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Level 3
Written by Jeong-Won Maeng
8/3/2024
If you have resided in Karakura for a substantial amount of time, you would find a familiar sight of cars lined up outside the school gates after school hours. Sometimes, you might even find a street racing group parked at their usual spots as late as 3am. However, you might also realise that the bout of these car owners, roaming down the streets of Karakura, are mostly students, and not working adults.
In this article, we will dive into some of the reasons as to why we may be finding more kids owning vehicles over adults. For this article, ‘kids’ are defined as anyone who is still in education, such as high schoolers and college students, and ‘adults’ are defined as anyone who is not in education.
After some on-the-ground surveys, the writer has concluded that it is for a fact that more students are likely to own a vehicle than an adult is. During the survey, exactly 50% of students surveyed mentioned that they owned a vehicle, whereas adults surveyed lead to the findings that 23% formerly owned vehicles, while 46% of adults still drive them. As such, this writer has been able to conclude that it is true that it is more likely for a student over an adult to own a vehicle.
Digging deeper, this writer wanted to find out the reason behind the higher vehicle ownership rate in students over adults. The writer was fortunate enough to have interviewed a number of students and adults alike, of which the writer had received various responses about their opinions on vehicle ownership. When interviewing Mr. M (pseudonym), a professor with Karakura Community College, who did not own a vehicle, he cited his reason for not owning a vehicle to be the convenience of commuting back and forth from work and home. Thus, he did not see the need to own a vehicle. However, youths who were interviewed expressed different sentiments on why they did not own a vehicle, that being cost, reasonable for their young ages and lack of a stable income to support the purchase of a vehicle. As for those who I interviewed who did own vehicles, they cited their reasons similar to Mr. M. When interviewing Mr. F (pseudonym), 18, and Mr. G (pseudonym), 19, they both highlighted that having a vehicle was convenient for moving from point-to-point. Interestingly, Mr. G added that having a vehicle meant that he had more independence, as he would not need to get a ride from his friends, and could drive on his own.
Top: Photographed, Mr. G’s car
When interviewing Mr. F and Mr. G, they brought to my attention that people their age own vehicles, particularly cars, for street racing. During the surveys, mostly the youth spoke about this topic over adults. Both Mr. F and G mentioned that owning a vehicle could mean owning a flashy car that attracted attention, and was good for street racing. To their credit, during the interviews and time surveying others, many vehicles passed by the main road where the school’s Torii Gate stood. After some surveying of the main road, the writer found that indeed, many vehicles would race past at top speeds, with other vehicles following closely behind. Could the reason behind the high vehicle ownership be attributed to the youth’s appetite for high-speed racing?
Top: Photographed, Mr Nassy Senova’s car
Although a lot of the respondents’ answers seem to point in that direction, another common factor that dissuaded both adults and kids from not owning a vehicle was the lack of space. Respondents who cited this factor mentioned that roads feel tight, even without the presence of other vehicles. Another common factor was the high price. Oddly, the adults interviewed cited that reason more than the students interviewed, despite it being a more likely reason for students to not own a vehicle. When interviewing Mr. S, 21, he highlighted the hefty costs of owning a vehicle, and hoped that prices might lower down the road. (Pun intended)
In conclusion, could the reason behind the higher vehicle ownership rate be attributed to the widespread trend of street racing in mostly the youth? Having conducted surveys, you might agree with the writer on such. However, as the article ends, the writer urges the reader to think, what causes this phenomenon? Would it be peer pressure leading to more youths wanting to own a vehicle, surmounting the costs of even owning, and eventually upkeep a vehicle just for the sake of street racing? Or would it be something else? Or a whole other phenomenon driving (Pun not intended) our youth to tip the scale on car ownership statistics?
The writer thanks you for taking your time to read this article. He hopes he leaves you pondering deeper on this topic for further discussions.
In this article, we will dive into some of the reasons as to why we may be finding more kids owning vehicles over adults. For this article, ‘kids’ are defined as anyone who is still in education, such as high schoolers and college students, and ‘adults’ are defined as anyone who is not in education.
After some on-the-ground surveys, the writer has concluded that it is for a fact that more students are likely to own a vehicle than an adult is. During the survey, exactly 50% of students surveyed mentioned that they owned a vehicle, whereas adults surveyed lead to the findings that 23% formerly owned vehicles, while 46% of adults still drive them. As such, this writer has been able to conclude that it is true that it is more likely for a student over an adult to own a vehicle.
Digging deeper, this writer wanted to find out the reason behind the higher vehicle ownership rate in students over adults. The writer was fortunate enough to have interviewed a number of students and adults alike, of which the writer had received various responses about their opinions on vehicle ownership. When interviewing Mr. M (pseudonym), a professor with Karakura Community College, who did not own a vehicle, he cited his reason for not owning a vehicle to be the convenience of commuting back and forth from work and home. Thus, he did not see the need to own a vehicle. However, youths who were interviewed expressed different sentiments on why they did not own a vehicle, that being cost, reasonable for their young ages and lack of a stable income to support the purchase of a vehicle. As for those who I interviewed who did own vehicles, they cited their reasons similar to Mr. M. When interviewing Mr. F (pseudonym), 18, and Mr. G (pseudonym), 19, they both highlighted that having a vehicle was convenient for moving from point-to-point. Interestingly, Mr. G added that having a vehicle meant that he had more independence, as he would not need to get a ride from his friends, and could drive on his own.
Top: Photographed, Mr. G’s car
When interviewing Mr. F and Mr. G, they brought to my attention that people their age own vehicles, particularly cars, for street racing. During the surveys, mostly the youth spoke about this topic over adults. Both Mr. F and G mentioned that owning a vehicle could mean owning a flashy car that attracted attention, and was good for street racing. To their credit, during the interviews and time surveying others, many vehicles passed by the main road where the school’s Torii Gate stood. After some surveying of the main road, the writer found that indeed, many vehicles would race past at top speeds, with other vehicles following closely behind. Could the reason behind the high vehicle ownership be attributed to the youth’s appetite for high-speed racing?
Top: Photographed, Mr Nassy Senova’s car
Although a lot of the respondents’ answers seem to point in that direction, another common factor that dissuaded both adults and kids from not owning a vehicle was the lack of space. Respondents who cited this factor mentioned that roads feel tight, even without the presence of other vehicles. Another common factor was the high price. Oddly, the adults interviewed cited that reason more than the students interviewed, despite it being a more likely reason for students to not own a vehicle. When interviewing Mr. S, 21, he highlighted the hefty costs of owning a vehicle, and hoped that prices might lower down the road. (Pun intended)
In conclusion, could the reason behind the higher vehicle ownership rate be attributed to the widespread trend of street racing in mostly the youth? Having conducted surveys, you might agree with the writer on such. However, as the article ends, the writer urges the reader to think, what causes this phenomenon? Would it be peer pressure leading to more youths wanting to own a vehicle, surmounting the costs of even owning, and eventually upkeep a vehicle just for the sake of street racing? Or would it be something else? Or a whole other phenomenon driving (Pun not intended) our youth to tip the scale on car ownership statistics?
The writer thanks you for taking your time to read this article. He hopes he leaves you pondering deeper on this topic for further discussions.
Saw an interesting event occur? Want something to be reported? Contact me at 030-515-6171, Karakura News Hotline, 020-980-4487 or our Onrain, @KaNews!
I would like to thank Nassy Senova (NotNassy) and Bryson Graves (Vaple) for letting me photograph their vehicles!
