Biking to school: Should you allow your child to bike to school?
It really depends on where you live before you can consider allowing your child to cycle to school on their child bike. In the UK, it is becoming a rare event to see a child cycling to school on their child bike. Â Parents are also reluctant to allow their toddlers or younger children to ride on their balance bike or bikes without pedals to nursery or kindergarten.
The Problem: In the United Kingdom, Oliver and Gillian Schonrock made news headlines when people found out they were letting their five and eight year old children bike to school. There were mixed reviews but there were also a lot of upset parents accusing the Schonrocks of poor parenting skills. The reason for this is that children of that age cannot be trusted to be left alone to cycle to school. This has now left a number of parents uneasy about whether or not they should let their children to cycle to school.
What should you do? If you are considering whether or not you should let your child bike to school, then there are a few points you should consider before making the decision. Once you have considered these points you will be able to make the right decision regarding this matter.
Age: When considering whether or not you should let your child bike to school, age should be one of the biggest factors. Some parents will only let their children cycle to school if they are over a certain age. Talk to your children and find out what age they think is appropriate for this sort of action. Try to remember how old you were when you started cycling to school.
Route: The further away and the more dangerous the route, the less chance your children should have to go there alone. If the route is safe and doesn't have a lot of crossing paths that your child needs to take, the easier the decision will be to let them cycle to school. See if you can find a very easy and short path to your child's school.
School: Find out from the school in question if children can cycle to school or not. If they have cycle groups set up, your child can meet other children and then they could cycle to school together.
Consider these three points before deciding if you should let your child bike to school.
The Problem: In the United Kingdom, Oliver and Gillian Schonrock made news headlines when people found out they were letting their five and eight year old children bike to school. There were mixed reviews but there were also a lot of upset parents accusing the Schonrocks of poor parenting skills. The reason for this is that children of that age cannot be trusted to be left alone to cycle to school. This has now left a number of parents uneasy about whether or not they should let their children to cycle to school.
What should you do? If you are considering whether or not you should let your child bike to school, then there are a few points you should consider before making the decision. Once you have considered these points you will be able to make the right decision regarding this matter.
Age: When considering whether or not you should let your child bike to school, age should be one of the biggest factors. Some parents will only let their children cycle to school if they are over a certain age. Talk to your children and find out what age they think is appropriate for this sort of action. Try to remember how old you were when you started cycling to school.
Route: The further away and the more dangerous the route, the less chance your children should have to go there alone. If the route is safe and doesn't have a lot of crossing paths that your child needs to take, the easier the decision will be to let them cycle to school. See if you can find a very easy and short path to your child's school.
School: Find out from the school in question if children can cycle to school or not. If they have cycle groups set up, your child can meet other children and then they could cycle to school together.
Consider these three points before deciding if you should let your child bike to school.