[Closed] Why don't kids ride bikes as much anymore?

Tricky to type in real-time on Facebook. 😆

Too many cars making too many parents too afraid in most places I reckon, so the kids never get started.

My lad says the same thing, none of his mates ride bikes.
Sad times, I lived on mine as a kid

Kids arnt allowed out of sight of parents, cos of the '[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/were-geordies-were-mental ]peodos[/url]'. So to go biking requires the parents to, which they dont want to, so the better choice is to buy them a £500 console and matching giant tv to keep them indoors and then protest to their friends they wished little timmy would play outside.

Kids are gamers now . Majority anyway .

What choice did we have?
It was Crown Court or the Grifter.

Thus, we lived outdoors.

3 things I reckon, in no particular order:
- kids aren't brought up roaming miles away from home on their own like they used to be, on bikes or otherwise
- cycling increasingly seen as dangerous by parents
- other stuff to do, Xbox, Facebook, Netflix box sets etc.

Edit to add a 4th:
- physical activity generally seems to seen as something to avoid outside of specific sports/gym contexts.

Kids arnt allowed out of sight of parents, cos of the 'peodos'.

Pretty sure we had stranger danger in the late 70s/early 80s.

I was out on my bike all the time and I didn't have an easily traceable mobile device...

Son lived on his bike, daughter barely touched one till her 30s now she bikes, runs, swims, goes to the gym etc. However her kids aren't really interested whereas sons 2 love their bikes. Daughter lives on a housing estate, son lives in a small country village on the main road through it.
There are half a dozen girls of about aged 8 blasting around my curled sac most nights and weekends but I do agree we see less kids of all ages on bikes or in the local parks even
I know my grand kids appear to have a load of home work these days and lots of other choices like swimming, dancing, scouts, brownies etc the costs af doing all these things all add up.
Scooters also seem to be popular nowadays ❓
We had 30 kids at our bike club last night on a trail 7mls out of town 😆

We live on a residential street that leads nowhere (it's a circle basically) in the Peak District. It sees maybe 50 cars a day. Our next door neighbours won't let their 3 and 6 year olds ride bikes because the street is too dangerous. They also got me to source a replacement chain cover for a 16" Raleigh because cycling without it was too dangerous. Why the boy can't just tuck his trousers into his socks I don't know.

Parents seem a bit mental about risk these days.

Plenty round by me. Depends where you live innit. Riding down the Taff Trail the other day noticed that the little bombhole area seems to have been updated into a passable looking pump track, with loads of kids on it.

Also, many are at skate parks with bikes but also skateboards and scooters.

It was all kidnappers in the 70's/80's and being scared that some old man might force you to get in his car.
And the Apaches public information film (they'd never be able to scare the c**p out of 10 year olds like that now).

Used to ride bike several villages away, with a 20p coin taped to the handlebars, and was taught how to use a phone box.

Too much traffic now. But what the parents haven't sussed out is that THEY are the traffic.

jimdubleyou - Member
Kids arnt allowed out of sight of parents, cos of the 'peodos'.
Pretty sure we had stranger danger in the late 70s/early 80s.

I was out on my bike all the time and I didn't have an easily traceable mobile device...

POSTED 4 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

Both kids ride to school everyday and to get about every evening. Its slightly less of a shithole here than most of the UK though.

Its getting worse though and I do sometimes worry, car people are just such nobheads.

Funnily enough, just went out to the garage after reading this and 3 kids rode past on bikes! Is quite rare though, apart from the paper boy.
My son rides to school every day, but none of his mates do.

I asked (challenged) the headmaster as to why children aren't actually allowed to ride to school. He said it was because of the traffic danger. The schools traffic danger is idiot parents who drive like dicks!

There are plenty of kids of all ages by me (luddenden Foot, Calderdale) that ride.
A few have even rebuilt a lot of old jumps in some woods!
All the weirdos live further up the valley in Hebden bridge so I guess their parents think it's safe to play out 😈

I'd love my kids to ride more, but the sad reality is, until they're old enough, and competent enough to ride on reasonably busy roads unaccompanied, then they can't. We live on a pretty busy road, and the nearest park is two miles, and several main roads away, so unless I take them there, they can't ride.

The lad is becoming a dab hand at riding around the back garden though, which is a decent enough size.

