Less kids cycling

dsmiff · May 2007

Just found this:

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">THE number of children who cycle regularly has fallen by almost 25 per cent because of parental fears over safety.

A new survey has shown that while the number of adults taking up cycling has risen, the percentage of young people between the ages of 11 and 19 who use their bikes at least twice a week has dropped by a quarter in the past decade. And last night experts blamed the decline on over-cautious parents
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

full story: http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=826612007

Had a row with one of our neighbors about our kids playing on bikes outside(she has an 8 year old daughter). I know it's risky, they "may" get hit by a car, I try to keep an eye on them, they always wear helmets and look "most" of the time when crossing the road (on a quite estate) - end of the day I have 2 confident and healthy young children, she got <s>fat</s> oops - weight challenged daughter who doesn't mix.

If my kids aren't on bikes they are playing football, jumping on the trampoline or just messing about outside with their friends and they only play computer games if it's raining, normally they'll have their heads burried in lego with their mates.

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Unknown · May 2007

Well done, I like "responsible" [;)] parents who let their children enjoy the outdoors things in life. I was very outdoorsey when i was small, climbing trees and running everywhere etc. I guess it has stuck with me because i still do loads of outdoors things.

TBH overprotection of children (to a point) is just silly, how so they learn if you protect them from everything?

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Unknown · May 2007

Well lots of people round my area still cycle. Strange.

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saz · May 2007

I blame the media. One or two horror stories and parents lock their kids up!! Also, toys like trampolines have warnings plastered all over them too, for legal reasons I suppose, and thats enough to freak some parents out. I think ours has " No flips as danger of paralysis"[:0] written on it or something. Whats the first thing you learn to do on a trampoline?? Forward flips OBVIOUSLY!! We did it when we were wee. Its no more dangerous now!!

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Unknown · May 2007

its just every thing now need safty checked before hand. The world has gone safty crazy [:(!]

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rindlewmb · May 2007

I remember when i was little how kids used to go on about how cool so and so's bike was now it all seems to be about who has what playstation/xbox/blah.

I think its important for kids to play outside and ride bikes and scrape knees i think it menas there more well adjusted used to activity and will therefore be prepared to work harder in the future.

Unknown · May 2007

They could also be walking to the shop (not such a dangerous feat) and get hit by a car, does your neighbor think of that? Or what about when they're driving along quite happily in their car, is there no risk there? Let kids be kids, me and my mates were always climbing trees (which I feel out of on a few occasions...) and riding our bikes. A lot better for your kids health than sitting infornt of the TV all day, eating too much junk food, putting on weight and increasing the risk of heart disease i'd say.

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The world has gone safty crazy <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Tell me about it, soon all the trees closest to the singletrack will need padding incase you hit one! lol would be funny to try and see them bring it to MTBing.

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dsmiff · May 2007

I guess as parents these days we get so much information, it like when you go to a hospital and they tell you all the side effects, things like MMR so much media you don't know what to do!

I don't think my parents were any less responsible, just maybe less informed - ignorance is bliss!!!

Hay Nicky good idea about the trees!!! [:)]

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Unknown · May 2007

It would be much more sensible to give all children those giant hamster balls, much safer than padding the trees, what if you trip up, the ground isn't padded [;)]

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Unknown · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">what if you trip up, the ground isn't padded <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Nice rubber padding would soon sort that out [;)]

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rindlewmb · May 2007

DOn't bother padding trees just put them in a padded room and give them virtual reality helmets then they can experiance the whole world without nay dnager. Also then they canhave virtual friends who won't be mean to them just because their fat, pasty and smell funny. The important thing to remember is that they'd live longand happy lives( until they die of a heart attack at 27)

Vegeeta · May 2007

I'd say to your neighbour, "Your kids are probably more at risk of getting hurt IN your car than getting hit by one."

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lovewales · May 2007

Well I let my kids doing anything outdoors they want to.

So far this has resulted in one broken elbow (trampoline) and numerous cuts and bruises.

I am a little wary of my eldest who wants to go climbing (at 8) - Iknow its safe before I get loads of replies but I do panic when looking out of second floor window!!

