit and killed by a car on the road in front of my high school. A closed campus was the school board’s reaction to that tragedy.
ohgodimbleeding@reddit
8th grade me looking forward to high school where all students could leave. Freshman year they changed it to sophmore and up. Sophmore year, juniors and seniors. Junior year, seniors only. Senior year, finally.
iconoclast_knowitall@reddit
Same, more so decades ago, closed campuses were rare on the west coast.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
That was a privilege only for seniors in good standing
_iusuallydont_@reddit
Ditto
Reddittoxin@reddit
Lol I remember kids in my school being so mad they couldn't leave for lunch, but it was bc there was physically nothing close enough to the school that you would be able to make it to and back in the 20 minutes we had for lunch.
Like only place you could try and hit was the gas station down the road. It was pretty much all retail and an occasional sit down restaurant around the school.
So the school just banned it bc they knew it'd only lead to kids not coming back on time (or at all)
reddits_in_hidden@reddit
Hell, My highschool allows all students to leave during their lunch period if they wanted to since there was a Wendy’s, a subway, and grocery store a pebbles toss away from the school field lol, even gave us little keychains that had student discounts on them
frog980@reddit
Our whole highschool can leave for lunch car or not, DQ, Pizza Hut, a Sandwich shop and a chicken place is all within walking distance.
zimmeli@reddit
My high school had a whole hour for lunch and any grade could leave campus. It was a small school district and a lot of kids would just go home. We had a good thing going for a while where moms of the lunch crew would host and make lunch on different days. As far as I knew that is still the case.
bexy11@reddit
We always left campus for lunch. Of course, this was in 1988-1992, when schools were different.
RequirementIcy7365@reddit
I graduated in 1990, and a lot of students drove to school, yep. I didn't have a car, but I only lived a five-minute walk away, so I didn't need one. We were also allowed to leave for lunch (it was 50 minutes), and in fact there was a McDonald's and an Eckerd's drugstore behind the back parking lot of the high school, so a lot of kids would just walk back there to grab something to eat. The school was right off A1A (the main road along the ocean in Daytona Beach), so there were lots of restaurants and fast food chains within walking distance or a short drive away. Some kids would even cross A1A and go lie on the beach or surf a bit for their lunch break (they'd wear bathing suits under their clothes).
TheMarshmallowFairy@reddit
Only seniors? I went to 6 different high schools and everyone could leave at them, except one school where no one could leave. I never ate at school once I got my license in 10th grade lol.
AttonJRand@reddit
I mean we got to leave campus during lunch too in Germany. Which meant walking in the park and walking to get some food.
ItchyK@reddit
My school had a senior parking lot. If you weren't a senior, you had the park on the side of a road outside of the school. It was cool if you had a friend who was held back a grade or two freshman and sophomore year, because then you could get a ride to school in the morning instead of having to walk.
sassysassysarah@reddit
I was a senior in 2013 and we didn't get open lunch unless you bribed the parking lot attendant/security old man with fries from Whataburger or managed to convince him that you were only going home to get a textbook or project and he'd make you show it to him on the way back. I only lied about that one a couple times lol
Forsythia77@reddit
My high school key anyone leave as long as you were back by the time your lunch period was over. There was an old school pharmacy across the street that we would buy snacks from or that one girl would buy robatussin from in mass quantity. This was in the 90s when anyone could buy any OTC med without any side eye. But most of us would find someone with a car and go to McDonald's or Rally's or Taco Bell.
beachplum01@reddit
We were never allowed to leave for lunch (graduated 2020). To be fair, there are probs 4 places you could get a lunch and come back with time to eat it since everything was a minimum 7 minute drive each way and lunch was 35 minutes? Wouldn’t be a very relaxing lunch period.
alt-number-3-1415926@reddit
My high school let seniors leave to get lunch if they had a car, but I walked/biked to school and they wouldn't let me go to mcdonalds which was a 30 minute round trip and I would be back in time, and I was 18 so I met the other requirement as well.
Mag-NL@reddit
I think it's funny that it is considered a flex that some students are allowed to leave.
I consider it normal that students are free when they do not have class.
bitterbryan@reddit
Only senior high school students could leave? That's wild to me, in 6th grade we were allowed to do whatever we wanted during lunch hour
Quantity-Used@reddit
I’m surprised. The school let 12-year-olds leave campus unsupervised, and then trusted them to come back?
Anon-Knee-Moose@reddit
I was allowed to bike to school with a friend as young as 7 and alone at 9. Now my 6 year old isnt allowed off the school bus unless I'm standing outside. Things have changed.
TrixieLurker@reddit
Different time, I would walk to my friend's house with him every lunch hour in Sixth grade as it was pretty much across the street, never once even got questioned about it.
bitterbryan@reddit
Might be a regional thing. I live in Ontario, Canada. It's standard here once you are out of elementary school (grade 1-5) you have quite a bit of freedom.
Of course if we didn't return after lunch there would be a call to our parents, and if there wasn't a valid reason (illness, etc.) we would receive an in-school suspension
EatLard@reddit
r/askanorthamerican
Particular_Bet_5466@reddit
Idk Cuba and El Salvador are in North America
iconoclast_knowitall@reddit
7th & 8th grade school I went to in California did that, most didn’t, but you could if you wanted.
Decent_Concern8751@reddit
I was allowed to leave starting 4th grade
TheBrownestStain@reddit
Ours did. There were some cheap restaurants and a grocery store well within walking distance, as well as a church that did free lunch every week
WinxieValVal@reddit
My school was weird af and laid back. They just kind of trusted the students who were generally well behaved lol. They was a boy in 8th grade who rode his scooter all the way to pizza hut. He didn't make it back in time to eat it. He brought it to class. He couldn't eat in the chemistry lab tho. So he took his personal pizza to the bathroom and scarfed it down before returning lmao
EatLard@reddit
My elementary school let kids walk home for lunch. I have no idea who thought that was a good idea, but it mostly worked.
SummertimeThrowaway2@reddit
It’s because if they let juniors out too the parking lot would’ve had too much traffic. At the end of the school day it can take like 30 minutes to get out. Nowadays the school was remodeled and a new parking lot was added, so maybe the policy is different idk.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
that was our rule and you had to sign out and back in. You could also only leave if you were in good standing.
FucciMe@reddit
Yep, we just needed a slip signed at the start of the year, 7th grade an up.
Sr year you got parking spots, and could leave campus during any free period.
masoleumofhope@reddit
My high school campus circa 90'-00's didn't have an open campus for lunch unless you had a special event pass. The school used to be an open campus, but that was revoked as a result of the (student) protesting/walkouts during the Vietnam War.
What a way to go.
paradisetossed7@reddit
At my high school we technically weren't allowed to leave at lunch, but a few friends of mine and I would. We got super lucky once... We were walking to one of our cars, our AP English teacher was nearby, and the dean caught us. Badass English teacher asked what the dean's problem was as we were simply helping her get project materials from her car. (That teacher is legendary for so many reasons amongst so many former students.) At husband's school they could leave though.
procrasstinating@reddit
My kids high school is open campus. They can come and go any time. And to the original question lots of kids drive themselves.
dcvo1986@reddit
I think they start letting you leave campus for lunch in most places by late middle school.
corsa180@reddit
In my high school all kids could leave campus for lunch. As soon as we got our driver’s licenses, we were eating off-campus every day.
sluttypidge@reddit
I had off campus lunch from freshman and up. Now in my town it's juniors and seniors only.
Bexar1986@reddit
We were allowed to leave for lunch like every other Thursday our junior year and then every Thursday for senior year. We had to be back by the end of lunch period (like 45 mins, I think) so a LOT of kids sped, which of course, was frowned upon.
What i found hilarious was off campus lunch was allowed, but one day someone brought a condom to school and got a week's detention (Christian school, if it isn't obvious).
UnderCoverDoughnuts@reddit
Really? My school had alarms on the doors that would go off if someone left without permission.
Anyone could walk in to the school without a peep, but heaven forbid a student try to leave.
ApatheticAasimar@reddit
My high school had a completely open campus. You could even walk out in the middle of class. There were still consequences for missing class without an excused absence, but no alarms and no one would try to stop you. If any faculty asked you'd just say you were leaving and that was that.
Subterranean44@reddit
My high school used to let juniors and seniors. Now they let EVERONE 😡
NickU252@reddit
Or... you just go. I remember in 10th grade walking right past the vice principle. He said only senior are allowed to leave campus. I said ok.... nothing ever happened. I used to park my car in the teachers parking lot because the student parking lot was a disaster. If you just don't care, nothing much happens. This was 1998-2000.
Well_ImTrying@reddit
Granted this was in middle school, but when one of the students walked off and then came back, they put the entire school on shut. The kid just didn’t want to be late math class and had grabbed a puffy jacket because it was cold outside. 2003.
NickU252@reddit
I can see that after columbine. We had a few bomb threats, and one day it was freezing and we had to go out to the football bleachers after a bomb threat. It was so cold and windy and I just had on t-shirt because the school couldn't regulate the HVAC system. I eventually said fuck it, and walked to my car and left. No one even stopped me during a police lock down.
EatLard@reddit
We had a bomb threat about a week after the Columbine shooting, and the administration’s genius plan was to heed everyone out onto the football field, surrounded by a tall chain-link fence, in the open, in full view of several rooftops. Good jorb, principal.
Decent_Concern8751@reddit
Found the bad ass
NickU252@reddit
💪
depressed_crustacean@reddit
Crazy, we had a gas station nearby our jr high and every day there’d be people walking to the gas station just getting snacks and walking back.
Well_ImTrying@reddit
We had open campus for high school (at least until someone got stabbed). It was more the blatant disregard for restrictions on leaving campus that triggered the lockdown.
koolaideprived@reddit
Freshmen could leave for lunch when I was in school, and I was driving as a sophomore.
Patrizio_Argento@reddit
Yup, we had open campus we came and went as we pleased lunch + study =1.5 hour lunch. I became quite familiar with the staff at Denny's during the era of 1.99 grand slams. Course this was pre columbine.
LawnJerk@reddit
I hid in the trunk of my girlfriend who was a year older a few times to sneak out for lunch.
We also figured out that the guy checking lunch passes was lazy and would go inside after the seniors had left for lunch so a wave of cars flooded out about 5 minutes into the lunch period.
Penis-Dance@reddit
I went home for a hit of Pepsi for lunches.
NekoMao92@reddit
Those that had the Senior lunch slot were able to leave in my school, we had two lunch slots Freshmen and Senior, otherwise known and lower class men and upper class men lunch.
I was able to go to the McDonald's across the highway during my sophomore year if I felt like splurging.
Even during my upper class men years, I often ate at the cafeteria.
Appropriate_Bat_6489@reddit
My high school let seniors design designated parking spots with like sidewalk chalk, and what not.
Bright-Wrongdoer-227@reddit
Everyone was allowed to leave campus during lunch at my high school…
Red_Sox0905@reddit
There's a school in a small town around here where kids had off campus lunch. Until one day, they went to the Wendy's and two girls decided to go to the bathroom together. One sat on the sink while the other girl did things I don't think we can legally say to her. The sink broke off the wall. They left without telling anyone, the employees didn't know until water was flooding the lobby. They no longer have off campus lunch.
driver004@reddit
I had a shotgun and a rifle in the rack of my truck in high school during various hunting seasons and whenever I wanted to go shooting at the range after school.
Something tells me that shit won’t fly these days
AllAboutTheQueso@reddit
My elementary school let us leave for lunch for 5th & 6th graders
Persis-@reddit
When I was in high school, anyone could leave at lunch
Ill-Lou-Malnati@reddit
We were technically not allowed to leave campus but everyone did anyway.
Persis-@reddit
It annoys me that my kids can’t even leave the building at lunch (not the same school I went to).
I could drive to McDonald’s, but my 18 year old can’t even go outside at lunch.
Zaidswith@reddit
That's a shame. We had the courtyard. A decade before my time it would've been the student smoking area, but we could escape the building.
tn00bz@reddit
My did too until we had a gang fight my freshman year lol
SaveMarioIncandenza@reddit
Why wouldn’t they be allowed out at lunch?
LonesomeBulldog@reddit
I grew up in a small town and we could go off campus starting in 6th grade. We all went to Pizza Hut for the 99 cent personal pizza (late 80s) and a couple of games of Donkey Kong and Elevator Action.
Kein-Deutsc@reddit
I could leave basically whenever I wanted. I didn’t skip class much but I had some chill teachers who kinda let me do whatever. I’ve had times where I actually needed to leave school for other reasons and I was never stopped. The few times I did skip a class was easy too. Could walk right through the front door, past staff and admins without them giving you a second look.
BallisticThundr@reddit
My high school didn't but that didn't stop us from doing it anyways lol
IdentityCrisis87@reddit
We had senior parking at our school, anyone else student wise that was able to drive, but not a senior, had to park on the street.
Ill-Delivery2692@reddit
We had a smoking room in the HS cafeteria for seniors. The was open gambling at cards there.
Ill-Lou-Malnati@reddit
My daughter had to pay (which, of course, means I had to pay lol) for a parking pass Junior year. Senior year was free but you still needed a pass.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
most schools have passes - i had one but never had to pay
slantedsc@reddit
we had a two tiered lot system. the senior lot, which was close and small but convenient as fuck, and the bitch better luck next time lot, which was bigger but far as fuck. you had to have a special pass to park in either lot, but there was no guarantee there would be any spots in the senior lot left by the time you got to school. I was chronically late and ended up parking in “the stump spot” in the senior lot like most days— (a spot with a small tree stump where they had chopped down a tree) and just said fuck it to my undercarriage.
jokes on me cuz like a semester into college, that undercarriage was falling off and scraping against the ground loud as fuck everywhere I went and I had to get it removed. but hey, at least I wasn’t late for first period calculus in HS?
anotherdamnscorpio@reddit
I wasnt able to leave during lunch because shortly before I went there some kids left and got killed doing dumb shit driving recklessly.
aquay@reddit
my h.s. wouldn't let us leave until we turned 18. i had to show my id everytime i left the campus.
2Slow2Nice@reddit
My high school didn’t “allow us” to leave for lunch. We left to get lunch daily despite the security cameras and a gated parking lot (that was conveniently never locked)
depressed_crustacean@reddit
Fire/Emergency hazard to lock people in
SuperPomegranate7933@reddit
Same. My senior year was 2 classes & a bunch of study halls. I went to school for like 6 hours a week.
jessek@reddit
We had an open campus policy for everyone at mine.
Reddittoxin@reddit
Yeah, very common, or at least it was in my day. I think the rate of teen drivers is going down a little, as the wealth inequality is making it increasingly more difficult for families to afford the "extra" car(s) for their teen drivers, but citation needed on that.
In my school growing up in the 2010s, there were reserved lots for student parking. Only juniors and seniors could apply for parking passes, with seniors getting priority, and not everyone who wanted one got one. (Though, you did have to be kinda unlucky to not get one. There wasn't that many more kids wanting a spot than they had to give lol)
But yeah. I pretty much never rode the bus in high school, bc my older sister drove me the 1st 2 years and then I got my own license/car/pass for the remaining 2 lol.
However, parent drop off is a new thing to me. Idk if it was just where I grew up, or the time I grew up, but almost nobody got taken to school via parent. You took the bus or got a ride with another student. There were never these long lines to pick up and drop off kids like I see today.
Wrong_Buyer_1079@reddit
Yeah, it's ridiculous. There was once a bond issue to build a parking structure for student parking where I lived at the time. I know there's a school bus that takes these kids to school. Use it.
china-blast@reddit
I live in a more rural area. There is a day where students drive their tractors to school. Its also not uncommon in the winter to see a line of snowmobiles out front of the school.
brown_polyester@reddit
Did your school also do a tractor parade where they announce over the intercom whoa driving what make and model of the tractor?
ohrofl@reddit
We had a huge parking lot, but one strip was gravel, by the football field. This was just a couple hundred feet from the back entrance.
We called this redneck row. All the country boys would park their jacked up trucks there. They looked so dumb lmfao.
bobweirstelecaster2@reddit
And they had friends to do it with and you’re still posting about it on Reddit!
ohrofl@reddit
I’m literally in my buddies guest room about to hit the hay because we head out on his bachelor trip tomorrow. Lmfao weirdo.
Did I hurt your feefees with my redneck comment. Oh no! Whatever will I do?
Groundbreaking-Camel@reddit
Also from North Carolina. Also had a row for pickups. Also called it redneck row.
Different school than yours because the gravel description doesn’t fit.
sharpshooter999@reddit
That was a day during FFA week
writtenword24@reddit
My HS did this too - and they still do! It was always funny seeing the kids in town drive in with their lawnmower.
Groundbreaking-Camel@reddit
I teach drivers education in an upper class suburb. I love telling my students about “drive your tractor to school day” growing up.
meenadu@reddit
Yes.
ehrenzoner@reddit
Every state, city, and school district will vary, so take all of these answers with a grain of salt.
In most states, the legal driving age is 16. But many states have a "graduated drivers license", where newly licensed drivers face restrictions on when they can drive and who can be passengers. For example, my state (Oregon) doesn't allow new drivers to drive at night unless to or from school, and they can't drive with non-family passengers in the car younger than a certain age. This restriction generally eases after a year.
Another thing to note is that urban high schools sometimes don't have student parking lots (my daughter's high school doesn't), so students must park in the neighborhood near the school if they drive.
languagelover17@reddit
Absolutely common!
slp-1@reddit
yes and there is dedicated student parking lots/spots!