It is frustrating though, as at the same age as him, I was riding all over the village we lived in and out all day by myself, but it was a smallish village, with very little traffic in the 80s. Very different from the busy town we now live in.

There are half a dozen girls of about aged 8 around my curled sac most nights and weekends

Best.Typo.Evah!

Awesome! 🙂

The fear of 'the boogeyman', fear of any precious child being hurt in any way, fear of what others will think about thier parenting.
Increased cars - more traffic (if on foot or bike), also more use of that car to facilitate increased acccess to commercialised play opportunities, classes such as dance, music, sport. Our relationship with local area around our houses is mainly by car - not foot.
Parents, particularly women, now working full time because of the need or choice to earn more, over time with kids.
Distractions and competing computers/screen/phones means the argument of 'get out' is harder, and 'I'm bored' is not to be heard, because a switch means entertainment.
A society that values exam passes, wealth and status above all else, to the detriment of 'childhood' and play.
.
Interestingly, the lack of outside, contact with nature, low physical literacy, less social time, no boredom, no risk taking, always warm, mental rather than physical tiredness, lack of responsibility and no need for resiliance fails our kids and society.

I asked (challenged) the headmaster as to why children aren't actually allowed to ride to school. He said it was because of the traffic danger.

Our school had a Bike To School [b]DAY[/b] as part of Bike Week last year.

Well intentioned I'm sure, but I couldn't help thinking that it was a shame the school promoted it as one special day, rather than just a generally good idea.

And of course they had the usual dire warnings and caveats about children needing helmets, high viz and close adult supervision at all times. Which only reinforces how terribly dangerous it all is. When in reality most could do the entire route on paths.

But yeah - growing traffic levels is definitely a major factor.
This is quite sobering:

Fascinating thread. All the main points have been covered - games consoles (Thoroughly addictive and mind numbing), parental paranoia, peado fear etc. My tuppence worth is that; aside there being a lot more cars on the roads - compared to the late 80's/early 90's when I was cutting my sprocket teeth - cars and drivers are more aggressive and insulated. I'm very worried for my children when they cycle; not through any fault of their own.

But, it has to be said, you just don't see that many kids hanging out and playing these days without close parental supervision. Kids don't play in streams making dams anymore. It's not just cycling.

Sad fact of life the the council inspections are more looking for needles and other drug/drink paraphernalia these days

My kids school tried to get me to sign a declaration saying the bike would be well maintained, they would wear helmets and lights in winter

I asked to see the dec for drivers about having MOT, insurance, appropriate setas, parking respectfully etc

Only one other child cycles to school

As above its mainly traffic danger, kids dont play out as much so the ones who do are the feral near do wells

 

the ones who do are the feral near do wells

And on the flipside I think some parents worry that their own kids will be seen as the feral ones if they are allowed to run free.

Brilliant wee hand-dug jump/pump track in the woods near me - they all want to be the next Danny MacMadskill. On my commute into Inverness the place is awash with kids cycling to school.

And on the flipside I think some parents worry that their own kids will be seen as the feral ones if they are allowed to run free.

True but trust me I have been to parks with my kids and they really are those kids.

MoreCashThanDash - Member
There are half a dozen girls of about aged 8 around my curled sac most nights and weekends
Best.Typo.Evah!

Forced to wear helmets. Who wants to ride around with a polystyrene loaf on their head?

I used to live on my bike but there was a heck of a lot less traffic when I was a kid- less traffic on the roads and parked up the sides of them.

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Waiting for the Xbox one edition.... 😉

What really grips my shit is the the little estate we live on has a 20 mph limit. The road is a big circle, no cut throughs its just people who live here that use it. It should becsafe for kids to ride round and yet no end of ****wits in big cars drive around the blind bends at 40 with their kids strapped safely in the back whilst every one elses kids are hold up in the house eating cakes and getting fat. Even see ****wit adults riding bikes on the path as onbviously roads are dangerous..

Modern tech. is a curse for kids. If you kick them out the front door to play outside, then chances are they will end up gaming around someone elses place. Organised activity is probably the best way to deal with this in todays world. My 12 year old son has football 3 days a week, will be sailing at his grandparents club every Friday evening and I will be getting him out cycling at least once a week when I'm recovered from a back injury.
That's at least five days covered !

The leading cause of death for 5-19 year olds in the UK is traffic accidents. It's not that surprising that parents aren't encouraging their kids to cycle.

