How Gamification Can Lead to Safer Teen Drivers

Learning is the Name of the Game

In 2018, scholars at the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos in Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, studied the impact of gamification on graduate students relating to academic ability and behavior of various personality traits. The study found that most gamified students performed better in exams and assignments than their non-gamified counterparts. Many gamified students attempted optional, harder classwork to secure more points in the class rankings; gamified competitiveness in the classroom can lead to better results.

Safe Driving – Competitively

Digital family apps can create gamification, competition, and rewards so parents can easily gamify their parenting styles. Parents can use these features to set rewards, such as screen time, for their kids to work toward. Moreover, the rewards don’t need to only be for young children, as rewards can be both tangible and intangible for all ages.

For example, a college teen decided to come home early from a party with alcohol. The app installed on their phone tracks when they left the party and all the driving decisions they made on the way home. Once they get home, their parent can see when they left the party and how well they drove. Parents can use that data to reward the teen through the app or outside of it.

Gamification also leads to competition among users. These apps can use competitiveness for safe driving practices by comparing driver scores. Going back to the previous example, that same teen was awarded a badge in the app that the rest of the family could see. As a result, their siblings and even their parents can attempt to raise their driver scores by driving safer.

While gamification may not work for every family, the study shows that many kids and teens would benefit from it. Learning can and should be fun for children regardless of the subject. With digital parenting tools like gamification, achieving that healthy balance and encouraging a child’s willingness to learn can be much easier.

For more insights on teen driver safety, be sure to check out our other blogs below:

Teen Driver Safety and Smartphones – What Do Parents Think?

Teens, Distracted Driving & Smartphones – What Worries Parents Most?

Teen Driver Safety – How Do Parental Views Differ by U.S. Region?