Are Females Smarter Than Males? by Dr. Robert Wallace on Creators.com

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Are Females Smarter Than Males?

DR. WALLACE: I read in a teen magazine that there are more females attending college than males. Does this mean that females are smarter than males? - Lacey, Moline, Ill.

LACEY: Home economics used to be the most popular major for many female students and there were more males than females on college campuses. Those days are long gone. According to The New York Times, females are in the majority in American colleges and the gap is growing wider. Girls receive higher grades than boys as well as higher reading and writing scores. Reading and writing are the prime skills in determining intelligence.

SHE MIGHT LEAVE AND TAKE HER BOYFRIEND WITH HER

DR. WALLACE: My father was a wife beater and a drunk, and I didn't shed many tears when he crashed his car into a tree while drunk and was killed. That was two years ago. Mom has remarried and her new husband is a swell guy. I respect him very much. He is kind to mom and nice to me. I'm 14 and my stepfather has a daughter, 18. She is a nasty young lady. She is rude to her father and my mom, and she treats me like a third-class citizen. She also has a boyfriend who looks and acts like a hoodlum.

I've talked to my stepfather about his daughter's terrible behavior, but he said that there was nothing he could do to change her attitude. He said that her sunny disposition changed soon after her mother left home and moved in with another man. Do you think that there is any hope that she will eventually turn out to be nice? - Nameless, Frankfort, Ky.

NAMELESS: There is always hope, but don't sit around waiting for that wonderful day when she becomes a pleasant, charming young woman.

Don't allow her negative attitude to overpower the wonderful relationship you now share with mom and your new father. Don't waste your time allowing her behavior to affect your life. The good news is that she might soon leave and take her hoodlum-looking boyfriend with her.

DRIVING AFTER MIDNIGHT IS DANGEROUS

DR. WALLACE: I'm 17 and have a part-time job waiting tables on Friday and Saturday nights. Sometimes I don't get home until after midnight, if there happens to be a party or a banquet. I am quite happy when this happens because the tips are usually very good.

Since I'm not 18, I had to get a special driver's permit to drive after midnight. All drivers under the age of 18 who do not have the permit (usually given for employment) are not allowed to operate a vehicle after midnight. Why do we have this law in my state? When I drive home after working late there are very few cars on the road. - Josh, Las Vegas, Nev.

JOSH: It's not the small number of drivers that causes a problem; it's their physical condition. Some drivers become sleepy at that late hour and could possibly fall asleep at the wheel. Others might have been drinking and are trying to make it home after the bars have closed.

According to the American Automobile Association, over 75 percent of all traffic deaths occur between midnight and 3 a.m. Make sure you drive defensively at all times and especially when coming home from work at that late hour.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@galesburg.net. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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LW2: Glad you are in a family relationship with your new stepfather. The bump in the road is his daughter. Your mom needs both you and your SF to stand strong along side her and show a family front. Your step sister then may decide what she has is good and start behaving. If not, I hope she finds the door, once she is through with school. And depending on the rules your mom/SF set up about returning to the house to live once you are through with college, she might not be back to live with you.
Just tell her how happy you are that her dad is your stepfather and that you hoped that she, as your new big sister, could have a family relationship too.
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LW3: Glad you have a job. Do you pay for your own insurance, car, etc? Do you know how much insurance would cost if the state did not have restrictions on driving? I grew up in SD where at age 14 we got our learner's permit. This was to drive with your parent at any time any where. After so many months of that you could apply for a restricted permit. This was without a parents BUT between 6:30 am and 6:30 pm. A 12 hour window. Nothing outside the fact. At age 16 you got your full driver's license. Classes were required and taught in our school system. I had my license for 9 months before I had my classes finished. My license trumped my class, but had to have the class anyway. Insurance for boys was very expensive. Girls = zero.
My own sons in the next door state grew up with at age 15, you took the classes at age 15. You got your learner's permit ONLY after so many hours driving with an instructor. That took 6 months. Then at 16, you got your full license. Now (and a much better/safer way) classes, license the same BUT if you are under 18, only 1 person under age 18 can be in the car with you. You cannot be in an accident, get any ticket (including seat belt violation) be on a cell phone or you loose your license till age 18 or 21, depending on the infraction and the judge. Judges will look at trends happening with teens and driving. So it is pretty much a permit till age 18. The accident and death rate with teens has dropped. Distracted driving is still and issue, but that is all age.
If you can get a signed off permission to drive to and from your job, you are doing much better than a lot of other kids. It is to keep you safe. That time of the night when you would be coming home is the same time as most drunks feel they are road-safe to be out there too. And the tiredness factor of all drivers at that time make for more deadly accidents, accidents on roads you might not be found in.
Example this fall here was a mom with a child in the car at 6 am heading for daycare before going to work. I some else had not been heading her same way, when she went off the road due to black ice and landed upside down in the deep pond, she would have never been seen, much less rescued.

Comment: #1
Posted by: Joyce/MN
Tue Jan 10, 2012 1:16 PM

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Another reason for restricting young drivers at night is because that is the time they are more likely to steal cars/joy-ride, be involved in criminal behaviour or anti-social behaviour such as boy-racers. This gives the authorities blanket permission to stop cars driven by young persons and check their credentials.

Comment: #2
Posted by: Beguiling Miss Pasko
Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:52 AM

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'Tween 12 and 20 by Dr. Robert Wallace

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Are Females Smarter Than Males?

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