Fun_Mastodon3230@reddit
Yes it’s a common thing for juniors and seniors to do. however, many students also walk or take a bus or are driven by a friend or family member.
vismaypikachu@reddit
We don’t have buses for high school. For senior year I drove. The previous years I was dropped off
Designer-Throat9666@reddit
Yes it’s pretty common for juniors and seniors. I often picked up and dropped off some of my friends who didn’t have cars
LHCThor@reddit
Yes, very common
JerkOffToTitties@reddit
at least at my high school, it was weird if you were over 16 and didn't
Open-Neighborhood459@reddit
Really?
Harris505@reddit
Very common. My children drove themselves to school when they got licenses at 15.
genxer@reddit
Super common, I started driving to school at 16.
gadgetinspectore@reddit
Yes I drove myself to school my senior year
hobbes747@reddit
You should see the car models in the student lot at private schools like Pingry in New Jersey or the private schools around Princeton $$$$$
VioletJackalope@reddit
Yep, my high school even had separate underclassmen (10th/11th grade when students typically reach the age to get a license) and senior (12th grade) parking lots on either side of the building. Seniors were allowed to paint and decorate their assigned spot at the beginning of the year. I drove myself and a few friends who didn’t have cars to and from school for most of 12th grade.
snark_quark789@reddit
Yes, I graduated in 1977 and drove myself to school
Tristinmathemusician@reddit
For the two most senior classes, yes.
We had an absolutely massive parking lot for that reason.
Unfortunately I didn’t get my license until about three months prior to graduating so I didn’t really take advantage of it for too long.
Dense_Amphibian_9595@reddit
Yep. But only usually for late year 10 students and also 11 - 12 years. As far as “their own cars”, meh - sometimes it’s their parents’ car they drive. Sometimes they just get a ride with a friend. Nobody in year 11 or 12 wants to be on the bus
Speonkun@reddit
Depends on area, just because you can doesn’t mean most do I remember a lot of people including myself never rode to school because it was just too expensive or not necessary. I mean they have a bus system for this exact purpose why waste the money on gas to go somewhere I dislike
moonfazewicca@reddit
Yes. At my high school we had our own parking lot with assigned parking spots. They had 1 day right before school started where everyone would go to the front office and claim their spot for the year, first come first serve with seniors getting first choice
I thought I was so cool for showing up early to claim spot 69 (I was a virgin)
BaseClean@reddit
The 69 thing 🤣 💀
BaseClean@reddit
I think it depends heavily on where you live. Definitely not in NYC for example. Places where cars are the default then most likely yes (and then it often just depends on whether or not they can afford it).
Jbooxie@reddit
Yeah, they even get their own parking spots. I remember me and my friends used to all park next to eachother to we could walk into school together.
ancj9418@reddit
Yes. Maybe not in super urban areas, but certainly in suburban and rural areas.
Pale_Row1166@reddit
NYC checking in, it was not common but some kids at my school did drive in from far flung parts of boroughs. Most of us walked or took the city bus or the subway.
CamelFeenger@reddit
Right, our local high school doesn’t have a parking lot. Street parking could be a nightmare so I don’t imagine any kids would drive vs walking or taking the local bus.
PsychologicalAir8643@reddit
Very common in my hometown of Los Angeles
maceilean@reddit
The vast, vast majority of kids 16+ at my HS (Hamilton) didn't drive.
priscosaurus@reddit
Really? What high school did you go to?
Current-Photo2857@reddit
When I taught at an impoverished urban high school, the majority of my students were too poor to afford a car. The district was also too poor to afford yellow school bus routes for all the schools. So they made a deal with the city’s public transportation. They built a public bus stop right in front of the school and all the students received free bus passes. The passes were intended to get the kids to and from school, but they were also able to use them outside of school time to take the busses to other places.
Sudo_Incognito@reddit
Super urban area HS teacher but in a Midwestern car friendly city - we have drivers, walkers, public transit, parent/sibling/carpool pickup, cabs, Uber, school bus, bikes, lime scooter - you name it. If a kid has a car they drive to school (and fill their car with siblings or friends). Unlike in suburban or rural schools they don't have to keep up a GPA requirement for a parking pass - it's street parking for all. There is a small staff lot, but it's not even half enough parking for the employees so most of us are figuring it out there parallel parking and better not be in the bus lane or you will get towed. Luckily the kids all get to school late so there is still plenty of close parking when I get to work.
ancj9418@reddit
I’ve never heard of a GPA requirement for a parking pass. They’re available to any students at schools in my area.
NecessaryPopular1@reddit
That’s correct, there’s more independence in large urban centers.
ancj9418@reddit
It’s more that fewer people drive to school or drive often at all, not about independence.
NecessaryPopular1@reddit
Independence in the sense of not being constrained. Freedom to choose because there are more options in large urban centers.
Disastrous-Nail-640@reddit
Yes.
My daughter is 20 now. She just told me a few months ago that once she had her license, she drove to school…we live 3-4 blocks away from the school. 🤦♀️
Morning-noodles@reddit
What do you mean you just found out your daughter drove to school? Are you non custodial? How do you not notice the car being gone every day? Even if your shift started early and ran late at work, you should have noticed all her books etc loving in the car.
hailcourthulhu@reddit
Yeah, I thought that comment was weird also.
Disastrous-Nail-640@reddit
I left for work before her and she had a car. How is that hard to figure out?
I thought she walked since it was literally just down the street.
hailcourthulhu@reddit
For the entire time she was driving back and forth to school? That's weird to not notice.
Disastrous-Nail-640@reddit
How would I have noticed? She left after me and was home before me. And she was damn near 17 when she got her license.
She danced several nights a week (which is why she had a car), so needing gas wouldn’t be a surprising thing (not to mention that a couple blocks isn’t going to be all that noticeable in terms of gas).
And I don’t drive her car. While it’s legally nine, I have another vehicle that I use on daily basis.
I’m not sure why you think I would have noticed.
Either you don’t understand teens or you don’t understand that people have jobs and aren’t home watching their teen 24/7. 🙄
Pulp501@reddit
It's weird you didn't have a single day you stayed home or it was never mentioned....it's very odd
Disastrous-Nail-640@reddit
If I stayed home, then I was in bed when she left.
I find it more odd that you find it odd. It was one school year. 🙄
wmp8@reddit
I drove to school even though I could see the school from my bedroom window. But I had privileged parking, was always running late, and left to go work after lunch so it was easier to have the car there.
Disastrous-Nail-640@reddit
I just shook my head and laughed when she told me because we can see the school from our sidewalk as well. It’s literally in the same road. lol
3catlove@reddit
My son is 15 and just got his school permit. We live less than 1/2 mile from school. If he ever drives and I end up needing the car, I can just walk a few blocks and get it. 😂
gottarun215@reddit
Probably less common in the inner city, but very common at suburban schools for upper classmen. My parents wanted me to drive myself most days once I got my license because then they didn't have to drive 20 min each way after school at whatever random time my cross country/track practice ended to come pick me up since we didn't have busses for going home from after school activities.
Kenneth37042@reddit
1968-70 Chicago suburb in Dupage County, I didn't live on a school bus route, so I mostly walked, about a mile. I didn't have my own car, but on some days when my mother didn't intend to use her car, I could drive that car to school. I'm sure that I would have needed a rationale for driving on any given day, and I cannot remember what those rationales might have been, other than I had a PT job until 10:30 pm after school on some days (again, 1 mile from school) and maybe that was the justification. Otherwise, I walked to the job and a parent picked me up at closing time.
kay_bryberry@reddit
Yes it’s normal. Parents usually buy their kids their first car.
KindraTheElfOrc@reddit
only the junior and senors at my school
Away-Cicada@reddit
Yeah. We actually had a student parking lot at my high school.
DanDamage12@reddit
I graduated in 2006. Yes I drove myself to school everyday after I got a license and a car. I was also an athlete so I would go in early and stay late for practice/conditioning. My school had a senior, junior, and overflow student parking lots.
thurstonrando@reddit
Yes but when I was in high school they limited it to just the seniors and juniors to cut down on traffic. But it was considered “uncool” if you took the bus so sophomore students would always hitch a ride with their older friends.
Foreign_Mobile_7399@reddit
At my school only seniors were allowed to have a parking pass. I think a lot of us as juniors used to park in a nearby neighborhood and walk. But, yeah, super common!
normiepitbullmom@reddit
If there is parking available. I used to see there were no spots and just leave. I ended up getting my GED lmao.
WhiskeyAndWhiskey97@reddit
Oh yes.
At my HS, seniors could park on campus, and no senior would be caught dead on the cheese wagon. Senior boys who had junior girlfriends usually picked up their girlfriends and drove them to school. (Seldom did a senior girl have a junior boyfriend.)
My parents worked across the street from each other, so they took one car, leaving my mother’s car at my disposal. Zoom zoom.
PuzzleheadedLemon353@reddit
Yes...big parking lots around the school.
Standard-Analyst-181@reddit
Is it not common where you're from?
Intelligent_Chef9950@reddit (OP)
In my country, you can't get a driver's license until you're 18, so it's especially rare
linkxrust@reddit
Yes, very. Had my own car at 16. And drove to school everyday. Where are you from?
Intelligent_Chef9950@reddit (OP)
China, since we can't get a driver's license until we're 18, I was surprised to see American high school students driving to school
-ASkyWalker-@reddit
Why, is it not common in other parts of the world? Because that’s just wild to me.
Intelligent_Chef9950@reddit (OP)
It's true that it's not common because we can't get a license until we're 18 years old
turdferguson3891@reddit
Other parts of the world that have decent public transit even many adults don't have cars.
Anesthesia222@reddit
A huge amount of the world’s population relies entirely on bicycles and/or public transportation, even in the countryside.
DepthPuzzleheaded494@reddit
Not where I’m from, everyone either walked, our took public transit. Or if you were lucky got dropped off by a parent
princessglitterbutt@reddit
Yupp. My hs even explicitly didn’t let driving to school. Probably so the students wouldn’t take up spots that teachers needed lol.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
So which was most common? Walking, using PT, or being chauffeured?
DepthPuzzleheaded494@reddit
It really depends how close you live to your school. Normally I’d take the city bus to and depending on the weather and who I saw when I got out I’d walk home.
Beruthiel999@reddit
Aaaahhh but that's New York City though. Very different world from rural areas that are widely scattered and have no public transit whatsoever.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
There are only a handful of cities in the world that have reliable public transit like New York. And New York’s public transit doesn’t even rank in the top five.
SL13377@reddit
Yeah. My daughter ( 11th grade) is driven around by her friends all the time
NecessaryLight2815@reddit
The day I turned 16, got my drivers license in the old jalopy my parents had handed me down, and drove myself back to school. And promptly hit a curb.
ancientastronaut2@reddit
Yep. In the densely populated suburbia I grew up in, there wasn't even school busses except for field trips and such. Everyone walked to school, got rides from their parents, or drove themselves in high school. Or an older sibling might drive you.
NaturGirl@reddit
yes, and in the state my daughter goes to high school in they aren't allowed to drive anyone else in the car with them for the first 6 months after they get their license. So, almost half the students who can drive and drive themselves are usually alone in their cars too. Unless they drive a younger sibling.
Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit
Yes. We can get a license at 16 so it is common to drive to school for the last year or two.
devilscabinet@reddit
It was the norm when I was in high school, in the early 80s. These days a lot of teens put off getting their drivers licenses, so it is probably not quite as common as it used to be.
Sylent09@reddit
It was more so in the late 90's early 2000's. It's still pretty common now, but less so. Back then if you didn't have a car at 16 you were nobody, and bullied pretty hard. At least that's how it was where I grew up
mazz2286@reddit
In the finest automobiles $600 can buy.
redjessa@reddit
It used to be. Everybody I know that currently has driving age teens still drive them everywhere because these kids don't want to get their licenses. Literally all of them.
AdAutomatic6654@reddit
If you can afford a car and get your license then yes. It seems to be a bit less common today but through the 90s turning 16 and getting your first car was seen as a right of passage.
Syntinena@reddit
Most juniors and seniors at my high school did, but my younger brother chose to take the bus because he was nervous having his nice car in a parking lot that a bunch of other teenagers were parking in. That was probably a smart decision.
sentient_fence@reddit
I would say no, because oftentimes students and their families can't afford that. Rather, they might have one friend who was lucky enough to get a car and they might carpool with four or five other people.
Discount_Plumber@reddit
Pretty common for kids to drive themselves to school here. I live in the same district I went to school at, and the population are far more than it was then. While there are more kids driving to school I'd also say it's a bit lower percentage than what used to. Biggest factor being less getting their driver's license. It was rare for anyone here to not get one as soon as they could, but now many wait until they're 18. Most likely because the state changed driver's training requiring two separate class room sessions, and that the school district stopped providing it.
Rare_Independent_814@reddit
Yes.y parents even let me drive on my learns permit on days I had physical therapy
SummerN8@reddit
It’s common for seniors (students in their last year of school). However, not all of them drive as not every family can afford a car and schools normally only have enough parking spaces for like 20% of the senior class. A few juniors also drive, but may face restrictions as schools have to accommodate seniors first.
cans-of-swine@reddit
We didn't have to pay for parking permits and most people drove from sophomore year on.
SummerN8@reddit
Maybe your school had a bigger campus or not as many students. We had over 2,400 students at my high school. If everybody drove and tried to park there, there wouldn’t be enough spaces available.
cans-of-swine@reddit
Small school, under 500 students.
DominantCamera56@reddit
My high school in Houston has a 1000 car parking lot for students. Most Juniors and seniors drove. This was in the 70s.
mattcmoore@reddit
Super common. I lived about 10 miles from my high school and while there was a school bus, the bus stop was about 2 miles away. I was so stoked my junior year when I could sleep in that extra 30 minutes and drive myself to school.
Ok_Ant_2930@reddit
It's not common. Public transportation or parents dropping them off.
Unsolven@reddit
It’s true. And I have SO many parking tickets as evidence.
The one unrealistic thing from my experience is the school has a nice big parking lot.
HeyPurityItsMeAgain@reddit
Yes.
Suedeonquaaludes@reddit
I got my drivers license the day I turned 15. I lived two blocks from my high school. I drove almost every day. But I would pick up friends. I had a 1975 GMC jimmy with a removable top and a roll bar. My dad was an engineer and built an amp and speakers in it. And put in an 8 track. You could hear me a mile away blasting the Carpenters or Mamas and the Papas. And other things. ABBA. Village people. I was very popular my last two years of high school lmao
Benchod12077@reddit
Yes I did it my junior and senior year
Antitenant@reddit
Common, but also depends on where you live. In New York City, for example, most aren't old enough to drive and the high schools probably don't have anywhere near enough parking for that anyway.
huz92@reddit
I remember a friend of mine got his car privileges revoked by the school so he just started parking in a different lot two blocks from the school.
Winter-eyed@reddit
Juniors and Seniors
Full-Associate-2822@reddit
Pretty common. Outside of a handful of cities, most of our mass transit sucks or isn't really a reasonable option for high schoolers. The high school in the district I live in has ZERO bussing (like the yellow school buses, there's the Metro buses but again, they suck and it's not like they stop AT the school) but the district covers a large area. Anyone with a car who can get a parking pass does-there are usually more kids with cars than parking passes available so kids will ride together or park on neighborhood side streets and walk across.
Riding the yellow school buses is usually for kids who live 2 or more miles from their neighborhood elementary and middle schools, and the way our district is laid out,the majority of the kids live within 2 miles of their school. But no one wants 7 year olds walking 2 miles to and from school, so dropoff and dismissal times are always a clusterfuck with traffic congestion. The last year I did elementary school pickup, the school had 900 kids in it and the majority of them needed rides. This is my last year doing middle school pickup. I park at a bank across the street and the kid walks to me. Next year she'll ride to school with her brother (who has been driving since sophomore year and will be a senior) but I'll have to pick her up most days since he has after-school sports. If you arrive about 25 minutes before dismissal, finding a spot to park on a side street close by isn't hard and then you just share your location so the kid knows how far to walk.
Similar-Search-8508@reddit
Yes, we did
Njaala@reddit
I did, and dropped my brother off at the middle school on the way. Fridays we would get doughnuts.
It is, or at least was, extremely common in rural areas.
Milehighjoe12@reddit
Yes for the 16 and up kids especially in rural areas
Beginning_Box4615@reddit
It is where I live. No public transportation and lots of high school kids have jobs that keep them from riding a school bus
Ozone220@reddit
yes. Once you get a license that's typically what you start doing. At my school almost all juniors and seniors do, and then they can also leave school for lunch independently
StripedSocksMan@reddit
Yep…pretty common. I lived in a wealthy area, the students had nicer cars than the teachers. I had one friend that drove a brand new Ferrari F355 but most of the cars were Mercedes, BMWs and Lexus.
Beverly_Crusher_2324@reddit
Yes, for 11th & 12th graders. We got to leave during lunch. Seniors got to park in the school lot. Juniors parked in a “pay lot” across the street. For a “senior prank” the class of 2005 decided to park in the “pay lot” the day before homecoming. It resulted in lots of tardy juniors, with some students not being able to attend the homecoming dance. Class of 2005 were menaces. My graduating class planted a tree on the 50 yard line 😂 for our “senior prank.”
timwtingle@reddit
Yes and many have jobs to go to after school.
flatpipes@reddit
Yes, where I’m at sophomores and older can park on campus. Freshman that can drive park off campus. All grades leave campus for lunch if they choose
nauticalfiesta@reddit
I did, we would car pool because the parking permit for the good lot wasn't cheap.
Gallahadion@reddit
Several of the kids at my high school drove themselves once they were old enough to drive. Others (myself included) got rides from family members. Very few took the bus.
DivaJanelle@reddit
Early 2000s. High school in Chicago suburbs didn’t have enough parking for all the students who wanted to drive so they’d park in the neighborhood. They’d have to get there stupid early so students started tailgating. Grills, coolers and breakfasts.
