It’s 6:00 a.m. on a Monday morning. The sunshine peeks through my blinds when all of a sudden, the beeping of my alarm clock startles me awake. I get dressed and brush my hair, pulling the strands off my face. In a hurry, I check the time. It’s 6:30 a.m. and I have to be down in 20 minutes. There in the driveway is my dad’s car, which I promptly jump into as I greet him with a smile.

 “Good morning, Elizabeth,” he says, just like he does every morning. “How’d you sleep?”

 I reply with just a nod and instantly doze off in my chair, the headrest cradling my head. I sleep for a good 20 minutes of the car ride when suddenly, I jolt awake. My stomach growls as we speed down the highway and instantly I am overwhelmed. 

“Oh my god! I forgot to eat breakfast and finish my English homework!” I shriek at my father. He shakes his head and lets out a low chuckle. “It’s ok, Elizabeth. I’m driving you so we can stop for a quick breakfast at Chick-fil-A and you can finish your English homework for the rest of the ride,” he compassionately says. 

I sigh in relief as we turn the corner and pull into Chick-fil-A. There is a leap of excitement in my stomach when I finally get the delicious food in my hands. I eat and finish my homework just as we pull into the St. Pius X parking lot. I strut into school, with my head held high as I walk into my first period English class. My English teacher approaches the front and asks for everyone’s homework, and I gladly hand her my piece of paper I finished five minutes ago. 

I think to myself, “Thank goodness I didn’t drive to school today, or else I wouldn’t have been able to get some extra rest, some nutrition in my body, and get my homework done.” 

None of this would have been possible if I was driving myself to school. While some look forward to driving, I think that being driven is superior to any form of transportation. You can do many tasks at your leisure, such as sleeping, eating, going on your phone, doing work, etc. When being driven, I am so much more productive, resulting in a more beneficial day. 

Freshman Bella Perez agrees, saying, “I would so rather be driven, there is so much more I can do rather than having to constantly keep my eyes on the road and be focused.”

Perez is absolutely correct. Anyone who would choose to drive to school is insane. 

Junior Luke Urban echoed Perez.

“I would rather be driven, I’m going to have to drive so much out of high school that I take any chance given to me to be driven around,” he said.

Also on the correct side of this debate is sophomore Brooke Leeth.

“I would absolutely rather be driven,” she said. “Driving is scary, especially at first. People are psycho on the road, and I constantly feel like I’m going to get hit.” 

This is something I think everyone can agree with. People on the roads are crazy! It’s like you’re living in their world. Your time means absolutely nothing to them. To be honest, when I drive to school I can barely switch lanes, and I see at least three crashes every morning. And don’t even get me started on the road rage. 

Sophomore Parker Scott knows exactly what I’m talking about. 

“Driving is fun, but after a while, it gets pretty boring. Half the time I’m terrified because it’s like everyone on the roads has road rage they can’t control. I’m constantly scared,” she explained.

 So many teens agree with this statement, including me. When people look like they are about to lose their minds while driving, all I want to do is get off the road and be as far away as possible. 

There are so many negative aspects of driving. I lose focus so easily and would rather have the freedom to do anything I want from the passenger seat of a car. It can also be safer because you can go on your phone without having to worry about being a distracted driver on the road. Going on your phone when driving is so common and can result in serious accidents. Overall, having someone drive you is always the better option.