The stick shift might survive the electric revolution
I taught a 16-year-old (not my son) to drive a stick. It was easy. I checked online and there&#x27;s a place that will teach you the basics for $295. I&#x27;d do it for half. There&#x27;s not much demand for that, unfortunately.<p>The biggest magic tricks to teaching were (1) teaching him to <i>think</i> about gear changes before actually doing them, and (2) being relaxed about mistakes.<p>For (1) I would drive, and have <i>him</i> tell me when to shift. This gets over the intellectual hurdle of coordinating engine speed with road speed.<p>For (2), I just said, &quot;OK, you&#x27;re <i>going</i> to stall the car, and you&#x27;re <i>going</i> to grind the gears. Everybody does. It&#x27;s no big deal. Here, watch, I&#x27;ll do it.&quot; Then I&#x27;d stall &amp; grind the gears, show him to get out of the grinding, and laugh about it. I think anxiety is the biggest problem.<p>I&#x27;m sure if it&#x27;s your own son or daughter, it gets more complicated :)