I grew up on Grifters/Mustangs/choppers/skyway mags/activators/bmx bandits/the one that made all sorts of noises from a speaker box.. Etc

Each one promised a brand new way to be cooler/faster/more wickeder than your mates.

I'm not sure there are any equivalents to the above 'new and exciting' concept type bikes. It's just BSOs in halfrauds.

I really reckon it's traffic. Post above seems to confirm that. When I was a lad I cycled miles on lanes, main roads, paths and pavements etc.. Now a days it's keep off the pavements and paths, lanes are pretty hairy as the cars and vans are wider, faster and far more frequent. Main roads are pretty grim and I avoid them, never mind children.
Still sprog James took to the hills with me at 8 and didn't stop till he was 19 ish with the vast majority off road. We have both cycled around Normandy/Brittany touring on a few summers but over there the roads are so much quieter and drivers much more cycle sensitive/appreciative. He barely cycles now but girls, cars and racing keep him occupied else where. My daughter had a couple of 'traffic moments' early on and has avoided cycling on roads since but she pedaled around the campus during her degree.
Also good point in post above, coolest thing a lad could have was a Chopper or a Grifter! Not sure a bike, never mind a specific one would be now.

We have a generation (or two) of parents that on the whole consider driving to be the only way to get from one place to another - its the norm to drive to places where it is safe to ride a bike - village I used to live had a "no bikes to school" policy with a busy narrow commuter A road the only way in and out and I got hate mail when I tried to get a bmx/skate facility in local dog walking field pointing out that kids lacked anywhere to ride

where currently live in Aus' pavement riding with kids is allowed but isn't a lot safer than the road - the only schools that have high levels of kids cycling to school are those located on segregated bike paths - but like the UK these are in places that they are convenient to build and exist in isolation

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😥

I'm not sure where all of you are located but I'm in Germany and many of us still ride bikes, everyone has a bike actually. Most of my friends ride everywhere, but we also have a really good transportation system with trains and buses but if you can get there by bike, most likely we will be riding as the first option, and even when it snows we just change our tires..unless it's really cold and wet, then I'll definitely be taking a train to school. It's the same when I'm in Switzerland.

We have a generation (or two) of parents that on the whole consider driving to be the only way to get from one place to another - its the norm to drive to places where it is safe to ride a bike

Part of it is conditioning, when I was younger the school bus stop was 1 mile down the road (country), I managed to walk everyday there and back, carried a torch for winter and knew everyone around so on the really wet days one of the locals would probably give you a lift. People would be horrified at that these days.

I rode with my four year old to his school on a day off. Two concerned mums contacted my wife about us riding on the (very quiet) road.

More adults accompanying children in soft play areas than children, says everything you need to know about modern British parenting.

Helmets is a good reason. I hate wearing one now so would never have worn one as a kid. Born in 61, my friends and I all spent our lives on our bikes. And yet I don't recall a single crash, incident with car, head injury etc.

My village has twice the population it had 40 yrs ago so can understand Parents concerns.

My 9yr old cycles to school by himself. But it's not far and I've only let him do it since he's been able to understand road position etc. In fact he woke me up at 7.15 this morning wanting to go out on his bike, and we're just back!

Main points covered, but I also think the number of working parents effect this too.
So many kids in after school clubs and childcare - the couple of hours between school and tea to mess about has vanished for many.

Definitely the cars on the road though - I'm terrified for myself, let alone allowing my boys to ride on their own.

Having just looked at getting a kids bike for a 9 year old its the cost as well!! Anything I could lift was over £300!!!!

While I understand that 'road traffic' and 'car related' accidents are the leading cause of deaths by accidents, we do need to put that into context.

As many children are killed as passengers in cars, as those on bikes, and injury numbers are broadly worse for car passengers. Pedestrians are more likely to be killed or injured. [url= http://makingthelink.net/child-deaths-road-traffic-accidents ]Link[/url].
According to RoSPA figures, most serious accidents (those that have long term implications) to under 15's are in the home (stairs and kitchen mainly, usually between 5pm and 8pm). Car related accident inuries are about a 3rd of the overall serious accidents our kids face.
According to Banardo's in 2012, children are most at risk from harm in thier own home, at hands of parents or someone they know through abuse or neglect.
There is a massive link to deprevation and child accidents, and a massive variation in our childrens ability to make good risk judgements and decisions.