Bongman31@reddit
In rich neighborhoods yes
qqanyjuan@reddit
No never
Duque_de_Osuna@reddit
I did in Junior and Senior year
MMARapFooty@reddit
If they are Sophomores,Juniors and Seniors(10th-12th grade) many of driving themselves back to house and school
Watcher0011@reddit
When I graduated in the late 90s it was pretty normal. Now it’s hit or miss, a lot of younger people are more hesitant to drive and wait a few years before starting, but some still do
JumpingJonquils@reddit
I had the choice between a two hour bus ride or a twenty minute drive. I would have been stupid to pick the bus.
imstillapenguin@reddit
Yes
bexy11@reddit
I did. I drove my grandma’s car because she was no longer able to drive due to Alzheimer’s.
We didn’t have buses and everyone lived within a mile of the school but for some reason, I drove. Could have walked.
ssgtdunno@reddit
If they have enough parking! At my school, seniors had a special section closest to the school. By that point parents are tired of bringing you everywhere anyway 😆
the_myleg_fish@reddit
I must have grown up in a very different place compared to everybody else because I lived in a poorer area where not every family had an extra car available for their kid to use so walking, taking the bus, or being dropped off was still common. I got my license at 17 but both of my parents needed the 2 cars we had so I was dropped off and picked up every day.
unexplained_fires@reddit
This was my experience in a mostly working class area too.
currymuttonpizza@reddit
If the parents can afford the car, yes. Lots of comments here assuming that's the case for everyone. I did not get a car until after my undergrad. Until then I borrowed my parents' car (which meant I still had to be dropped off at school if they wanted their car for the day, so it was borrowed for things like going out with friends) and during undergrad I lived in a walkable city and did not need a car.
unexplained_fires@reddit
Same, I got a 15 year old beater as a college graduation present (and I cherished that car!). In my high school, which had a lot of poor and working class students, it wasn't unusual for a kid to not have a car even as a senior.
seejaypee@reddit
This question assumes that there is a definition of Common that applies to America as a whole. Any big city- its going to be fairly uncommon. There are families that dont even own cars, and if they do, they are for weekend grocery shopping and getting out of the city. Massive traffic jams, little to no parking- unless its pay to park which (plus the cost of fuel) brings socioeconomic factors into play. Near-suburbs- you still have a ton of income variability, and lots of families can’t afford extra cars for kids. Suburbs you’ll probably see the most- stripmall school parks have much more parking available, traffic volume is less dense, and socioeconomic situation is often such that families have the money to buy, or help buy an extra car for a kid. Plus insurance. Rural I think it varies a lot. The distances to a school could make a bus route pretty long. Farm kids I knew were always driving in genera before the city kids. Extra vehicles could also help with work on the weekends etc.
So… like most questions about what’s Typical in america- it often depends on which america you look at :)
spaltavian@reddit
Yes. Drove myself everyday as a Junior and Senior.
Sataypufft@reddit
My oldest drove to school every day as a Sr. They got done with classes at 1pm two days a week so they just drove home then instead of having to sit in the school waiting for the buses to run in a few hours.
DeeDeeW1313@reddit
Yes the day I got my license
Bradadonasaurus@reddit
That was the biggest motivator to get a car and drive. Screw taking the bus.
Terrible-Image9368@reddit
Yes. Very common for 10th grade and up
ash_274@reddit
Yes. I drive and picked up my friends and they split the gas costs
Illustrious_Code_347@reddit
Yes extremely. Once I got my permit then license, age 16, I got my mom’s old car, she got a new car, and I was driving everywhere from then on, including school. This would’ve been my last 2.5 years of high school. By senior year (last year in high school) the vast majority of students had cars. This was in the 00s-10s not that long ago.
Driving was a huge part of teen culture in general. We drove everywhere. Sometimes we’d just drive around, not even have any particular destination in mind. We’d listen to music and smoke and all kinds of stuff.
JessicaRabbit1203@reddit
Yes best part of senior year was getting your own parking spot. Assigned sports were assigned via a lottery.
baddeafboy@reddit
Yes i have drove to school myself
Afferoletum@reddit
We had too little parking and too many kids so you could only drive every other day as a senior.
Shoddy_Bet9619@reddit
Not only common, I started driving to HS when I was 15, in 9th grade. No license yet. So did a bunch of my friends!
Number-2-Sis@reddit
I'd say about 10% of high school kids actually drive themselves to school.
r2d3x9@reddit
In the 70s early 80s it was quite common. Problem was not enough parking for all the student cars!!! Today I think it is too expensive
AgHammer@reddit
Yeah. Economic conditions have changed a lot since the 70s and the 80s, and this is a clear sign of harder times today. Wealthy kids drive to school, but that's not representative of all students by a long shot.
Ok_Still_3571@reddit
We had an open campus in a dense urban area with virtually no parking (many of the teachers would ride a bike, or just walk). So, no cars. Not that we needed them. Public transit, both trains and buses, were close by, and the city was walkable enough that you could walk, arriving in about 20-30 minutes.
Shabbadoo1015@reddit
It’s common depending on where you live and what your social economic status is.
AgHammer@reddit
It used to be more common than it is today considering that driver's education used to be offered in the schools for free. It was a class that could be taken during the school day. Now it is something parents have to pay for themselves and take time out of their work days to arrange. Cars and vehicle insurance are also more expensive than they used to be, adding financial considerations to their decisions. Also, we live with higher levels of generalilzed fear than we used to due to social media and sensationalized news stories. Because many parents are fearful for their childrens' safety they have more motivation to delay driver's training for their kids. There are a lot more parents waiting until their children turn 18 before helping them to get a drivers license. My own kids didn't have as much motivation to drive as I did when I was their age, so both of them were 18 when they started driving.
Adorable-Award-2975@reddit
In the suburbs and rural areas yes
Wonderful_Shower_793@reddit
Less common than when I was in school, because a lot of Gen Z is delaying or opting out of learning to drive, but still common enough to be normal.
Expert_Blacksmith261@reddit
Back in 1974-1976 I drove to high school and back daily… I didn’t think it was uncommon
ClumsyRaccoonPants@reddit
As soon as I got my license at 16 I started driving to school.
No-Professional-9618@reddit
It just depends. At least when I was in high school many years ago, students would drive to school. But I had attended a lower/middle class high school.
Yet, with the cost of living and inflation some students seem to rely on school transportation.
Soft_Analyst_9081@reddit
yes, has been as long as I can remember (back to late 1980s). One of my friends taught high school in Flo-Rida and said the students usually have nicer cars than the teachers even.
txlady100@reddit
Yes.
alwaysboopthesnoot@reddit
Some do, but ours didn’t. I didn’t. My husband did. Some of our neighbors’ kids, did.
Where we recently moved to, most kids walk or bike to their schools. Adults often walk or bike to work. The kids in college will usually take the train or carpool vs. driving solo, as those schools are father away, .
ostiarius@reddit
Not everywhere. My high school had no parking lot and most kids didn’t drive. But overall, yeah.
HeySandyStrange@reddit
Depends; some kids will have cars and will drive themselves, but plenty do not.
bowhunterb119@reddit
This. At my school the rich kids had nice cars, a bunch of kids had hand the hand me down family car, some had absolutely clapped out beaters, but a huge chunk of kids including me just didn’t have one because our parents couldn’t afford or didn’t trust us with a car. If I wanted to go anywhere I had to ask a friend with a car to take me.
tigglypuf@reddit
It’s becoming less common in my area. I have two kids in college and when they were in high school, the student parking lot was always packed. I have one who’s a freshman now and the student lot isn’t even half full. But we also live in a very small town where they could easily walk everywhere. They don’t, but they could.
Ace-Redditor@reddit
This! It's not, like, out of the ordinary to see one of the older HS students driving themselves to school, but it isn't out of the ordinary for them to just take the school bus still. Neither one is really that much more common, and neither is looked down on, generally
bobweirstelecaster2@reddit
You did not grow up anywhere rural
Ace-Redditor@reddit
I did indeed lol
My first high school was out in the middle of nowhere, Midwest. Most of the school was either trailer park kids or farm kids, and a few small neighborhoods in the general area (I think only one was within five minutes)
Cardinal101@reddit
It’s true. As soon as I got my license, I started driving myself to school. Much better than taking the bus. Mind you, it wasn’t “my” car, but rather my parents’ extra car, that they let me drive when I asked.
blipsman@reddit
Yes, since most Americans get license at 16 which is typically sophomore or junior year. Depends on amount of parking available at the school which students can get access... for example, my high school only seniors were guaranteed spots. Juniors could get a pass if on a varsity sport or leadership position in other extracurricular activity. I had one junior years as a yearbook section editor.
Hoopajoops@reddit
As soon as we get our drivers license! I bought a shitty car for like $500
Greyface13@reddit
I took a bus or walked to all my schools, other than work trainings
SkyerKayJay1958@reddit
Yes. If you live in the suburbs and rural areas. Once someone in your friend group gets their driver's license, it's expected they will drive themselves and their careless friends to school. Parking lots at high schools are the size of malls. In wealthy suburbs, the parking lot will equal the number of students and staff
Funniestfrog528@reddit
Oh yeah. Usually the ones who drive themselves to school have their own cars. I myself would like to do that, but I’d rather save my money for when I’m and adult
Ivy7424@reddit
Very common. I had a car the last 3 years of high school and I picked up friends on the way. Where I live it wasn’t super uncommon to get your license at 15, which was my sophomore year.
Illustrious-Art-7465@reddit
Yes, at my high school (about 2500 students) enough people drove themselves that we had to use a park across the street for parking and walk over
First_Intention1734@reddit
This may blow your mind… We live too close to our high school for the bus to come get our kids, so they have to drive.
Emotional_Cause_5031@reddit
It really depends on the community. When I grew up it was pretty common (though definitely not everyone.) I didn’t have my own car in high school, so even though I had my license, I couldn’t just take one of my parents cars for the day. Other students were in the same position as me.
I’ve worked in a few high schools in a small to midsized city and it’s very different, mostly because of economic differences. The school I’m currently had has a handful of students that drive to school, and often will bring a few friends with them. But majority are still taking the bus (school or city) or getting a ride from their parents. At the last school I was at, many of the the parents didn’t own a car, let alone their teenager. There was also barely enough parking for the teachers.
Dianag519@reddit
Depends where you live. It’s more common in the areas that are spread out and school is far away. In my town they walk to school or take the school bus. I tried driving to school once when I was a teen and parking was a nightmare. It was easier to walk.
greetcloud@reddit
It's common. Not every student has a car though. I didn't. I rode a school bus to and from school.
McFlyyouBojo@reddit
Yes. My school only allowed seniors to pay for a spot on campus. Everyone else drove to a nearby parking lot at a park if they wanted. Many still rode the bus, I just walked because I lived right next to that park and it would literally take me longer to get in my car and drive to the parking lot at the park and then walk to school than it was to just walk in the first place.
animeistheog@reddit
Yep and you are sort of weird if you can’t drive or don’t have a car to drive to school, especially as a junior or senior. At my school, there are a surprising amount of sophomores who drive themselves. Almost everyone I know as a junior and pretty much every senior drives themselves to school.
Cold-Channel-5341@reddit
Yes it is at schools near me usually only for seniors but juniors often park at unofficial parking or friends houses near by
Ok_Dog_748@reddit
When I was a kid yes. Now not so much
Better_Tomato_4288@reddit
Once I got my license I wouldn’t even consider another way of getting to school.
More-Worldliness-698@reddit
I think income / class is a big part of this
Maiace124@reddit
Yes.
give_me_goats@reddit
When I was in high school in the early 2000s, it was very common. Nowadays it seems to be a little less so.
TheMarshmallowFairy@reddit
Yes. Not every student has their own car or a family car to use, but very many do. I was expected to work at 16 and drive my younger sibling around, so my parents bought me an older than me but functional car.
RobotShlomo@reddit
Where I lived, no. We either used the city bus, the yellow school bus or someone gave us a ride.
WatermelonRindPickle@reddit
Yes. Our oldest child had after school job junior and senior years, so when school ended student drove straight to their job.
dobbydisneyfan@reddit
Heavily depends on the area. And I think it’s becoming a lot more common these days for kids to put off learning to drive til later. When I graduated high school only 13 years ago, lot of kids of driving age still weren’t driving yet.
Due-Emu-4291@reddit
Quite a few; not all, but a considerable number.
It's also becoming more common for teens to have their own cars rather than driving the "family car."
In the U.S. the minimum driving age is generally about 16. That's one of the reasons why the legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21 - to keep alcohol out of the high schools.
jiminak@reddit
Hmm. I would have said the opposite, about it “becoming more common”. When I was a teen in the 80s, everyone I knew had their own car. Of course, you could buy one back then with just a lawn mowing job or other part time work. It seems these days that more and more kids drive the family car than we did “back when”.
Mystical-Turtles@reddit
Freaking same. I'm seeing it become more common for teens to just wait until they're 18, partially because vehicle prices have exploded, and partially because insurance wants $300 a freaking month to add a teen. That is not a joke by the way. that was an actual quote
jiminak@reddit
Oh, I know. My daughter is 19, and our insurance went up $200-something/mo just to add her as a driver, and then up another $200 something when she got her own car. Between covering her car payment, insurance, and gas, she’s close to $1000/mo. I don’t think I reached a total of $1000 on insurance/fuel for a couple of years. Of course, I paid $850 cash for the vehicle and just gas whatever minimum insurance was. But a $5 bill would get me to the next town and back on gas.
Mystical-Turtles@reddit
Gosh it's so ridiculous isn't it? But really, this is why I kind of get defensive whenever people are like "Hurr durr durr, kids don't want to learn how to drive these days".
Okay, you got $500 for the mandatory driving class? Yes, my state requires driving classes to get a license If you're under 18. You cannot learn from your parents, you HAVE to take the class or no permit for you. Schools do not offer it for free anymore, You have to go out of your way to pay. Then another $4,000 for a vehicle because that's what shit boxes go for in my area. (I live in the rust belt, this is where used cars go to die. The used car market is absolutely fucked here. I believe that you paid $850 for yours, was just giving a comparison)
And then on top of that the above mentioned insurance? No? Shut up. Teen jobs don't even cover the cost of this shit now. Your parents have to help you out! And if they can't or, god forbid, WON'T? Well sucks to suck I guess you're waiting. "Don't want to" my ass... I was 20 when I got my license.
Untamedpancake@reddit
Yeah, you could buy a decent used car for $1000 in the 90s
dapperlonglegs@reddit
Growing up, you would take the bus until you were old enough to drive (or get driven by parents before that), and then you’d enter a raffle for a parking spot and get one based on your graduation date.
Left-Star2240@reddit
There was one friend in our group whose parents had given her their old car. She’d pick us up and we’d pay for gas. I usually rode shotgun, so I was charged with the music for the tape deck. This was an easy job, as we were usually listening to Offspring or Hole.
Is this common now? I don’t know. When I worked around the corner from a coworker in my late twenties we worked out a carpooling system.
I hope there are still young people with used cars that pick up their friends on the way to school.
Merle-Hay@reddit
Yes
little_miss_rainbows@reddit
Yes at age 16 up but stats show kids are not as likely to get their license right at 16 like kids in the past did. So a few more might be getting rides from parents or taking the bus if it's an option.
JoePNW2@reddit
In the upper (final two) grades of high school, outside dense urban areas, yes it's pretty common.
kurtwagner61@reddit
I drove my senior year in high school back in 1979. Both of my daughters also drove their senior years, one in 2023 and the other this year. The student parking lot at both schools, 47 years apart and mine in Arizona and my girls' in New Jersey, were both full. So, I'd say it's been a thing for a long time.
curlyhairedsheep@reddit
I grew up in a poor rural community in the US with no public transport. Despite living a 5 minute drive from school, the school bus pickup route would have picked us up more than an hour before first bell. We all drove to school our junior and senior years (sophomores weren't allowed to get parking permits).
Unlike the movies, our own cars weren't particularly nice - you would buy a cheap car with money you saved up working in summer, many would buy a broken car to fix up starting when they were 15 so it was ready at 16, or your parents would hand down their older paid off car to you and finance a new one for themselves. Lots of folks inherited vehicles from deceased family members. Often you'd share the car with your siblings and would drive your siblings to/from work. I can count on one hand the kids whose parents bought them new cars and my graduating class was around 250 people.
Toriat5144@reddit
Yes. Many have cars especially in junior or senior year and then go to jobs.
famousanonamos@reddit
Not as common as it used to be, but yes.
Thaimontana@reddit
In Montana yes definitely
MissDisplaced@reddit
Yes! I couldn’t wait to get my license and an old beater car at age sixteen. And then I drove to school because I worked evenings until 9-10 pm.
It seems to have shifted though. My great-nephew is 16 and he has zero interest in learning to drive. I find that so strange because driving = FREEDOM to me.
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
Yep. 16 to drive in most locations, so usually people are getting licensed in their second year. By the 3rd/4th year many are driving...most in some places (i.e. wealthier communities). Riding the school bus after 16 is considered uncool, so even if you don't have a car you try to find someone who does to pick you up.
Any_Assumption_2023@reddit
Yes absolutely. I drove myself from the time I got my license. Im a woman in my 70s.
AttonJRand@reddit
Yeah the schools are like giant parking lots, its kinda wild.
IrukandjiPirate@reddit
I drove to school quite a bit. Sometimes I even stayed there for the day.
VaveJessop@reddit
I'm in a formerly rural suburb. I'd say it was about half? Some kids could drive their parents' car to work or had a family car that could be used. Most didn't have their own car. Plenty just rode the bus. Literally no one cared either way. I'm not sure why or how random kids would even know how you got yourself to school unless they were staring out the window watching everyone walk in or something.