Same daredevil also wants to try kayaking

Youngest just seems to want to ride her bike over anything and everything - but would like a dolly carrier attached to the back and pink ribbons in the end of the bars!!

As for the fat bit I can't get clothes that don't need altering for my girls they are so skinny even though they eat junk more often than I'd like.

Let them be kids - it did us no harm.

If every action has an equal and opposite reaction does that mean I will be eaten by a fly?

Timmywmb · May 2007

Got it right guys!

All this TV & Computers is producing socially retarded kids, couple started in our gaff! Do my head in, like Robots to talk to haha!

My parents let me do anything when i was a kid, football, athletics, cycling etc etc, i was doing the full 50 mile flintshire challenge a week after my 16th birthday.. & my dad was there at every stop helping me along, from the age of about 5 i played football every weekend, again my dad was there activily encouraging!

I had a bloody 8 mile long paper round @ the age of 13 for gods sake, all i see 13 yr olds doing these days is smoking weed! haha

Eranu · May 2007

I have to agree with you guys, when my kids get older I will let them play out the front of my house. I live in a very quiet close so it's not so bad. My 3 year old already cycles round to her grans, with me or her mum of course, I hope they keep up the love of the out doors they currently have. I can honestly say they never ask to stay in, it's always where are we going today.

They have inspired me to get back into cycling after 15 years, so that I can keep up with them once they get a bit older

Unknown · May 2007

Round where I live there's a group of about 8 kids all go biking together through the dene and it's great to see them! They're pre - early teens I reckon but they all have reasonable bikes (Mongoose/Giant/Trek etc) and they're always so polite too!

Makes a real pleasant change to see a bunch of kids riding like that!

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guilliano · May 2007

I was always doing something active as a kid, and generally hurting myself doing it! By the time I was 16 I'd dislocated my jaw and shoulder, broken my nose and 2 ribs, dislocated both my thumbs and ruptured my cruciate ligament as well as having multiple crashes on bikes (often through jumping of a ramp made from wood and bricks). I was healthy (when I wasn't injured), happy and relatively well behaved. We now encourage Saskia to ride her bike as often as possible, take her on 10 mile rides into the woods (avoiding THAT tree and THAT bush). I feel sorry for kids who don't have that lifestyle. They'll never learn to accept risk, to push themselves or to stay active as part of a healthy lifestyle. I think a lot of parents buy things like xbox etc just to keep the kids out of their hair, not as something for them to play on WITH their parents or to use when it's peeing down outside and this is sad.

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Unknown · June 2007

If the sprog wants to try kayaking..

Sheffield Canoe Club runs sessions at Ponds Forge and has a stretch of the Don at Oughtibridge.
Matlock club has a stretch of the Dearne at..Matlock.
If they like it and get experienced, theres the brilliant white water course at Holme Pierrepoint, Notts.

Definitely go with instruction. The worst thing you can do is get trapped upside down, plastered against the back of the boat, in flowing water, without having practiced capsize drills first. Like I did!

In hindsight the 'mate' on the bank (a kayaking 'expert') was a prat for letting me on the water!

Sheffield and Matlock both have good reputations, and if you're out of action for a couple of weeks...

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Capt. Jon · June 2007

Parents should let thier kids out and play vs Parents should control their unruly children making a racket in the street

Let them out on their bikes vs too many kids on street corners causing trouble

Can't win

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Unknown · June 2007

Which would you choose if you had kids Jon?

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Unknown · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by rindle

DOn't bother padding trees just put them in a padded room and give them virtual reality helmets then they can experiance the whole world without nay dnager. Also then they canhave virtual friends who won't be mean to them just because their fat, pasty and smell funny. The important thing to remember is that they'd live longand happy lives( until they die of a heart attack at 27)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

What about all the radio wave messing with their brains[^]

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Capt. Jon · June 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Cazzdevil

Which would you choose if you had kids Jon?

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<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

My point is both sides are the same thing. It's how people see them that is different.

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majorbloodnock · June 2007

Unfortunately, many people lose sight of what the real goals are supposed to be.

