A Scary Prospect -- What to do?

Mary and I have tried very hard to treat flying as an uncommon -- but
perfectly normal -- family activity, and that's all my kids have ever
known.
My 14-year-old son has 13 hours in his logbook, and can climb, descend and
hold altitude, track a heading, determine the proper runway to land on,
and
(I suspect) probably land the plane -- although I've never let him get
below
200 feet on final approach. To him, flying a light plane is no greater
challenge than beating the latest Playstation game, and going for a plane
ride is something he's done over 400 times in his short life...

Thus, we hope he'll be taking flight lessons this summer, assuming all
goes
well with his grades. He thinks he's ready, and I hope he earns his
glider
rating before next school year starts.

All well and good, but the magnitude of this endeavor had truly not sunk
in
until he quite innocently said:

"Just think, Dad, in two years I'll be able to take a date out in the
plane!"

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I just laughed -- but this brings
up
a serious point that I've never seen addressed here. For those of you who
own aircraft, and have kids that have learned to fly, how did you handle
"borrowing the plane"? I mean, it's not quite the same as letting him
take
the pickup down to the corner grocery...

Do you guys let your kids fly your plane?
--

It all depends on the maturity and responsibility of the person, and so
nobody can answer this question for you. As with any responsibility and
freedom given to kids, you start small and expand, building trust in small
steps. But never underestimate the potential stupidity of a teenager.

"Doofus" wrote --

It all depends on the maturity and responsibility of the person, and so
nobody can answer this question for you. As with any responsibility and
freedom given to kids, you start small and expand, building trust in small
steps. But never underestimate the potential stupidity of a teenager.

I'll have to go with that. Add responsibility slowly, building trust.
Still, it is all your call. My kids have made good choices throughout their
lives, and I have to attribute that to the values they grew up with.

I really did read something lately, that the dangerous driving group of
males between 18 and 25, is in large part due to their brain development.
This study said that the part of the brain that assesses risk, is not fully
developed until the age of 25.

My theory is that to help get them through that, you have to spell out
acceptable and unacceptable risks, situation, by situation, so they will not
have to think about making a decision, as it has already been discussed, and
made. You can never anticipate all of the situations, but you can come
close. That is really all that training comes down to, right?
--
Jim in NC