I was a bus kid. However, I had a bad habit of missing the bus, so once I could drive, it made things a little easier on my mom. She used to end up late to work. My mom drove to a park and rode the bus into town for work, so once I could drive, I dropped her off for the bus and got myself to school. I still had to take the bus the majority of the time though.
Anxious-Minx@reddit
I would say only maybe 20% of seniors (oldest year) students drove.
LunaTheNightmare@reddit
Yes, especially in rural areas/ during their last 2 years
DennisTheBald@reddit
Decorating parking spaces is a thing. Wealthier families make cars available to their kids, a lot of kids don't have the funds for their own car, it depends on your zipcode somewhat
Outrageous-Pin-4664@reddit
It used to be. I don't know how common it is now.
I graduated in 1981. Typically, kids had their driver's license when they turned 16, which meant they would be driving by their junior year, maybe even late in their sophomore year.
Not everyone had their own car, but the ones who didn't would often ride to school with a friend. I'd say about 25% of the junior and senior class were driving to school, and maybe another 25% were riding with a friend. The rest either took the bus, walked, or rode with a parent (theirs or someone else's).
My first two years, I rode to school with a friend's dad, and my mom picked us up after school. Once I was able to drive, I had my own transportation, and I usually had other kids riding to school with me.
Ambitious-Break4234@reddit
Also a small fundraiser for the school to sell parking permits. A newer tradition in my community is painting or decorating your space. The week when seniors come in before school for portraits for the composite photo is usually when seniors but parking permits.
Awdayshus@reddit
At my high school, you needed a parking permit, and there were more students who drove than parking spots. If you didn't get a parking permit, you'd have to park on the street and might end up a few blocks away. I was able to get the permit, but I knew people who parked on the street and got kinda possessive about "their" spots.
HooksNHaunts@reddit
Yeah we get driving permits at 15 and drivers licenses at 16 (with restrictions like you can’t drive alone at night). Juniors and Seniors often drove themselves to school.
Most of us knew how to drive because the school actually taught us how and would excuse us to go get our license so we always took the opportunity to get out of school 😂.
Seniors get to decorate a parking spot with chalk as well.
PomPomMom93@reddit
In my school, seniors only. Juniors weren’t allowed to drive themselves to school because the parking lot didn’t have room for staff, seniors, and juniors. But lots of seniors drove themselves every day.
Plato198_9@reddit
Yes, though rarely did since it was my folks vehicle
Bubbly_Following7930@reddit
Depends on your geography. I grew up in a dense urban area and parking was a nightmare around the high school. There was almost no parking for students and very little for teachers. People were expected to take public transportation. I'm sure some students did drive but it was not the norm.
ReferenceCreative510@reddit
I never bothered getting my license until college.
RageDeemz@reddit
Probably depending on location and socioeconomic status. I come from a middle-class family in the suburbs of a smaller Midwestern city, and I mostly drove myself to school once I got my license. My school was somewhere around 10 miles (about 16 km), and before that I would occasionally walk or bike if the weather was nice. I had the option to get bussed to/from school that they provided, but I didn't like taking the bus. I'm just guessing, but might be different in densely populated urban areas where there are more schools within walking distance/lack of parking/monetary barriers that would prevent one from owning a car (relating back to socioeconomic status)
ActuaLogic@reddit
It's not unusual, and it's not unusual for schools to have student parking areas.
StephJawn@reddit
I grew up in a suburban town and we all walked because it was close by. Only rich kids got cars. But I don’t think that’s common
Hotsauce61@reddit
Absolutely
bleakmessenger@reddit
Yep my school had a lot for students so they didn’t co mingle with the teachers before school started
semi_annual_poet@reddit
Yes. After they can legally drive (over the age of 16) it’s very common, unless u live in a big city with good transportation like NYC where everyone just takes the subway.
notaskindoctor@reddit
In rural areas, some teens can drive on their own as early as 14-15.
jiminak@reddit
12 where I grew up in rural MT. We called it a “farm license”. You could drive yourself and siblings to/from school, and I think you were allowed to drive produce to the markets. 15 was the regular license.
notaskindoctor@reddit
Yes, a farm license. 12 is wild!
jiminak@reddit
I have no idea if that’s still a thing. This was back in the 80s. I lived “in town”, so I didn’t have one, but my friend did and he stopped by the driveway of all the rest of our group and we all climbed in the back of the pickup (despite the siblings only rule). By the time we got to school, he and his two sisters up front (single bench seat), and 4 of us riding in the back. A big gaggle of 13yos all clambering out of the pickup truck would probably raise an eyebrow these days. lol
And even wilder by today’s standards, during bird season (hunting season for grouse and wild turkeys), his dad’s shotgun would always just be permanently in the back window gun rack.
BryonyVaughn@reddit
In the 1980s that wouldn’t have been allowed at my school. Guns had to be locked out of sight on school property. If someone’s car locks didn’t work, they had to meet a friend off campus and lock in out of sight in their vehicle before driving to campus.
If someone had no friends to help out (only a theoretical so far as I knew), they had to get to school 30 minutes before first bell, stash out in their locker, and not access their locker until 30 minutes after last bell. No one wanted to lose that much hunting time so they found other solutions.
In my cousin’s school, kids weren’t allowed to have guns in their car due to the extremely cold weather. They’d carry guns into school on their backs, go directly to the chemistry teacher’s classroom, and they’d be locked in the chemical room until after school.
It’s a very different world nowadays.
redshitname@reddit
I'm from New England and my dad was able to do that with his shotgun when he was in high school. I went to the same school and that would have been a huge no-no at that point.
notaskindoctor@reddit
I grew up in a rural area as well and definitely remember boys I grew up with having hunting guns in their trucks outside of school (and missing school altogether during certain hunting season weeks).
Bironshark@reddit
I knew someone who lived in a really rural area and she got a Jeep in 8th grade for her birthday (14th)
she-dont-use-jellyyy@reddit
In some rural areas. Where I grew up, this was not the case.
notaskindoctor@reddit
Yes, where I grew up and currently live, it is. I do not endorse this policy, to be clear.
originalslicey@reddit
I live in a state where you still get your permit at 14, restricted at 15, and full license at 16.
Growing up, I loved this. I mean, we had freshman with cars in high school. As an adult, I think it’s terrifying.
North-Astronomer-800@reddit
Hmm, do you mean you don't endorse letting 14 & 15 y.o. have a drivers license for public roads? I've known kids that were driving giant combines at 12 y.o.! A needed hand to help the family get the job done. Depends on the kid, the one I am speaking of ended up a computer security expert. His elder sister, on the other hand, got a DUI ticket when the car ended up hub deep in a swampy meadow. Can't say I endorse it either, but it amazes me what different lives people lead in this country.
notaskindoctor@reddit
I don’t endorse laws that allow children to drive when they are so young.
beaveretr@reddit
This is a good point. I lived in a very rural area for a while as a kid. We had a beater that I was (illegally) allowed to drive to a few select friends and families houses when I was 13. It was all rural dirt roads where I never encountered any traffic. I remember being so annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to drive legally, but even though I had the motor skills to operate a vehicle, I was in no way mature enough to handle any kind of accident or incident.
notaskindoctor@reddit
The evidence shows it’s safest to wait until 18, even.
AZJHawk@reddit
Yeah in Kansas we could get learner’s permits at 14 and restricted licenses (that let you drive to/from school and work) at 15.
3catlove@reddit
I’m in Iowa and my 15 year old son has a school permit. They can get their learner’s permit at 14 and can get their school/work permit 6 mos after they get their learner’s permit.
EDS3er@reddit
I lived in the country in Iowa. I had a school permit at 14 which allowed me to drive to school or school sponsored events only. I had to take a written test and a driver's test to get it.
shelwood46@reddit
Getting a license and having a car solely for your use are two different things. I know lots of kids in high school (and college!) who had a license but owning even a used car was simply not happening until they worked full time. I knew very few teens who had a car to drive themselves to school, though the few who did often had tons of passengers once those restrictions lifted (on having other underaged kids in the car without an adult and/or a numerical limit).
notaskindoctor@reddit
In my experience, farm kids always had a car they could use to get to and from school. In my hometown (rural Midwest), I remember only one kid who didn’t have their own car in my entire grade.
JeffTrav@reddit
And in some states (NJ at least), it’s 17 for a provisional license and 18 for an unrestricted license.
Maxpowr9@reddit
Why I roll my eyes at any social media regulations for those under 18. If they can't handle owning a phone, they can't handle driving a car.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
Philly kids use SEPTA
alicat777777@reddit
Yes, very common.
Melodic_Pattern175@reddit
My kids were planning their first car by the time they were 14 (I’m a Brit married to an American living in the US), taking drivers ed at 15, and taking their test at 16. There are limitations on them until 18, but otherwise yep, they’re driving really early.
Aggravating_Fishy_98@reddit
In high school there was a junior parking lot and a senior parking lot. Yes it’s normal for upperclassmen to get their drivers licenses and drive themselves to school. You can get your learners permit as soon as 15 1/2 years old in some states, but typically it’s at about age 16 when a teenager would be allowed to go for their license. Some people wait until after they graduate to for their license, like myself and some friends of mine. It depends on where you live.
tivofanatico@reddit
It depends on the city. I went to high school in New York City. There was no parking for students, so most arrived by public transportation. A few were dropped off by their parents in a car.
machagogo@reddit
I went to high school in New York City and seniors could park in the gym asium lot, first come first serve. Street parking for anyone else.
Train and city bus to school before I had my license
Odd_Obligation_1300@reddit
When I was a teen, I could start driving to school at 16 (when I got my license). Most people did at that point.
But the state where I live now has the drivers license age at 17. Plus our high school doesn’t have enough parking spaces so they only allow seniors to drive (and they have to be selected from a lottery - so not all seniors can drive)
machagogo@reddit
Very common.
PastNefariousness188@reddit
Yes! Freedom, right???
pwwhisperer@reddit
Yes, super common!
shewantsthedeeecaf@reddit
Yeah super common! At my high school parking passes went to seniors and juniors first and if any left over sophomores got them. My high school had about 1,500 kids and we definitely didn’t have enough parking spots for everyone.
bigredroyaloak@reddit
Yes, my community doesn’t even offer bussing so once you have your license at 16 many drive themselves rather than have a parent do it.
Karm0112@reddit
Yes. Getting a parking spot was a big deal because there usually weren’t enough to go around.
wieldymouse@reddit
I did in the latter part of my senior year. My younger sister did probably from her junior year in. My older sister did not; my parents weren't in a position to buy her a car at the time and bought one for her after she graduated.
frickenfantastic@reddit
Rural areas and small towns, yes.
Away_Analyst_3107@reddit
Yes, but the driving age varies by state. So my state, it’s 17, so my school only let students in their last year drive.
We also had to pay like $100 to be allowed to park at the school, which was insane.
ATLien_3000@reddit
Yes. 16 gets you a driver's license in most of the us.
penguin_stomper@reddit
It was a luxury and privilege I could only dream of.
sundancer2788@reddit
In my district only Seniors are allowed to park on property so most of them drive. Juniors with licenses and cars will drive and park close by.
Humble-Tree1011@reddit
Yep. Once you reach 16. So 1/2 of HS
6894@reddit
Only senior and juniors (11&12th) were allowed to drive at my high school. Even then only seniors had guaranteed parking, the remaining spaces were distributed to the juniors via lottery.
Ok-Ad8998@reddit
It depends on a lot of things, including parking space available. I grew up in a fairly condensed suburban district that had a small lot, so only Seniors got to drive. There wasn't room for more cars. I live now in a huge rural district, the largest (geographically) in the state. It's so far flung that any student with a license is allowed to drive in.
Rj924@reddit
Many kids take their time getting their license and don't drive yet. Many kids have a license, but no car assigned to them. Many kids have their license and a designated car for their use. Only the kids with a car for their use drive to school. I didn't get a car until April of my Senior year. But I had a license in July after my Junior, penultimate year.
SoftLast243@reddit
If they have their license and their parents have a car for them to drive.
Vachic09@reddit
It's very common in my area, and it's also common for those students to transport their younger siblings to school.
beachplum01@reddit
simple answer, yes it’s totally normal. i suppose in a city it’s not. and if you don’t have a car then you may take a school bus or get a ride from a parent or friend.
OldDogWithOldTricks@reddit
Yup, even our kids have cars.
tyoung89@reddit
Yes. I got my (provisional) drivers license when I was 16, just before starting my junior year of high school (11th grade.) I drove to and from school after that. There was a student's parking lot on the campus. We were never allowed to leave the school for lunch like others mentioned.
Fourty2KnightsofNi@reddit
It depends. If the family/students can afford a car, then yes. Not everyone can.
I still remember our bus being so crowded that younger students would tell the seniors they needed to start driving themselves to school, and someone would asked if they were going to buy us a car. The reply would always be no, and go get a job. Someone else would always reply how the F we gonna get to work without a car dumb@$$. This happened often throughout the year.
There's your snapshot of rural American life in the middle of nowhere, where you absolutely needed a vehicle to do anything.
Dontaskmeidontknow0@reddit
Yes, especially if you live in the country, where you have a long distance to get to school. While it is common, more than half the students can’t afford a car; me and my sister didn’t have cars, and only one of my 6 friends had a car, because she was a farm kid.
Shot_Construction455@reddit
Very common here (rural north central Florida) for kids to drive themselves to school as soon as they turn 16. I grew up in south Florida and the school didn't have a big enough student parking lot so driving was a privilege only 12th graders could have and you had to have a certain GPA or higher since there weren't enough spots for all of the seniors either.
flockyboi@reddit
I'd say it may depend on the area but for the 'standard' high school it's pretty common, especially the older grades. My school had a whole student lot and it was first come first serve so if you got there too late you'd have to walk so much
Thaser11@reddit
Very common. I was the person whom lived farthest away from my HS in rural New England, around 40 miles. I got my drivers license on my 16th birthday and my parents got me a car soon after.
To make it to school on time I was generally leaving around 6am, and for most of the year I played sports and wouldn’t get home until 7pm, or even as late as 10 pm if I had sports games or ski races in another part of the state.
My parents owned a store and campground and just didn’t have time to drive me to and from school at all hours of the day or evening.
I’m probably not the best example of what you’re looking for, but I bet a lot of rural America is similar
elvenmal@reddit
You can get a driver’s license at 16 and the test is pretty easy.
If you live in a rural area, you can get a school driving permit at 14 or 15 but can’t have passengers and only can go back and forth to school (at least that’s the case in Nebraska, not all states allow this.)
Most towns and cities do not have mass transit and if they do, it’s not great or unreliable.
We do have school buses (the classic yellow buses) but they have set routes and not everyone lives near the route.
It was 2.3miles (3.7km) to my high school from my house. We didn’t have sidewalks to get there. The main road in our town was a four lane highway. You had to drive to school.
trae_curieux@reddit
It was when I was in high school (1999 to 2003). I rode my bike until I was 16, at which point, I got a car and drove to and from school. If I remember correctly, for the first six months after I got my license, there was a provision that I couldn't have people under 21 in the car with me, except for family members, but after that six months elapsed, it wasn't uncommon for me to drive friends to the mall after school to hang out 😅
puskunk@reddit
Yes, I drove myself to school all four years of high school since you can drive at 15 in my state.
jess3jim@reddit
Eh. I would say between the 16+ kids maybe 10% drove them self last year when my daughter was a senior. She got her license right after her 16th birthday and drove her self
Zillajami-Fnaffan2@reddit
Yup. I was actually one of the few students in my 11th and 12th grade classes who couldnt drive
Theslowestmarathoner@reddit
Yep once I got my license at 16.
suboptimus_maximus@reddit
Yes, early indoctrination into the cult of socialism for the automobile and submission to a life of dependency in the government highway system.
MattieShoes@reddit
Yes. I was actually forced to, though that was kind of a special circumstance. But it was very common.
(Lived in a district with no high school, so we were bussed to high schools in other districts. The local district built a high school so all bus service to other districts got canceled. But... the local district phased the high school in by grade, so I was not eligible to actually attend the local high school. So the only option for one year was to arrange your own transportation out of district.)
sep780@reddit
It’s gonna depend a little on population, but in small towns, extremely popular.
Standard-Row-2@reddit
Im in Canada and I drove to school often during my final year.
lezzerlee@reddit
It was where I grew up which was suburban.
It is not at all common where I live now that’s urban. The city barely has parking, let alone a school.
Sorry-Government920@reddit
best thing about my kids getting their license is them being able to drive themselves to school
Heyya14@reddit
Mostly juniors and seniors, yes
Pancancake@reddit
Yes, very common. There are student parking lots, parking permits, assigned spaces…
Communal-Lipstick@reddit
Yes
WthAmIEvenDoing@reddit
As soon as you get your license, you can drive to school where we live.
Outside-Selection456@reddit
It’s very common here in Canada too!!
Nitsuj_ofCanadia@reddit
It is quite common. The schools have sprawling parking lots to accommodate this fact. Especially in more rural areas, it's common for a majority of the upper-classmen to either drive or carpool rather than take the bus, cycle, or walk.
Any-Cellist2977@reddit
Yeah I drove myself to school. I had an assigned parking spot.
Hamblin113@reddit
What isn’t cool in rural America is riding the bus when an upper classman in high school. The next is having to walk.
DooficusIdjit@reddit
It used to be, it’s getting kinda hectic tho. Extra cars aren’t as easy to afford anymore, and only stupid people or the very wealthy would finance a vehicle for a child.
Rickyjo1974@reddit
In the us busses can be inconsistent and there aren’t many- often requiring you board the bus wayyyy before school starts. My town growing up had 2 massive highschools, both a 40 minute drive away from the downtown area where I lived. You can imagine how early youd have to board- if you lived close to a stop (class started at 7:45).