I have two children, and I know that, once they reach 18, they'll have the right (and, if I'm honest, both the encouragement and the suitcases) to leave home and lead their own lives. They'll be expected to function responsibly and self-reliantly in a society with many rules and dangers, and they'll need plenty of previous experience to do so. My job is to provide them with the food, drink, shelter and support to allow them to grow and reach that point. If I fail to provide food, I'm a bad parent for starving them. If I fail to provide drink, ditto. If I fail to provide shelter, just wait how long it'll take the social services to come round. If I fail to provide the opportunity to try things and fail, then, how can I still feel I'm a good parent?

My job is not to avoid their being injured; just avoid exposure to what's likely to seriously injure them. My job is not to make them happy; just to give them the best chance of being happy with themselves. My job is not to make them love me; that's impossible to guarantee, and if they have the capacity to love, I've done well. My job is not to cocoon; it's to teach, and you can only learn by trying what may be beyond your abilities.

Me, I tie my stomach up in knots every time I let my son scooter outside my grabbing distance up to the white line and wait before we cross the road together, but I have to trust him sooner or later. I worry myself every time he climbs a tree, but I'm damned if I'll stop him having the same fun I had at his age; all I'll do is veto trees surrounded by tarmac or concrete. Scrapes, cuts, bruises and the odd broken bone are all part of growing up. If we weren't meant to suffer some of them, our bodies wouldn't have built-in self repair abilities, so my kids will spend all their formative years with my wife and me doling out just a little more responsibility than they can handle. God knows if we're right, but that's our decision.

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finlayson99 · June 2007

Both mine love cycling and anything outdoorsy. Both wear helmets and both are developing some road sense.
You have to be carefull, I've been knocked off my bike enough times to have ome sense.
Kids have got to be able to enjoy themselves and burn energy off though.

gary_fisher3 · June 2007

Have you seen what most kids end up riding? Most get given some crappy Y framed duel suspension bike. It's no wonder they never take to cycling.

mazwmb · June 2007

Just curious but why do you have a Derailleur on a single speed ?

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by ride_whenever

It would be much more sensible to give all children those giant hamster balls, much safer than padding the trees, what if you trip up, the ground isn't padded [;)]

My Scott

My Single Speed

Always remember to pick your Uni according to the local trails or you'll be stuck with nowhere to ride for three years!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Unknown · June 2007

around the road i live on it has been full of kids on little bike riding up and down, but not many older kids like me rides bike only a few that i know ride a bike more than 2 time a week,

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dsmiff · June 2007

A Local Councilor popped round tonight, apparently at a police / local community forum it was raised that a number of children had been building jumps in a local field.

This field is opposite where I live and had been purchased by a builder a number of years back to try to build houses, but is now left abandoned and is used by local dog walkers for the dogs to sh...

The people that raised it said they had even seen their Dad (oops) helping them. Luckily the councilor said he had never heard such crap in his life and that they had no more right using the field than anyone else - in fact if they let there dog sh.. in the village they would be fined œ75, he'd come round to tell me if anyone caused any problems to let him know!

I really don't get some people, they want us to keep the kids inside and let them get fat playing on their playstations.

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Seagull · June 2007

Some people are daft, kids should be encouraged to do things that are more constructive.

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Unknown · June 2007

So what has changed since we were young? (I'm mid-20s btw) It's not like the injuries kids could get have got any worse.

I honestly remember rope swings, going out on the bikes and just 'exploring', and my parents accepting the fact that I wanted to venture off into the hills.

I think there is far too much mollycoddling going on, it's like kids are wrapped up in cotton wool which is damaging their social development and ensuring that, to paraphrase The Times, the obese child will die at 53.

There are glimmers of hope though - a woman I work with, 38, allows her kids to do all sorts of mad stuff. Her 8 year old loves the red at Glentress (with a full-facer I might add), they're outdoors all the time, and her attitude to parenting and life is to live each day as if it were your last.

I think if this protectionist crap continues, we'll be teaching our kids survival skills, urban combat and first aid before we allow them off on their own.

Unknown · June 2007

Just thought Id say, Im 16, and just spend a good 3.5 hours (fairly short sesh) out in a field building dirt jumps with a mate [:D]

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Less kids cycling

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