I will need to dig out the report, but we have some stats at work about the chances of children being injured and killed in accidents vs poor health and wellbbeing, either through chance or poor lifestyle, and you are much much much more likely to suffer from such things as cancer, diabetes and skeletal disorders caused by obesity and poor lifestyle. The figures for mental health are also shocking, and again ongoing research and growing evidence that lack of excercise, time in nature or being bored is a key factor in this.

Matt, you need to normalise those figures by passengerkm or similar to assess the risk you could try using the numbers in anitigees kids homework as a starting point, basically it's much safer to be in a car.

That said the cause of death in virtually all the pedestrian and cycling deaths will have been a big metal pollution box. All* kids should be walking/cycling to school and all towns and cities should ban cars forever but that's not happening any time soon.

*near as damn it

I didn't know they didn't. I best tell the kids around here to stop.

Three principal reasons, I think:

1) Traffic

2) Culture

3) Infrastructure

My own kids ride, but if it comes to getting to school and back, then all of them walk. Why? Primarily because the road are ridiculous during the morning rush. But also because no one else does it, so there is no understanding shown for the person who might arrive sweaty or drenched with rain. And finally, because the bike sheds are plexi-glass hell-holes where people go to vandalise and smoke.

Compare that with our friends in Germany who ride more than 8 kms each way on a paved path parallel to a major road, and have row upon row of bike parking due to the fact that everyone rides in no matter what the weather.

As a parent who encourages my boys to be outside as much as possible be it on bikes or not...

I think it's a few factors:
1) Parents work longer hours now. Both myself and the wife work effectively full time. This means more time in kids clubs etc, less time for outside play after school.
2) More organised sports clubs, less time for "just being kids".
3) Traffic, more of it and the standard of driving has dropped also.
4)

fear of what others will think about thier parenting.

As you can tell, I am not a statistician... The overall sentiment of 'Long term you are better to alow children to experience risk and learn how to deal with it.' and 'Healthy, active lifestyles are of massive benefit to all of us, but especially children' is there.

That said the cause of death in virtually all the pedestrian and cycling deaths will have been a big metal pollution box. All* kids should be walking/cycling to school and all towns and cities should ban cars forever but that's not happening any time soon.

My boys are the only ones who ride to school - small village school, around 80 pupils. We are probably the only family though who live the 'right' distance though (about 2 Km) where walking takes a significant time, and driving is daft (though I'm more or less the only person with that opinion, and I still drop them occasionally if I have to be in work on the dot). Cycling makes sense for us even without the two of us encouraging them out on bikes whenever possible.

The majority of others have a distance to travel. Often nothing that couldn't be cycled in 20-30 minutes, but that as a regular journey doesn't enter consideration .. plus rural roads really are quite dangerous for cyclists in general peak times.

There is 3 lads aged around 8 that ride around in our road however when I was their age would of been around 10 of us. Seems to be a lot less children in our road now. I live near Cheltenham Racecourse so we would be riding and exploring round there which I don't think they do.

On Saturday, they thought it would be a good idea to throw stones and ended up smashing my brothers rear windscreen! Car was parked on the drive at the time. Been repaired and their parents have paid up though.

I certainly grew up in the era of computer games. For me bikes and games basically happened at the same time and unless you're in your fifties I can't see how computer games won't have at least be around during some part of your childhood. Although we might imagine computer games and consoles weren't as prevalent back in the day I actually can't remember any one from my childhood who didn't have either a console or a computer.

In fact we used to cycle to each others houses to play computer games 😕
So I don't think video games are that much to blame.

I blame the paedos.

I blame the paedos.[i]

lol 😀

thing is video games now are much more addictive, they are also more "social" without leaving your home.

I think whole childhoods are being lost to screen gawping - we do enough of that as adults.

Traffic basically..

Every human being between the age of 17 and 90 uses a car for any journey longer than a couple of hundred yards.. When we were kids, each family had one car between them

I used to go into the city centre at 10 years old on the bus, alone to hang out with my mates.. We were out playing all day in the cul de sac from aged 5 guaranteed to only see half a dozen cars all day
Now even just in the local town crossing the road as an adult is a gamble

Cars are destroying society, moral fibre and probably the economy too

g5604

thing is video games now are much more addictive

Nah. That's 100% not true. I spent untold hours, probably thousands on games. From Harrier Attack to Double Dragon to Street Fighter II and ghouls and Ghosts to Tekken or Sega Rally.......they've always been incredibly addictive.

they are also more "social" without leaving your home.