Driving your child to school eats into parents time but the us parent drop off lines are brutal, they wrap around the block, like genuinely around a hundred cars long.
I couldnt get my license for a while and it was a massive conflict with my family because we couldn’t get me on the bus, my parents were often too busy to drive, and because it was a new school I couldn’t carpool yet. I was saved by covid (in terms of transport,) and had to transfer to the community college (5minute walk from home) to finish my diploma.
abstractraj@reddit
Yes. Drive my 1969 mustang to school. Admittedly it was mostly rust and eventually just folded up into nothing when I spun it in the snow
wizzard419@reddit
It depends on where in the country you are. If you live in an urban environment with densely packed population, it would be less common as adults also wouldn't automatically drive.
Now, as you got into suburbia (especially as you moved west) these are places built around cars and you see it become more common for schools to have more land for parking.
Now, depending on when/where you went to school it might be seniors only or anyone over age 16. When I was in high school it started out as juniors and seniors (11th and 12th grades) could buy parking passes but as class sizes grew it became seniors only.
What was an incredibly shitty thing (which partially was changed years later) was how bus service was handled. For high schools, there were fewer stops and you needed to be at least a few miles away from school. If you lived within the radius, even if you were talking the school bus for lower levels of education, you had to figure out how to get to school on your own. Public transit was very limited since cars were the preferred option. The really shitty part, when I was in school, once you became a senior (barring special ed students who had their own busses) you were not allowed to take the school bus. They literally would not sell them to seniors, pushing the need to either get your license and car or get a friend to give you rides. You could take the public bus but, as I mentioned, the service in the area was very limited. As young people stopped getting their licenses at age 16 as frequently as in the past they later ended that policy.
DeMonet75@reddit
Yup! We were dying to get our licenses so that we could drive to school ourselves. You always had to pickup and drop off a couple of friends as well.
MarbleousMel@reddit
We were allowed to start driving to school (aka could get a parking permit) as juniors.
mikebills@reddit
After we turned 16 and got our licenses, my friends and I all drove ourselves to school. At least those of us who had cars (most of us) did. We didn't all buy the school parking pass though and plenty of us had to find somewhere on the street near the school to park. My graduating class was ~500 students, ~2000 total students in the school.
Hello_Hangnail@reddit
We couldn't even leave the lunch room 😅 The bathrooms were also not inside the lunch room
ChachamaruInochi@reddit
Definitely completely normal. I was the odd ones out who didn't get my drivers license but I had a friend who got hers and she would always give me a lift.
Narrow-Bluebird1472@reddit
Is it uncommon other places?
Intelligent_Chef9950@reddit (OP)
In my country, you can't get a driver's license until you're 18, so it's especially rare
Narrow-Bluebird1472@reddit
Oh that’s probably a smarter age…or 35 lol
ATLDeepCreeker@reddit
Its common, but that doesnt mean every kid does it or did it.
My kids high school only allowed seniors (year 12) and a limited number of juniors (year 11) to park at the school.
When I was in high school 40 years ago, we were allowed to drive to school, but I also left campus to take classes at the school district's vocational and technology center. This is where kids learned to be on tv and the radio, computer science (we had the school district's mainframe) as well as auto shop, cosmetology, nursing, etc. We got high school and college credits for attending.
Leona_Faye_@reddit
When I went, oh yeah. It was kind of a status symbol.
VariegatedPlumage@reddit
It depends on the school and the location.
Where I grew up, a lot of students had cars. Legal driving age was 17 but you could drive to and from school or a job with a junior license. We had open campus for 10th grade and up in an 8th-12th school. 8th grade I made friends with this group of senior boy who would bring me Slurpees all the time.
Now I live in NYC where having a car is very expensive and schools don’t have parking lots, so it’s very uncommon for teens to have their own cars.
LMrningStar@reddit
Very common indeed. Which is why most high schools have enormous parking lots.
loweexclamationpoint@reddit
My kid was a sophomore in Mar 2020. The next year he did school from home. The following year he convinced us it was too dangerous to take the bus so he drove every day.
DefendTheStar88x@reddit
Yep. Once I had my license I drove myself and younger sister. Although she would still take the bus periodically because I was always running late.
grizzrider@reddit
Up youre shock level, because many places you can get a school permit (drive to school only liscence) at 14. So its not just the high school, 8th graders commonly drive themselves and siblings. But really, how else would human beings travel 2 to 20 miles at 7am and pm in the darker and colder three quarters of the year? This is America, your looking for those times to be sunless and below freezing half the school year.
small-with-benefits@reddit
I grew up in a very rural area with a rural school. Had to drive 20 minutes every morning, and that’s all highway. Plus when you’re old enough to drive in my district you’re usually taking vocational classes. That starts half an hour earlier than the high school classes and was ahead of bus routes. Also after school sports practices kind of forced you to at least have a car available for at least one person in your friend group.
Bus routes were also two hours if you were on the unfortunate end of the route.
fook75@reddit
I never did. But that was because I graduated before I got my driver's license.
Most of the kids that do drive to school have after school activities or jobs, so they wouldn't be able to ride the bus.
JustAnotherUser8432@reddit
If they have a car and a license, it is super common and has been for decades.
benificialart@reddit
I didn't personally, as I got my license 2 days after I graduated, but most of my friends did.
MaleficentCoconut594@reddit
Yes, but really only seniors. They’re the only ones old enough to legally do it
PuppySnuggleTime@reddit
Yeah, it used to be. Now, it seems like a ton of kids just don't bother to get their driver's licenses.
Altruistic_Relief189@reddit
It's common but not the norm. First, it's a luxury for a family to have an additional car for a teen to drive to school. Second, some jurisdictions are slowing down licensing teens at the traditional age of 16 since they are more accident prone. Finally, schools do things to discourage teens driving to school as there tends to be limited parking. So in reality, kids are on the bus, walking or riding their bikes to school much more than driving themselves.
BouncingSphinx@reddit
I drove occasionally as a junior when I shouldn't have, since I had no license. Drove every day my senior year.
Small town, almost everyone had access to some kind of vehicle for getting to and from school.
FunkMastaUno@reddit
It is for juniors and seniors (16-18 year olds) unless they live in a city with good public transportation like NYC, SF, Chicago, DC, Philly, etc.
cats-n-cafe@reddit
As a parent of a 16y/o….absolutely. She was licensed the week after she turned 16. She does sports before school at 5am and has more sports practice and activities until 6pm every day. We wanted our mornings back.
svckafvck@reddit
I drove myself to school everyday after I turned 16, we could also leave during lunch junior & senior year. I’m a triplet and my brothers both drive separately because we all had different sports/activities/job schedules afterward.
Quirky_Commission_56@reddit
Yup! Once I got my driver’s license when I was 17, my dad got me a 1972 Ford Pinto that I drove to and from school in the early 90s.
LabInner262@reddit
Did dad like you or have an insurance policy on you?
Quirky_Commission_56@reddit
My dad loved me. He was an auto mechanic by trade and fixed it so it was completely safe. His hobby was buying junkyard cars and restoring them and selling them for a profit. 🤷🏻♀️
LabInner262@reddit
Good guy. You're lucky!
Mattturley@reddit
Did he put Firestone 500s on it? If so, I'd watch your back.
shammy_dammy@reddit
Yes. This is why so many American high schools have huge parking lots.
student176895@reddit
Most of the U.S. has awful public transportation, if it has any at all, and it’s generally dangerous or impossible to walk or cycle. Many 16+ year old high school students have their own car and drive to school so they don’t have to wake up early for the bus, or so they can participate in after-school activities.
Perplexio76@reddit
My daughter drives my car to school on the days I work from home. On the days I'm in the office I drive her to school and she rides the bus home. She doesn't have her own car yet.
Maleficent_Button_58@reddit
If they have a car to drive, yeah. I drove myself to school once I had my license. So did many of my classmates.
ionmoon@reddit
Depends completely on the school. At my high school (rural) only seniors could and had to have a permit. They went first to people who had jobs they needed to get to after work.
In the city I live in now there isn’t even enough parking for the teachers, let alone students. Everyone takes the city buses to school.
In the surrounding towns and rural areas it just depends on how much parking is available.
SpicySandTroll@reddit
The school I went to in Hawaii gave breaks during the schedule. Some days you might have a three hour break, and you could actually drive to the beach and get a surf session in before returning to campus. This was senior year, when you could leave campus and return.
Writing_Nearby@reddit
I walked to and from school because I only lived a couple blocks away, but a lot of other students drove.
Additional_Low8050@reddit
We had 2 kids whose Dads had dealerships. One got a new Camaro on his 16 th birthday & had a high speed crash & died by that evening And the other kid got a new Mustang & drove high speed thru a cow pasture & the fence post impaled him. Just be careful.
Paul721@reddit
Having lived in Colorado, NJ, and different parts of NY. Yes absolutely. Depending on which state you are in the driving age is different, usually 16 or 17. So its the juniors and seniors driving, but often bringing their younger siblings or friends to school. If you weren't lucky enough to have a car, then you hopefully got to ride with a friend. Totally different than the reality I went to high school in.
seanx50@reddit
Yes, it's kind of expected for juniors and seniors
Rockfell3351@reddit
Definitelu. How do teens get to school where you live, if they don't drive?
Intelligent_Chef9950@reddit (OP)
We mostly ride motorized bikes because you can't get a license until you're eighteen.
depressed_crustacean@reddit
I believe in Japan students are explicitly prevented from driving, and in some cases even having jobs. However Japan has very robust public transportation
corsa180@reddit
Yes. When I grew up in Kansas, you could get a restricted license at 14 years old to drive to and from school if you lived a certain distance from the school; to drive anywhere with an adult in the passenger seat; and to ride mopeds under 50cc, with a helmet required, anywhere. This was in the 1980s, I don’t know what the laws there are now.
Pear_tickle@reddit
Students in my state can drive to school starting at age 15. Everything is far away and students have before and after school activities in high school. School buses just don’t work for that age group. It’s impossible to walk and there is no public transit. Having your teenager be able to drive is something every parent looks forward to because it saves hours of our time every day.
paragon_of_karma@reddit
I'm from a very rural area and you can get a special permit to drive farm equipment at 14, by 16 most kids have their own car.
Additional_Low8050@reddit
And we went to Jack in the box for lunch! & we had a paved smoking section! Had ashtrays out there by the gym. We were heathens! I miss the 70’s!
Traditional_Air6177@reddit
Yes, I lived 10 miles from school and the sidewalks started 8 miles away. One time my Dad threatened to take my car away on a Friday but then gave me a different punishment by the end of the weekend. Mom would have had to drive me to school otherwise. It’s good practice for teens, much of life in America relies on driving everywhere. The other side of that coin is that you can tell who grew up in cities based on them not having the need to drive or get their driver’s license.
ViewfromMyOfcWindow@reddit
Yep, I did. I even put curtains in my car so the principal couldn't see us smoking 😂
Potential-Current-62@reddit
Yes
Requilem@reddit
Most schools only allow seniors(grade 12) to park on school grounds. If you're in a middle class or above town and there is parking surrounding school property than juniors(grade 11) park there. Sophomores(grade 10) are typically not old enough to drive alone.
Avbitten@reddit
there was 1600 students at my school and about 50 parking spots. do the math.
Agreeable_Insect2851@reddit
Yes and some kids drove farming tractors
DesperateHotel8532@reddit
My high school strongly discouraged students from driving to school because there was no place to park. The school was in a dense, fully built up neighborhood (suburb right on the edge of the city so it was semi urban with busy areas nearby, but the immediate surroundings were mostly residential, lots of big old houses) and they barely had enough room for the teachers to park, let alone students. All of the streets surrounding the school had four hour parking limits to keep students from parking there but of course people still did, you’d see people rushing off to move their cars around at lunch. But it was such a hassle most people didn’t bother, even if they had cars of their own. This was not typical, I had friends who did drive to school because they went to schools that had more parking space.
richbiatches@reddit
Yes
Additional_Low8050@reddit
Oh yes I had a car by 15! All my buddies had cars~ we didn’t carpool! We had a student parking lot at high school.
evetrapeze@reddit
My dad owned a used car lot, so I drove to school
seenstrangesights@reddit
A lot of people are saying yes, so I will be a rare no. Not a lot of kids in my high school had their own car, in fact I'd say under the majority. It wasn't RARE, but it was certainly not the norm. Plenty of us didn't get a car until after we graduated. My dad drove to work which was past my school, so he drove my sibling and I and dropped us off. Some students were able to walk, and I was technically within walking distance (around a mile and change) but carrying all the books and my laptop made it difficult. We also did not have a regular school bus if that factors into your question at all. Located in the suburbs.
1911Earthling@reddit
I did in 1964. Very common.
sluttypidge@reddit
Once we were 16 I was driving everywhere. To the pig barns. To the local college for duel credit classes. To the softball fields. To the ✨️ welding shop ✨️
Chickadee831@reddit
Depends where you live. In my neck of the woods, no
BrandonLynx@reddit
Very common. When I was in high school the trip to school on the school bus took about two hours and the trip home took about two and a half hours. It took twenty-five minutes each way to drive my own car. We had to fill out a form and provide proof of registration, driver's license and insurance then they gave us hang tag parking permits that had to be displayed when parked at school. It was free, just had to prove the car was eligible to be there.
Our school had two parking lots. The one closest to the building had numbered, assigned spaces and was reserved for staff and seniors. The other lot was general parking for the rest of the students.
Astronomer_Original@reddit
It depends on where you live and how much money you have. Poor kids don’t have cars, so no. City kids don’t need cars, so no. Rural or suburban middle and wealthy kids do but mostly juniors and seniors. Schools often have restrictions on who can park on school grounds (kids with good behavior, attendance and or grades, upper grade students, etc )
pawsplay36@reddit
Common enough. Carpooling as well. Owning your own car isn't "common," maybe moreso for seniors.
jIdiosyncratic@reddit
Depends on where you are and the demographics at the time. Where I grew up people in HS had their own apartments because their parents couldn't stand to have them around. Pretty fucked. Great for parties though. And had expensive cars as well.
verminiusrex@reddit
Depends on where you live and where the school is.
My kids briefly went to a school with barely enough parking for staff so student parking wasn't a thing (near downtown in a big city, parking is a nightmare just to go to a local restaurant). Other school 10 miles away in an area with much more room has a senior parking lot where they can actually paint their personal spot (kind of cool, actually).
My high school allowed parking if you had a permit.
macoafi@reddit
Yeah. My school gave priority on parking passes to students like me, who were enrolled half day in high school and half day in a program at the local community college (an institution where you can earn credits toward university or even a 2-year degree). I got a reserved spot in front of the school instead of having to hope for an empty spot in the lot on the other side of the soccer field.
Osidestarfish@reddit
Yes, I drove my old beater car that I absolutely adored every day of my senior year. Only seniors could park on campus.
margoawaypls@reddit
yes, as soon as i could and procured a car it was the expectation. before then i would catch rides with older classmates and/or their parents as often ad possible.
Bexar1986@reddit
I went to a private school (don't hate me please!) So....yeah. Starting in 10th or 11th grade. Granted this was in the south; i imagine in places like NYC or Boston or other places with a good public transit system it's different. If i lived in NYC, for example, I wouldn't even own a vehicle (except for a bike).
Carrot_Cinna_Cake@reddit
Yes
Aromatic-Ad-9688@reddit
Yes.
powerofdeathx@reddit
my school only seniors are allowed to drive to school, because of limited parking spots
GardenWitchMom@reddit
In my day, yes. My youngest went to the same school and very few kids drove.
Quix66@reddit
Yes. I did from the 11th grade.
HKGPhooey@reddit
Yeah, common. But not for me. We only had 1 car for the family.
TXteachr2018@reddit
Yes. Every friend I had got a car at age 16. Some had parents pass down their old family car while others worked to pay for a "clunker." A few were "rich" and received new/new-ish cars for their 16th birthday. It didn't matter. We all drove everywhere!
Odd_Necessary8090@reddit
Yeah. I drove 38 minutes each way, all 4 years
dadsgoingtoprison@reddit
Yes
HermioneMarch@reddit
Yes
DriblyRedwyne@reddit
Not in NYC.
BoopleSnoot921@reddit
Yeah it’s common.
FishAroundFindTrout9@reddit
Yes, very common
SpaceCowboy528@reddit
The high school I graduated from even the kids with cars would walk across the street to one of the restaurants in that shopping strip.
Me on the other hand due to how I was scheduled* with one class period open before my last class of the day would walk across the street and eat at home. Then I would walk back across to my last class of the day and then return home after that.
*Classes the first 4 class periods of the day before the scheduled lunch time, a class during the lunch time, an open class period, and finally a class during the last class period of the day. Oh plus 2 community college classes during the week and one on weekends during my junior and senior years.
I was the only student at my school that graduated with both their high school diploma and a two year general education diploma the same week. And I could have gotten my high school diploma a year early but felt 16 was to young.
shutupimrosiev@reddit
Allegedly. I was never allowed to, but just about every classmate I had drove themselves.
Fuzzy-Flatworm1494@reddit
I drove to middle school and high school. My son in middle school is about to get his permit and will be driving himself to school once he is in highschool.
throwaway_2011111@reddit
Yep. They also like to drive their cars to McDonald's or wherever during lunch
NoMoreMustaches@reddit
My high school stopped letting students leave for lunch the year I started because a car full of students wrapped their car around a tree trying to make it back in time for their next class.
Instead, we could buy individual slices of Pizza Hut or Papa John’s Pizza.
Current-Photo2857@reddit
Many schools don’t allow kids to leave during the school day anymore, at least in my area.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
depends on the schools. McDonalds? Ewww. no. Wawa or whatever was the trendy hangout. Cosi was huge when i was in HS.
throwaway_2011111@reddit
It was usually McDonald's or Taco Bell at my high school, but that's probably because they were both less than a mile away
Mamamoblue_1016@reddit
yes it is. but also it depends on the location and its their restriction
Bironshark@reddit
Yeah at my old school there were limited parking spots and parking passes were first come first serve. That didn’t stop people from parking in the lot though, if you couldn’t find a spot you had to park on the street somewhere there wasn’t a no parking sign.
After I got my license I always made sure to get to school early so I got a great spot and whenever I didn’t have a club after school I’d speed walk from class directly to my car to be one of the first to leave. Impatient new drivers crowded in a parking lot with one exit wasn’t fun lol.
HidingInTrees2245@reddit
If you were lucky enough to have a car.
ProperFart@reddit
Yes, we don’t have many school buses and the buses we do have are unreliable, and no accessible public transportation. Kids around me live miles away from school and are expected to walk/bike or parents drive them.
TsundereLoliDragon@reddit
Yes, when I was in school seniors had their own dedicated parking spots.
Responsible-Chest-26@reddit
Quite common at my school. For obvious reasons students like the freedom. The other benefit was i went to a regional school so 3 towns sent their kids to one school. It was 20 minutes straight drive from my house and an hour if I took the bus. Being able to get that extra half hour in the morning makes a difference
According-Couple2744@reddit
Yes. My husband gave my daughter his convertible BMW when she turned 16. She was able to drive it to school for her Junior and Senior years. There was a running joke at her school that you could tell the difference between the student’s parking lot and the teacher’s parking lot because the students drove nicer cars.
RicketyCricketsDrum@reddit
I know I always did. I loved it. I don’t understand why the younger generation doesnt care about getting their license.
Chemical-Mix-6206@reddit
I went to a small catholic school & we didn't have buses like public schools so yes, a lot of students drove themselves to school or carpooled with their friends. And the parking lot was a lot like in the movies. Haha
DirtParking4216@reddit
I had my license at 15, and my learner's permit at 14. Driving my sister to school with me everyday.
Now the age is 16.
ScarInternational161@reddit
I graduated in 1989 and they seriously didn't care one way or the other as long as we were back by bell. Back then doors weren't locked, no hall monitors, etc. Upper classmen could drive, no room in the lot for fresh and sophs. But all my friends had older siblings or we were always dating seniors so we always had rides.
distracted_x@reddit
Yes. Usually kids get their license at 16 and if they're lucky enough to get a car, why would they not drive it to school
ClimbCascadia98@reddit
It happened all the time at my high school. I got my license in junior year at 16 and never took the bus again.
ohheykiki@reddit
Once licensed yes.
Constant-Prog15@reddit
The high school I attended had a large lot and any student with a valid driver’s license could drive themselves to school. I lived close enough to walk (just over a mile) and often did.
Where my kids go to school, large lot and only seniors (year 12 or final year) are given permits for the parking lot. Some younger kids drive, but most take a school bus.
ShelbiStone@reddit
Yes, working very hard in the summers to scrape together enough cash to buy a shitty car to drive when you turn 16 and get your license was a right of passage where I grew up.
jimbopalooza@reddit
Yes my school juniors and seniors could park on campus but only seniors could leave for lunch. No one really adhered to that though. This was before school shootings and tight campus security at a pretty big school. We had ~ 2700 kids. No way to really watch all of us back then. No cameras on campus back then either. Graduated in ‘92. It was a glorious time.
Normal-guy-mt@reddit
I grew up on a farm 6 miles from town. I started driving to school when I was 12.
I was 15 when I got my drivers license.
AcadianADV@reddit
At the high school I attended the parking lot in the back had about 200 parking spaces. That was the student parking lot. And the parking lot in the front had about 50 parking spaces. That was the teachers parking lot. I drive myself to school in 11th and 12th grade along with many others. Student parking lot was almost always full.
SnooMarzipans5409@reddit
I did. I got my license before senior year and bought a used car with my parents helping with the cost. A lot of people from my school drove themselves to school as well.
shirlxyz@reddit
Yes
redfoxblueflower@reddit
I graduated in 1989 and drove to school (as did my best friend) in the state of Delaware. My daughter graduated in 2019 in the state of Minnesota and she also drove to school. My parking was free, she had to pay for hers. We both got cars when we turned 16 because we both didn't go to our assigned high schools and so they were further from home and we were both busy with after school activities - so it was much easier to have a car than for working parents to have to come get us (and drop us off) all the time.
Kaleidoscope_306@reddit
Yes. Most high schools don’t have school buses unless you live really far away, and most of America has bad or no public transportation. We’re not set up for walking or biking very well either. Parents drive kids to school, then once they can drive themselves (16ish, varies by state) they’re thrilled to take that chore off their list. Parents often lend or give their old car to their teen. Other teens have jobs after school and buy their own.
GrimSpirit42@reddit
My high school had separate parking lots for teachers, seniors and juniors.
rawbface@reddit
Yes. There was a senior parking lot at the high school. I didn't get my license until I was 18, but I drove myself to school those last 4 months. It was my dad's car and I had to buy my own before I went to college.
Patrizio_Argento@reddit
My HS was 10-12, I think I took the bus twice. My kids are in HS now. 9/10 lots take the bus, 11/12, you're driving.
Astro_Birch_317@reddit
My parents sent me to a school that was 35 miles from our house and there was no bus. On my 16th birthday, my dad took me to the DMV for the first driving test of the day and told me, "no pressure, but if you don't pass, just remember that 35 miles is a long way on a bicycle." I passed. He had me drop him off at the library and finish the school day, then pick him up on the way home. I drove myself to school every day from then until graduation.
No_Persimmon5725@reddit
Yes if you're wealthy.
NaturalProfession922@reddit
Yes especially the more rural parts of America with no bus or rail transportation.
randompantsfoto@reddit
Started driving to school every day immediately after getting my drivers license at my 16th birthday.
_Smedette_@reddit
I went to high school in the urban core of the city, so everyone took public transit (there was no parking). But, this is not common.
EatLard@reddit
I did for the last three years. My daughter does now. In a city with nearly nonexistent public transportation it’s a real time saver for parents.
CheeseMongoNJ@reddit
We were allowed to drive to school as soon as we had our licenses. My class was the last senior class to be allowed to leave for lunch.
Sea_Analysis_8033@reddit
Two of my four years
Middle-Wealth-6755@reddit
It was where I grew up.
pseudonym7083@reddit
I did. That was 20 years ago though.
RaineMist@reddit
It was common when I was in high school for seniors since they were already 18 years old most had a licence or permit.
Silly-Resist8306@reddit
At the high school my kids attended (1600 students), the student parking lot had more cars than the teachers parking lot. Note that less than half the kids were under the age of getting a driver license.
Current-Photo2857@reddit
It depends on the town/district the school is in. I can speak to some rural, urban and suburban variations.
When I was a high schooler, I attended a rural school 17 miles away from my parents’ home. To take the yellow school bus, I would’ve had to wake up at least 2 hours before school started (wake up at 5 am to get to school for 7 am as a teenager ?!?!). Even if we’d chosen the bus option, one of my parents would still have had to drive me the 3 miles to the bus stop at the general store/post office and I would’ve been on the bus about an hour and a half to get to school (due to all the stops for other students) and then an hour and a half back in the afternoon. My parents preferred driving me, which was only about half an hour. That was still an hour trip (there and back) for me and TWO hours out of the day for one of my parents. Once I turned 16 and got my license, they bought me a cheap car just to save themselves the driving!
My first teaching job was in a poor urban high school. Most of the students there were too poor to own cars, so they obviously could not drive themselves. However, because the high school was in a city, they had access to the public municipal busses. All high school students in the district were issued free bus passes and a bus stop was built right in front of the school.
I currently live and teach in the suburbs. Depending on where you live my town, the schools are not within walking distance and as a smallish town we do not have public transportation like public busses. While my current district does offer the traditional yellow school busses for all grade levels, many of our high schoolers do choose to drive themselves instead. If they are lucky enough to have first period study hall (optional for students with higher GPAs), they can skip it and drive in late. They can stay after school for extra help, clubs or sports and not worry about missing their bus. They can drive directly to an after-school job (which is what pays for the car, insurance and gas for most of them).
Interesting side-note #1 to letting high schoolers drive: Our high school has two large parking lots, but apparently even together they are not large enough to accommodate all of the high schoolers who are willing & able to drive themselves. Thus, students are required to pay a yearly fee to “rent” an assigned parking spot. I work at the middle school, which is situated behind the high school. Our parking lot is separated from the high school by a small wooded area. A few years ago, we ran into a situation where high schoolers who didn’t pay for a spot in their lots were parking in the middle school teachers’ lot (which is much smaller) and walking through the woods to their school. All of the middle school staff had to be issued parking passes to hang from our rear-view mirrors; cars without the pass were assumed to belong to high schoolers and towed.
Interesting side-note #2 to letting high schoolers drive: One year at our middle school, we had a 7th grader who had been held back a few times throughout her academic career. She had been held back enough times that she would be 16 by the time she starting 8th grade. The student insisted that she be allowed to drive herself to middle school as an 8th grader. Luckily she either never passed her driving test or could not get a car, so it became a none-issue (I never got the full story from the 8th grade teachers, all I know is she may have been 16 but never drove herself to middle school).
bizoticallyyours83@reddit
Sometimes
cappotto-marrone@reddit
Yes. I did in California. My sons did it in Alabama.
ClassicAdhesiveness1@reddit
Yes
Sweaty_Atmosphere503@reddit
Yup
Mazy_keen@reddit
My high school anyone could drive to school. They were transitioning to locking down the parking lot during lunch when I graduated because of the traffic. I think you could still walk off campus.
Pretty_Please1@reddit
There’s no public transit, so your only options is school busses. It actually saves the school money if the students drive because they have less people to pick up on the bus.
Head_Staff_9416@reddit
We had student parking at my suburban high school. My sister and I shared a car starting my junior year. We had closed campus though- you could not leave for lunch. My kids also drove- my daughter was in a carpool and then my daughter and son rode together . It was a more urban area and you had to buy a parking pass which was over $100.
killersoda@reddit
As soon as I got my license and a car, I was never driven to school or anywhere again (except for the first time I had a pot brownie).
Ok-Understanding9244@reddit
Senior year, yeah absolutely, cuz i had a job and got a car at 16 or 17
hike_me@reddit
Yes. Lots of kids have sports practice or other activities after school so they can’t take the bus.
ChickyBaby@reddit
The parents do. Depending upon the temperament of the parent this can be a good or a bad thing. I learned to drive from my father who rode the emergency brake and screamed at me for every minor mistake. But hey it was free.
JohnWa54@reddit
Im old lol. Graduated in the 80s. Student parking lot was huge. Graduating class of 325 ish. Parking lot was stacked up full. At any day of the week, you'd see in the back row of pickups there would be rifles and shotguns hanging in the back window. Walking by cars, you'd see rifles and shotguns tossed across the back seats. We weren't in a very rural part of the state even. Plus we had a covered smoking area for students and faculty. There would be teachers and office people out smoking cigs with the students.
WhompTrucker@reddit
Yup. Once I got my license I drove myself to school
TellurianTech50@reddit
Pretty common honestly, a lot of Americans are driving before 14 and have their license by 14 or 16
SignificantApricot69@reddit
When you are over 16 you don’t really want to ride the bus or have your mommy drop you off. Where/when I grew up it was even common for a bus to service multiple schools and I went to HS that had the Jr High attached so a senior wouldn’t want to ride a bus with 7th graders. If you didn’t have a car you would hope you had a buddy who did.
Of course back in my day a lot of girls still in school had 20something boyfriends who drove them but that’s another subject…
DevilPixelation@reddit
Yeah
theegodmother1999@reddit
yup. i even went to school downtown and was responsible for paying for a parking pass........ for a public school. cute!
Adorable_Dust3799@reddit
I did and many of my friends did. We parked in the students parking lot
iboblaw@reddit
Yep. When my older brother turned 16, my dad got him a $400 car from my uncle. It was used by all us siblings. It wasn't really a gift - it was because we were all in sports after school, so if we didnt have a ride home, my parents would have to pick us up. Not to mention all the other errands we got sent on.
WinterRevolutionary6@reddit
Seniors (17-18 y/o) got priority parking and juniors (16-17) got the leftovers. 16 year old sophomores who could drive didn’t get any priority on the reserve spots. Street parking only.
DarthMutter8@reddit
I think so overall but at my high school only seniors were allowed to drive and not even everyone. There was a lottery for parking passes. Most of my friends either didn't have a car or didn't win the lottery. I got my license at 18 but graduated at 17.
Ok-Thing-2222@reddit
We have middle schoolers with farm permits that drive their trucks to school.
CyanCitrine@reddit
Yes.
ontothebullshit@reddit
Yes. Especially in rural areas. My family technically lived outside of city lines when I was in high school, so we could get permits to drive to school at the age of 14. We used a family car though, we didn’t have our own because we could literally ONLY drive to school with these permits
Ok-Equivalent8260@reddit
I did, starting at 16.
originalslicey@reddit
Yes, especially in the areas depicted in the types of movies you’re talking about. Specifically, suburban middle and upper-middle class communities.
In the 90s, my school had parking lots for all grade levels, but seniors had the best lot. Back then, you could drive yourself to school at 15, so even some freshman had cars. Actually, you can still do this on my state, but don’t know how the high schools handle it today.
Sea-Bill78@reddit
Yes, in California they start driving at age 15.5 with an adult and 16 by themselves. They cannot drive another minor in the car if there is no adult for a period of 1 year. Because we do t have good public transportation and a lot of school buses most parent ask their older children in high school to drive their younger siblings.
Appropriate-Food1757@reddit
Yes
Playful_Question538@reddit
In Southern California we drove to and from school. We even drove to get lunch. We ate outside at school until we could drive and then our parents could sign a release to let us drive to get food for lunch and come back in 45 minutes if I remember correctly.
Efficient_Wheel_6333@reddit
Yep; most students get a driver's license between 16 and 18, depending on your state (some states allow permits-that is, you can drive, but you have to have an adult over a certain age with you in the vehicle-as young as 14, and provisional licenses at 16, where you can drive by yourself during daylight hours, but have other restrictions, like not being able to drive home after a certain hour unless it's from work or a school event and, quite possibly, not being allowed to have passengers under a specific age without having an adult in the vehicle).
Maybeitsmeraving@reddit
It depends a little on where in the country. More sprawling suburban and rural areas it's fairly common. In dense cities its more rare.
OK_Stop_Already@reddit
Yeah once i got a car, I did that. I also got rides home from my friends with their cars instead of taking the bus.
jackfaire@reddit
It was in my high school. The idea of driving was a non-starter for me so I didn't.
Serious-Mongoose-387@reddit
it was very common in my school. i had a zero period class (before school) and sports after school. no public transit in my rural area. i lived 30km from school. there was a school bus but it would have gotten to school after my early class and left again before sports.
if i didn’t drive myself i could not have done my early class or sports.
some other kids had work after school riding the school bus was not at option for them either.
_Internet_Hugs_@reddit
Yes, not all but a lot.
Traveling-Techie@reddit
I did.
UTtransplant@reddit
Driving to high school is very common among suburban and rural communities. It isn’t as common in dense urban areas because those areas have good public transportation and limited parking available. But in my rural state, lots of kids get “school permits” at the age of 14 so they can drive themselves to school or work. These are the only locations they can legally drive to/from, there are restrictions on others in the car, and there are restrictions on the hours of the day they can drive. With both parents working, this kind of license allows the kids to participate in afterschool sports - the busses don’t run after practices, just after the main class times.
CompanyOther2608@reddit
Yep! Super common for juniors and seniors (ages 16-17/18).
Possible-Cicada-9662@reddit
Whete im from, its usually seniors (17-18) driving thenselves and usually you can leave during the last period if its a study hall.
somecow@reddit
Not really, most don’t have cars. But definitely a thing. My old high school even recently built a parking garage.
OkTechnologyb@reddit
Extremely common.
An8thOfFeanor@reddit
My school had two separate parking lots: one for juniors and one for seniors.
the-lovely-panda@reddit
My school had a parking lot that only fit like 20 cars so definitely wasn’t able to have students there. Unfortunately my inner city school only had public bus as a main transit.
moosieq@reddit
I think in most places the typical age to learn to drive is around 16 so not uncommon for 16-18 year olds to drive themselves to and from school.
WowsrsBowsrsTrousrs@reddit
Common in suburbs, rare in cities.
RetiredBSN@reddit
It is common in some areas, but not in others. It often depends on the availability of parking space at the school. For example, in a major city like New York City or Chicago, space is expensive, and there's good public transportation. Usually, students get free passes to use the transportation system to get to school. A school parking lot would be unaffordable to the school district, plus it would add more traffic to already crowded streets.
I went to a regional high school that had students from three separate townships. There was bus transportation for most of us, but some students were old enough to drive and were allowed to drive to school. My youngest daughter could ride a bus to school, but because of after-school activities, coming home on city transporation was not ideal. So we allowed her to drive to school.
MsOnyxMoon@reddit
Depends on the state but yes
Aggravating_Hat4799@reddit
Not in the big cities. I went to NYC high school. We took the subway. Not one kid had a car. No need for one
tarheel_204@reddit
Yes. I was jealous of my little brother because when I was a freshman up until I got my license, my mom drove me. He got to ride with his “cool” older brother and walk from the upperclassmen parking lot haha
Chickadee12345@reddit
If your school is in a city, you probably took public transportation. But in suburban and rural schools it wouldn't be unusual. In my school in a suburban area you were only allowed to park if you had a job after school. I don't remember how strictly this was enforced. Which I did. This was 40 years ago. I don't know what it's like now.
Eureecka@reddit
I rode the bus as a kid but the school I went to is rural and hasn’t passed a levy since I was in school so they don’t offer bussing anymore. If the kids can’t drive themselves, a parent would have to.
trikakeep@reddit
Mainly seniors. Sometimes juniors, but less common.
scratpac4774@reddit
Yes. I grew up in a suburban area, and the school was over capacity. We had so many people that parking spots automatically went to seniors(12th years), and the rest of the spots were given out by lottery to the 10 and 11 years.
When you were selected you paid for a vehicle pass that allowed you to park anywhere that wasn't staff/reserved parking on campus. This meant if you showed up late and some people without parking passes stole spots, or if there were a bunch of visitors, there may not be spots to park before class.
However, seniors could pay extra(I think it was $100 for the year?) to have their own marked spot that no one else was allowed to park in. It was tradition for each senior who had a lot # to paint their spot. I believe this is a tradition in many schools. Some people didn't paint them, but others would make beautiful art, write their names, make political statements, or just write inside jokes. I believe mine had my varsity sports symbols and my JROTC call sign. It's been some time though, so I'm not 100% sure.
Bluemonogi@reddit
Yes it is pretty common. Not every student but many will.
SilverRaincoat@reddit
Most schools have student parking lots
Cautious-Buffalo-182@reddit
It depends on where you live. My town had no public transportation. The high school was 4 miles away surrounded by corn fields and the nearest town with a stoplight was 15 miles in the other direction. I’d say only a handful of kids didn’t have their own car. You had to have one to do any sport or activity after school or have a job.
latelyimawake@reddit
Yes, in most areas it’s the norm.
blessings-of-rathma@reddit
So the "American" part of this question is probably about teenagers owning their own cars, and yes, that's possible, but there are fewer ways to get there than there used to be. It's probably less common now than it was.
When I think about teenagers in movies showing up at school in a car, it's not so much because it's normal for an American teenager to have a car, and more about showing us something about the character. A rich kid whose parents bought him a car might turn up in the car to show off, and to show up the poor kid who drives a barely-held-together junker or takes public transit. If you don't want to make a statement about socioeconomic class in your movie, I bet you aren't showing these kids driving cars, because unless the movie is about car culture (e.g. Grease, which revolved around street racing), the main reason to show teenagers driving cars is to show their level of wealth and their social status.
In real life, there are certainly places in America where you live far enough from your school that you can't realistically walk there, and where public transit is nonexistent. If you live in a sparsely populated rural or suburban place, your school is likely to have parking places for cars. You'd have to be old enough to have a driver's license and drive by yourself (in some places beginner drivers under a certain age are required to have a fully licensed adult in the car with them). Your parents could buy you a car, or they could give/lend you their car, or you could save up your money and buy a junker. If none of those are an option, you ride the school bus.
Any kid is going to feel societal pressure to learn to drive and to own a car as soon as they can, because cars are king in America, but it's not always necessary.
YoshiandAims@reddit
Yeah.
In rural areas where I spent half my time growing up, it was a necessity.
As soon as you could drive and had access to a car, you became responsible for getting yourself to school, work, extracurriculars, help out with minor things. Especially in households where both parents worked, one parent households, or folks who had farms.
Some upperclassmen would join the volunteer fire dept. Would get paged and need to drive to the station.
(*This was a rare privilege for students at the time, like Votech (a trade school you could take alongside your high school classes) BUT, a kid in my class got caught faking the need to leave campus for "fire calls"... and they did away with the program entirely after that.*)
The bus ride was often an hour or an hour and a half long. Driving helped cut that down.
JBeeWX@reddit
My Catholic High School didn’t have buses when I went there. No usable public transportation then either. This was in the 90’s. Upperclassmen got parking spots.
corrosivecanine@reddit
Yes. I couldn’t drive so I carpooled with two friends to school and then took the train home with another friend. You could request a parking spot in the school’s parking lot for a small fee.
furniguru@reddit
It’s important to note that by American high school standards, we are talking about students driving to school beginning at 16 years old.
Spirited_Season2332@reddit
100%. If you don't live in a big city, I'd say most juniors and seniors drive themselves to school everyday
Thick_Cookie_7838@reddit
Yea, I drove to school as a freshman
EmperorGeek@reddit
My daughter drove herself as a Senior in High School. She inherited an old Toyota Corolla from her Geandparents and nicknamed it “Roachie” because nothing seemed to kill it. It had a Manual transmission sonar had to learn how to drive it. It was her ticket to freedom.
Common-Independent-9@reddit
Yes, but only juniors and seniors (grade 11 and 12) were allowed to drive to school. We all got our own assigned parking spots too
DasBoggler@reddit
It's very common. Buses can be overcrowded and have very inefficient routes because of zoning. Driving time to my highschool was 15 minutes. Bus route would be at least an hour.
Substantial-Train-39@reddit
I’m not sure if it’s always been like that but I graduated in 1976 and we were driving ourselves then.
LabInner262@reddit
When I went to high school, you drove to school if you had a car and a license. Supposed to park in a designated lot a half block from school. I was running late for class one day and snuck into the faculty parking area. All was well til school ended. I backed into the principal’s car. He never found out who left that huge scratch & dent in his car. But I worried about it until after graduation.
Innuendo64_@reddit
Yes, unless it's an inner-city school
HudsonYardsIsGood@reddit
Or a university lab school. There are at least three in the state of Illinois (at UChicago, UIUC, and ISU). High school students there generally do not drive themselves because there's no parking.
Source: I was one of these students and only drove for nighttime extracurriculars (theatre etc.) when street parking was free.
Zaidswith@reddit
Yes
TrittipoM1@reddit
Yes, at least for those old enough to have driver’s licenses — generally juniors or seniors.
Obviously, whether any given student does so is dependent on family income, how many cars the family owns, convenience of other modes of travel (just because one could drive doesn’t mean that driving’s the best choice), etc.
MizzGee@reddit
We could drive to school, but couldn't leave for lunch. In fact, we were in a farming community, so we often drove years before we actually had driver's licenses.
Apprehensive-Pop-201@reddit
Yes. Very common.
phonesmahones@reddit
I grew up in the city. There’d be nowhere to park. We would hoof it or take the T.
Imaginary-Duck1333@reddit
My highschool let you leave for lunch. A bunch of people did have cars and you had to pay for a parking slot. I never bothered as I didn’t have a car, and little money to be buying fast food everyday. Homemade lunches were paid by my parents. Fast food was my $. The high school I interned in one city over was similar. The risk was if you left your space, some visiting parent or whomever would park in your spot. Then you got to play hide and seek for parking spot.
InviteForsaken2857@reddit
Probably depends on where you live but it's not unusual at all. Most get their license at 16. It may be rare in a big city like New York where parking is at a premium but in suburbs and less dense cities very common.
SpellVast@reddit
Yes. We had school buses, but I liked being able to hang with my friends after school.
misagale@reddit
nearly mandatory unless they are in a big city with excellent public transport.
Far-Drawing-4444@reddit
Yeah, it's pretty common for kids to drive themselves to school once they can drive.
The cars usually don't look like the ones in the movies, though. Even in relatively rich areas, most high school kids are driving older, used cars.
The suburb system in the US was actually designed to force reliance on cars to boost corporate profits, so in many areas, cars are a necessity, not a luxury.
Deep_Cellist_4488@reddit
Common enough to the point that run of the mill sized high schools around here (Denver, Colorado) have student parking lots that can run up to a few hundred parking spots.
A lot of high schools around here have at least 2000 students each.
And it varies by state, but in Colorado you can get a drivers license as young as 16, which gives you usually about 2 years of high school where you could be legal to drive…but the catch is you can have only so many kids around the same age in the car with you until you turn 18.
Since I was one of the older kids in my class in high school due to being born RIGHT after the cut off for the previous year, I actually turned 16 a month after I started my 10th grade year, meaning I could drive for nearly 3 full years of high school. I didn’t, because I couldn’t afford a car, but I would have been legally able to.
And yes, the bit about American kids often being taught to drive in a high school parking lot by their parents is 100% true. I learned that way, especially how to handle a car in snow since in Denver you can get snow in any month of the year except July and August.
Cars are a huge part of American society, because the country is so dang big. Some cities are super spread out too, I can drive to the airport barely leaving Denver city limits and the round trip is still around 62 miles or 100 kilometers.
stevehrowe2@reddit
If you or your parents could afford an extra vehicle. I went to a lower income urban school and it was about 20 to 30 percent iirc
MiddlePop4953@reddit
Oh yeah, I lived miles out of town and had a job from jr year on, so it just made more sense to drive myself to school and then drive myself home. A lot of other students did the same. I lived in a rural area, no public transport to speak of.
Horizontal_Bob@reddit
Outside of cities, most of America is suburban or rural
If you don’t have a vehicle, you’re stuck riding the school bus with the elementary and middle school kids
patty202@reddit
Yes
ObjectiveOk2072@reddit
Outside of dense urban areas, yes
TechnicalBattle950@reddit
Its common, but I dont feel like it was a majority of those aged 16 to 18.
hideandsee@reddit
Yee. I drove myself in sr year every day. In junior year for half the year
Call_Me_Papa_Bill@reddit
Depends on the location of the school and surrounding area. In urban areas maybe more likely to walk to school. I went to school in a very rural area where I was 20 miles from my high school and bus ride might be over an hour, but the ly a 20 minute drive on back roads. If your family could afford a car for you to drive it was much more convenient - especially if you played sports or were involved in other after school activities.
Prize_Consequence568@reddit
"Is it common for American high school students to drive themselves to school?"
Let me guess. OP thinks this based off of movies and TV?
"I’ve always seen in American movies and shows"
And there you go.... Sigh 🤦🤦♂️
mentalbackflip@reddit
I graduated in the 80s and there were so many older muscle cars in the parking lot. A bunch of dodge darts too cuz they were cheap and never died. It was a suburban HS so we had a big parking lot.
jh789-2@reddit
It depends on where you live. But in suburbs, it’s very normal. This is, of course, assuming the family has the means to purchase a car.
Murderhornet212@reddit
At my school most of the seniors and some of the juniors did.
Maurice_Foot@reddit
Sure, I drove my 10 speed to school, all four years.
At my school, kids would get a new car or mini-pickup truck for junior prom (mid-1980s). Only reason I went to this countryclub high school was my mom was a teacher there. Nothing like being a poor brown kid with a bunch of rich white kids in the south.
46tcraft@reddit
Yes. I have three kids and I bought cars for each of them to use once they learned to drive. They each drove themselves to school every day. The exchange students we hosted thought it was awesome that they got to ride to school each day with our kids from their host family.
NYOB4321@reddit
When I was in high school. Occasionally I would go home with my girlfriend for a "nooner". My parents both were working. I don't remember if we had time to eat lunch.
Nooner means sex around noon.
Ryan1869@reddit
Yes, I've even got friends that grew up in small towns that were driving to school before they got their license.
kartoffel_engr@reddit
Incredibly common, though probably more so outside of large dense cities.
Tisalaina@reddit
Absolutely. Montana in the 70s. You could get a license at 14y6mo. I think seniors had reserved spots in the parking lot. We also had open lunch, so everyone would go driving around. There was one kid who kept a keg in the back of his mom's old beater station wagon. He was popular. If you didn't have a car, you hoped you had friends who did. Only losers rode the bus in high school. Every kid's car was a beater POS.
GrannyTurtle@reddit
I did - but that was the 1970s…
botulizard@reddit
It's common in that there are kids at every school who drive themselves, but also not every kid of driving age drives themselves. My school had two student parking lots, but even combined they couldn't possibly have accommodated everybody.
Crochet_Corgi@reddit
Yes, school districts are big in some areas and public transport sucks.
Surprised-elephant@reddit
Pretty much every junior and senior at my high school did.
Castronautik@reddit
I grew up in a small rural area, graduated in 2003. Most kids drove to school by the time they were seniors. In out area the school bus only took kids from out of city bounds to and from school, and because this was a small area the elementry, middle, and high school, all shared the same busses/routes. In town kinds would either walk, ride bike, get a ride from parents, or drive themselves.
Kids lucky enough to have rich parents to buy them cars got them probably when they got their drivers license (which you could get at 15 in my state). Or the rest of us would usually have an after school job and buy a cheap car for like $500.
Duncan-Edwards@reddit
I’m a little older, but when I was in high school if you were a guy and did not have a car, you might as well be missing some important body parts. You would not have a chance with girls. From the age of 16 on every boy had to have his own car. My first one wasn’t much, but it was mine.
YourOwnPunkyBrewster@reddit
Yes, most schools will even allow kids with just a permit (so usually 15, not an official driver yet) even drive by themselves to school. As soon as you had the ability—you drove, you were considered a loser if you rode the bus in highschool.
StoneyLaw830@reddit
Yes! Especially pre-pandemic when you could get a used car pretty cheaply. America has long distances snd lots of congestion so it’s easier for parents of kids can drive themselves and sometimes younger siblings.
SheShelley@reddit
Yes. At my high school not everyone had a car, but there was always someone to get a ride from. (And on a side note to earlier comments, none of us were allowed to leave campus for lunch because too many people came back stoned or not at all when it was allowed.)
mostlygray@reddit
Yes. I drove to school often back in the day. It was handy. My bus ride was 45 minutes. I could drive to school in under 20 minutes.
Mysterious-Cod-5767@reddit
Yes, in some areas of the US. Less common in other areas. It very much depends on where you live.
five_two@reddit
Yes, I started driving to my high school at 15 years old.
Aloh4mora@reddit
Yes. I started driving to school at 15.
BadPom@reddit
Yes. My son starts high school next year, and while I understand that he and his peers will likely start driving at 16 (Junior year ish), my psyche was not ready for this information. Roughly half the school drives themselves or rides with a friend who does.
18 year olds can check themselves out for the day. That one was a kick in the teeth.
stiletto929@reddit
Yeah, if the student has a license and a car. (16+ but varies by state.) My kids could already have graduated if they wanted due to taking advanced courses, but are just doing a course or two a semester now, so just leave school for the day before lunch.
NobodyCares818@reddit
Yep! Very normal.
nancylyn@reddit
When I was in high school in the ‘80’s we had one small lot for student parking. Now at my HS they have two large lots for students and still the cars are parked on the road up to a half a mile away. So I’d say that, yes, high school students drive to school.
EaglesFanGirl@reddit
For some Juniors and most seniors, yes, it's very common or you get driven by someone with a car. I drove every day my senior year.
Belgrifex@reddit
Yeah. I rode the bus though since it was an hour long ride so I could sleep lmao
shaitanthegreat@reddit
At my HS there was zero bussing and no parking so 99% of students either walked or got rides. The 1% were the ones with cars who did have to move them around during the day to avoid getting a ticket since students weren’t issued parking permits like the teachers were.
The joys of urban living. But don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining.
Positive-Fondant5897@reddit
Yes. We had a student parking lost. A lot of juniors and seniors drove themselves. It also helped students who had after school activities. They could drive themselves home.
aquay@reddit
yes. the lot was always full. i learn to drive until i was 20, though. i walked to school or took the bus.
Thereelgerg@reddit
Yes
ambiguousalmond@reddit
Yep. At my high school you’d buy a parking spot for the year. The greatest day of my junior year was getting my license in the morning and my parents surprising me at lunch with the keys to my car and a parking spot in the lot lol
lonestar659@reddit
Yes I drove to school junior and senior year.
Unique_Ad_3312@reddit
We didn’t have school buses in my district, and only one high school so many kids lived too far away to walk. Parents drove you or you carpooled with neighbors. Then most everyone drove once they got their license.
PistachioPerfection@reddit
Yes, and I have a poignant and vivid memory about it. The year I graduated, we got out of school about a week before the school year was actually over. We had to go back to the school during that week sometime though, to pick up our cap and gown for the graduation ceremony.
I loved high school. I drove to the school that day, found a decent spot in the parking lot, went in to collect the goods and went back to my car. The parking lot was packed full, and suddenly it hit me like a brick. This was it. I'd never be back. Never have to look for a spot in this lot, packed with classmates. Never even drive this direction again.
So I sat in my car and cried. Probably for about ten minutes. Then pulled myself together and started the car. As I backed slowly out of my very last high school parking spot, I noticed someone else was already waiting for it. I pulled away and watched as she literally took my place. It still brings a tear to my eye.
largos7289@reddit
yup
Darkdragoon324@reddit
If their parents give them/let them use a car.
Most kids get their license through a school class when they're 15/16. But they don't all necessarily have access to a car after that.
I carpooled with other kids in the neighborhood until I got mine, then I got to use the family car because my dad had his midlife crisis and bought a sport car so it was available.
TeekTheReddit@reddit
I went to high school in a rural district. My school was in a different county.
I drove.
Satsuki7104@reddit
Depends on the state I think but in California where nobody uses public transportation, we have student parking in the high schools.
Jasminegrace8527@reddit
Yes! As long as you don’t get in trouble, it’s a privilege. Some schools even let students paint their own parking spot! Which I think is super cool.
ray_ruex@reddit
A lot of kids do drive, but not all. In the US driving is kinda like a rite of passage. More of a status symbol than anything. Kids from lesser income families usually don't have their own car unless they have a good job and are able to save their money. Many kids will usually get the family handy down car. Where a few from upper income families will get their own. It's not usually for students to drive nicer cars than the teachers especially in more affluent school districts.
Bright_Ad_3690@reddit
Yes
Big-Preparation-7678@reddit
The way it worked at my school, you paid for a parking permit at the beginning of the year - so I was only able to drive my senior year, because I got my license in my junior year.
This worked out well, because I got early release in my last year for work/early college classes. The traffic jam at the end of the school day was horrendous, so if I was sitting in it I was on a bus.
Ill-Lou-Malnati@reddit
I was in high school in the 80’s. We had a pretty big student lot where any student could park for free. We had a parking lot monitor. I bought weed off him lol.
Neb-Nose@reddit
Yes, it is extremely common.
Clearshade31@reddit
In my school everyone in there Junior (11th) and Senior (12th) all have personal parking spots and they drive to school every day, its rather rare to see a lot of upperclassmen on the busses, idk if my school is an exception but its definitely the norm for my school.
JoeInMD@reddit
That was the norm when I was in high school, and is still the norm now for my daughter who is a senior this year.
Fire_Mission@reddit
Very common.
blackhawk905@reddit
Yep, super common. Where I went to high school the nearby churches and businesses would rent out spots to students who didn't get a parking permit. I started driving myself to school late sophomore year I believe and parked off campus then got a parking spot junior and senior year. It was super convenient since I did marching band and drum line so most of the year I'd be staying late multiple times a week and would need a ride and I could also drop off and pickup siblings when they were in middle and high school.
Street_Sand_8788@reddit
Surprisingly yes. I was one of the only seniors still taking the bus to school in my time.
Groupthink00859@reddit
Was pretty common for kids when I went to high school.
cmh_ender@reddit
yes. in my town, seniors even had their own lot, which was kind of fun.
Reliant20@reddit
I did, and so did most of my classmates.
ActionJackson75@reddit
Yeah pretty common. Probably more of the upperclassmen drove than all the other options. I rode to school my first year of high school in the trunk of my brothers friends car
Throwaway9902111415@reddit
Yep. In my state kids can get school permits at 14. My neighbor kids drive themselves to school at 14 despite having a bus stop on the corner and being within biking distance of the school. It's an absolute no for me and my kids. It's dangerous, impractical, and irresponsible in my opinion.
TinySparklyThings@reddit
Very common. A lot of schools have designated student parking areas. Sometimes with assigned spots, sometimes not. In some areas, like North Texas, it's a tradition that seniors pay for an assigned spot (usually in the 'best' or most convenient area of the lot) and they are encouraged to paint their spot. They have days set aside in the summer for the kids to come paint, and it can be a whole event. It's so popular that there's even professionals you can hire to paint your spot for you, which is a new level of ridiculous imo.
vonnegutfan2@reddit
Me, my brother, my sister and my neighbor across the street, all in a carpool.
CODMAN627@reddit
Yes
JonOrangeElise@reddit
I did as soon as I turned 16. Super common in the suburbs. No need/not practical in cities.
Realreelred@reddit
I went to a small school outside of a large Midwest city. Yes, we all car pooled to high school as long as soon as we were old enough. My ride was with one of my best friends at the time. He lived down the street and we rode in a 66' VW bug he inherited from his grandfather. However, the experience was nothing like what is portrayed in Hollywood movies.
Donald_J_Duck65@reddit
Very. They may take turns with friends too.
Gloomy-Difference-51@reddit
I had to ride the school bus until I got my license, but yes.
Pernicious_Possum@reddit
Yup.
Gilded-Mongoose@reddit
Yep. Usually juniors and seniors, once they're old enough and get their license.
Reddituser45005@reddit
Wait till you learn about drive your tractor to school day
https://youtube.com/shorts/ssxf7viztLY?si=MEMf_ohAT05M2UhQ
jessek@reddit
It was at my high school, we had two whole parking lots for students and one for the teachers. I lived two blocks away so I always walked because it was pretty silly to drive.
chrlsful@reddit
kids are through out the whole spectrum (financial, geography, interests, wants/needs, etc) in a very big country. More specific Qs get better/more specific answers. 8\^ )
Porschenut914@reddit
depends on state. some are 17 and then you need a car. i would say about 2/3 of my senior class had cars
Franziska-Sims77@reddit
My parents wouldn’t let me get my license until I was 20! But, obviously, most teenagers don’t have overprotective, controlling parents like mine. I just wanted to make everyone aware that not all teenagers are lucky enough to drive at 16!
Competitive-Pie-Eate@reddit
Yes- all my kids did it (3). In fave even in middle school they were leaving mid day for lunch.
MydogsnameisChewy@reddit
Very common. All of my children had their own car in high school ( used ).
Ccrawfisshh@reddit
As early as 10th grade you could park on a school lot, though it was mostly 11th and 12th graders where I went to high school.
captaincheem@reddit
As soon as youre old enough youre expected to get a car and drive yourself. Most are excited and eager to do it. Id say 80% of my senior class was driving themselves. Sometimes there's financial reasons or other reasons people won't but most do
turdferguson3891@reddit
I think that's highly dependent on the area. I grew up in an affluent SoCal suburb and maybe half the upperclassmen did. But I and a lot of my friends didn't have cars and it was a short walk anyway. I live across from a hs in a more urban area and most of the kids walk or get dropped off by parents or take the bus.
Kaakoii@reddit
Got my license a couple weeks after I turned 16. Was one of the first in 10th grade to have my license and be able to drive to school. At my high school we had two parking lots just for student parking.
jmagnabosco@reddit
Yes we can get parking passes once we're 16 and driving ourselves especially when we are involved in sports stuff.
No-Carry4971@reddit
Extremely common once they turn 16. I drove ti school every day my junior and senior years, and the huge parking lot was always full. All my kids drove to school as well.
AtheneSchmidt@reddit
Very, as soon as I got my licence I was driving my sister and myself to school daily. Our school had a lottery for parking spaces every semester. I dropped off and picked up friends a lot, too.
Individual_Tax_4224@reddit
When I was growing up, yes. Lots of kids got to skip school to take their driver’s test the day of their 16th birthday, and many of them got a car as a present. If a wealthy family, a new car, if a middle-class family an old, used one, sometimes with only a little bit of life left in it. If lower middle class/working class, then no car, but that wasn’t the norm in my neighborhood. If you didn‘t have your own car, you’d try to get a friend or friends to drive you every day.
Arrowdodgingace@reddit
Yeah once you hit junior and senior year (11th and 12th grade respectively).
DummyThiccDude@reddit
Yep. Its a lot more convenient, especially if you do any after school activities like sports.
muchquery@reddit
Not in my experience. (1989-1993)
Nearly everyone took the buses. Perhaps it was because we were all poor. We were also fenced in, so no one could just leave for lunch. The only ones who could leave early on their own were those in a program with special permission to go to work during school hours.
Formal-Telephone5146@reddit
Very Common
jvc1011@reddit
Yes. It is why our drinking age is so high, btw.
notsosecretshipper@reddit
Yes. Pretty much as soon as you get your license and a car, you stop riding the bus. My kids high school doesn't have bus service at all, so it's on each family to figure out out. That usually results in the kids staying to carpool as soon as the first friend has their license.
rahah2023@reddit
Yes
Practical-West-6763@reddit
Absolutely. My high school was a 25 minute drive from home. 1.5 hour ride on the bus. I had a 5:15 pickup for a 7:10 start. So once I was able, I got a car so I could sleep in longer.
redcoral-s@reddit
Yes. My high school had limited parking slots so they made it $120 for a parking pass. Seniors who wanted passes got them, then the juniors got the remaining spots via lottery
capsrock02@reddit
If they have a car and license yes.
mrshyphenate@reddit
Yep
SmokinHotNot@reddit
Not for us. That was '65-'68 for me. That would require 3 separate vehicles. Not many families could afford that.
PinchedTazerZ0@reddit
Yeah, senior year you could paint your parking spot even
Kind of a scam to get money out of students but also a fun way to express yourself
ChunkyHabeneroSalsa@reddit
I just had my buddy drive us lol
EyeCantSeeMyFeelings@reddit
Not in my village. Some of the farm kids drive but our town is so small most of the kids walk. A lot ride their bikes when the weather is nice. Most of them hate the bus because it is a long drive picking up all the kids from out in the sticks and it's faster to walk.
Glad_Net_3430@reddit
It is very common. It is either drive or take the bus. Many students prefer driving. At least then you have more time and don’t have to wait outside in the cold.
At my school the seniors got a separate parking area. They can pay to have their own parking spot that they are allowed to paint. When the spot is pained no one is allowed to park their expect for the person who painted it.
FangornAcorn@reddit
Where I'm from, during senior year lots of the students drive their tractors
Trimyr@reddit
I'd say very mixed, and dependent on the area. I didn't for a long time, like a lot, by virtue of not having a car. This was a mid-sized city. Some of my friends did early on, but typically older used cars. There was a separate 'senior parking lot', as it became more common as you age. But the "You're 16 so here's your car!" thing doesn't really happen.
Chewiedozier567@reddit
Depends on the location, but generally yes. I grew up in a rural, farming community, most of the people I knew drove themselves to school. But most of us had been driving for years, helping with moving tractors and farm trucks .
Guruski2001@reddit
Super common OP, you should see the student parking lot at a high school.
GracieLou540@reddit
Even back in the late 70s, we drove ourselves to school.
ShesGotaChicken2Ride@reddit
Yep. We even have separate parking lots for students and teachers
lolaveux@reddit
Yes mostly Juniors and Seniors just because that’s when the grades that are normally old enough for a license. Parking spots and availability is also a big deal at many schools. For instance Juniors will have to park in a lot further away from the main school or there will be a lottery every year for spots closer to the school.
Fickle_Waltz_2211@reddit
I did starting my junior year of high school. Drove my parents old beat up pick up with 400k miles on it. Loved that truck.
seajayacas@reddit
Nowadays it would seem that quite a few parents feel it is obligatory to get their kid their own car after they turn 16 and get a driver's license.
Of course trendy and hip 16 year olds don't want to drive and prefer to hang with the urbanist movement that is popular for now at least on Reddit.
ITrCool@reddit
My dad grew up attending rural county schools almost all of his life (except during a couple grades in middle school, where they lived in a small town that had a school within its limits). Grandpa was a travelling preacher, and they moved a lot (usually every 2-5 years), with his dad preaching mostly in small rural churches way out in the farmland.
He rode the bus to school most years until he got his driver's license. Then he got his first ever car. A 1970s beat-up Pontiac station wagon. He said it sucked and burned oil like crazy, but it ran and it was his. He drove it to high school during his junior and senior years and his first year in college before he traded it in for a small hatch back.
Zealousideal_Sir_264@reddit
Hell, in a certain small idaho town they would drive their snow machines to school. Im sure they are driving sxs's these days.
cincinn_audi@reddit
Yes.
marla-M@reddit
Yes. Both of our kids drove their senior years. My oldest especially had such a busy extra curricular schedule we basically forced him to get his license so we could stop driving him to school early and late pick ups
Educational-Ad-385@reddit
My brother and I both drove ourselves to high school once we reached age 16 and got a license. Our parents gifted us each and old but dependable car.
MM_in_MN@reddit
In my high school, only Juniors and Seniors could drive. Juniors got the crappy spots in the dirt parking lot, which was further away and always full of puddles and mud. Seniors got the closer spots in the paved lot next to the teachers lot.
I would say 50% of juniors and seniors would drive, I graduated in a class of 650.
mouse_Jupiter@reddit
My brother was gifted a car for his birthday (a hand-me-down, used to be my mom’s car) and started driving himself to school but he rarely gave his siblings a ride, we still had to catch the bus.
Theyallknowme@reddit
Yes. Most high schools even have student parking lots.
Kids can get their provisional driver license at 16 so they usually are driving themselves to school in 11-12th grades.
kabekew@reddit
Yes, many high schools have a big student parking lot.
nodigbity@reddit
In some states kids can start driving themselves to school and related activities after they take driver's Ed. My kid will be 14 this summer, is taking driver's Ed in July and 6 months later will be able to drive to school.
Fecapult@reddit
I haven't attended high school in 30 years but when I did everyone was trying to either drive to school or get rides to school. Taking the bus was the social kiss of death for junior and senior year.
Emotional-Dog8118@reddit
Yup. Drove to school my senior year. 1982.
Mindless_Earth_2807@reddit
Not here in NY.
509RhymeAnimal@reddit
depends on where you live but a majority of kids living in rural and suburban areas drive themselves to school. My brother and SIL were super happen when my nieces started getting their own licenses, drastically cut down on the amount of driving the girls around they had to do.
allaboutmojitos@reddit
Suburbs- seniors (last year of high school) are usually allowed to drive themselves. Sometimes they need to buddy up with a friend or share a parking spot
ZedisonSamZ@reddit
Yes. As soon as I got my license and my first piece of shit car I was driving to school. Made it easier to ditch campus, too. I feel bad for the new generations because they fenced the parking lot and installed security checkpoints after I graduated.
Beruthiel999@reddit
In rural areas, yes.
There was only one high school in my whole county and it was about 15 miles away from my house, and other students were coming from farther away from that. Of course you drove if it was was possible. There was a school bus but because of all the stops it could take an hour or more for what should be a 20-minute drive. I never rode it again once I got my license at 16. (Drove a hand me down car older than me, but it did the job)
Wheatcattle@reddit
I had a school permit when I was 14 in a rural area that allowed me to drive solely to and from school on the most direct route
hoodiegirl10@reddit
I could take a bus but after I got my license and my car I stopped so I could sleep in longer. I lived at the edge of the district and the fastest/most direct route to school was through another school district.
Embarrassed-Lead6471@reddit
Yes. Once I got a license, my high school issued me a parking pass. Almost every student drove themselves once of age.
ExplanationNo8603@reddit
Yeah gets us ready for driving to work.
We even drive tractors and ride horses to school
notaskindoctor@reddit
Where I grew up, we’d also ride our snowmobiles to school in the winter.
lifeisfascinatingly_@reddit
Yes, and we left campus for lunch. Everyone I knew got a car for our 16th birthday.
Jolee5@reddit
Duh, yes. Everyday. Oh yeah, I forgot, only the cool ones with cars.
Jakaple@reddit
I got my school permit when I was 14
Severe-Reality5546@reddit
Yes. Most high schools have a parking lot specifically for student parking.
Ok-Walk-8040@reddit
Yeah it’s very common. Most Americans can get their license sometime in their Sophomore or Junior year. It’s not uncommon to seniors to get to leave school early around lunch time
theycallmethevault@reddit
For seniors, sometimes juniors, yes.
TSunamiWaves979@reddit
My buddy drove himself to middle school.
Gloomy-Ask-9437@reddit
Yes. I did high school full-time, college part-time, and did a lot of extracurricular activities, so as soon as I could drive to school (as a junior), I did. The bus also SUCKED omg the other kids were so mean.
AbiWil1996@reddit
Yes. Starting sophomore year at the school I went to, you can drive
-_FearBoner_-@reddit
Very common. I bought my first car when I was 13, special licenses are available for farm kids and certain circumstances, but most kids start driving around 16. In nicer weather it's common to ride motorcycles or scooters too, as they're usually cheaper.
wildlifetech@reddit
I got myself to school on my own from first grade through graduation. Elementary and middle on foot, early high school on a city bus then my own car.
SecretBlue92@reddit
Our school district didn't even run busses in city limits, so you either drove, begged a friend who drove, or suffered 😂 Everyone showed up in a vehicle and a lot of students had cars at sixteen. Students who lived far out of town could get a hardship license at 14 and drive themselves to school.
EffectiveRelief9904@reddit
Absolutely yes, as soon as we get our license (and a car) we do. The city boys probably don’t though No need.
Untimed_Heart313@reddit
I drove myself to school almost every day my last two years of HS, and most of my friends did as well. A lot of high schoolers have jobs, and it would be a massive hassle to ride the bus home, then get a ride from your parents who may not be home, and then also be picked up again
Ntm teenage years are when kids start discovering who they are, as well as begin to learn about adult life (even if just a little). Cars and driving are important parts of that
Sufficient_Cod1948@reddit
Very common. My school had a designated student parking lot.
Vivid_Bookkeeper_937@reddit
Yes, my kids’ school doesn’t offer bussing to hs kids and our road is too busy with no sidewalks, plus they’d have to walk/bike 2 miles
BuildNuyTheUrbanGuy@reddit
Yeah after a certain age or grade. Almost everyone in my senior class had cars.
KrevinHLocke@reddit
Yes. My high school was 15 miles away. I rode the bus the 1st 2 years and drove a car the last 2 years.
GooseNYC@reddit
In the suburbs, yes.
CraftyFraggle@reddit
Yes. Outside of cities where transportation is more readily available, high school students (especially juniors and seniors) often drive themselves.
The high school my children attend doesn’t offer bussing.
hitemwita@reddit
Yes very common
Efflux@reddit
Yes, it is common. Typically Senior classmen will drive to school, or have a friend drive them to school if they are able. America has a big car culture and it's much "cooler" to drive.
Schools usually have a dedicated parking lot. It's sometimes limited in space, but students will also park in roads nearby the school if they don't have a permit.
nonother@reddit
Yes in suburban and rural communities. Not in urban ones. High school students here in San Francisco mostly take public transit to/from school.
TehWildMan_@reddit
When I was growing up, yes
Some of our school bus routes were well over an hour and a half long, so even if class started at 8, you're already on a bus around 6am, and that gets intolerable for many.
Plus school buses were usually crowded as heck.
Sweet_One_2004@reddit
Yup. I drove to school in high school and so did all my friends. The school has a parking lot for mainly juniors and seniors.
DesperateGanache7684@reddit
at my school at least yeah id say half my grade does, im trying to lock in and get my licesnse this summer so i can maybe get a cheap car or drive a patents car and join them cus ive been feeling left out lowkey
Jub1982@reddit
Yes. Especially in the suburbs and rural areas.