Can't argue with that though.

How many threads pop up on this forum about cars? what t5 this,what car that,we're all part of the problem.The car is king and always will be in the U.K.

ITS BECAUSE OF THE WAY WE DRIVE AND HOW MUCH WE DRIVE

they are also more "social" without leaving your home.

Can't argue with that though.

I think this is part of the problem. When we were kids, if I wanted to see/speak to my friends, I would arrange to meet them somewhere, and ride there. Nowadays, they Skype and Facetime each other from the comfort of their lounges.

Both my kids are reasonably active, but neither of them are interested in cycling. We used to go out regularly, but they weren't enjoying it. My eldest (13), has just taken up running!

So what's the first step we could do as a society that would be acceptable (i.e. get voted for) to prevent the traffic aspect of this.

10mph speed limits?
More aggressive traffic calming measures (road features).
Higher taxation on cars/mileage?
Allow bikes on footpaths?

I played a huge amount of video games as a wee lass (started early at the age of 3, on the Speccy), but also loved going outdoors, building dens, etc.

However, I was never really allowed to ride a bike. I learnt to ride without stabilisers when I was about ten, but that was in our back garden - I wasn't allowed out on my own, and could only ride on the pavement with an escort. I think my mom was just too terrified of traffic, despite growing up in a quiet little village. So I didn't really learn to ride a bike until I was 27. Strangely, my brother was allowed to ride a bike (he once sneakily escorted me on my bike to my friend's house, my mom would have been furious if she knew). Such a shame, I grew up very close to Cannock Chase, never rode there until the past 8 years or so!

That said, I have some sympathy for my mother. I don't like Mr Toast going on road rides by himself, because so many drivers are complete and utter bellends towards cyclists (there were three incidents of road cyclists getting taken out by cars in one week recently - one died, the other two were injured - bloody awful stuff :().

My kids school must be in some sort of parallel universe, we just got 15 balance bikes for reception kids,they all get reflective arm bands. they are taught to ride and have a bike-ablility day. they have a dedicated bike path through school to the bike shed and are actively encouraged to cycle!. It's a state school in the countryside but does have fairly busy roads at school times. My kids are on their bikes a lot and we ride into the forest regularly (7 and 9 years olds), yes they do play computer games but i make sure they spend outside too!

So what's the first step we could do as a society that would be acceptable (i.e. get voted for) to prevent the traffic aspect of this.

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When I was a kid there were hardly any cars parked on the street, and moving cars were generally nowhere near the speed limit in town.

Now cars are parked nose to tail both sides of most residential streets so there barely any room and they also seem to travel much closer to the speed limit. That makes the streets where kids used to ride much more dangerous.

I can understand why they're not out there.

Looking back over this whole post and cars do get a big mention. Laddo did some cycling competition type thing at school yesterday. Usual thing though, you had to sign up get the parents slip signed etc etc. Him being a slack ****er left it till the last minute but there were limited places. He still managed to get on the course. If that had been football or a computer game session he wouldn't have stood a chance!

Ban access to easy credit for cars, as in pay in cash no more £99 a month deals and the numbers would fall off rapidly. Stop both parents working to pay for 2 cars, sky telly etc and have more mess about with your kids time. All my mates kids and family relations have there spare time organised and are ferried about all over the place. What happened to just go out and be back at five for your dinner. Still I'm not a parent so what do I know.

Saying that tho I weekend is geared round football this week. Laddo is playing tomorrow morning whilst I lay a patio for the old man so the wife will take him then it's presentation evening then another game on Sunday. He's pretty bobbins at the game but enjoys it so we encourage it, so wish it was a bike club thing but they just don't exist really around here.

While I understand that 'road traffic' and 'car related' accidents are the leading cause of deaths by accidents, we do need to put that into context.

Worth pointing out I think that for children between 5-19, land transport accidents are not the leading cause of death 'by accidents', they are the leading cause of death full stop, in the UK transport accidents kill more children and teenagers than cancer or bronchitis.

Obviously these are not all kids on bikes or playing in the street, it wouldn't surprise me much if the majority of the deaths were within cars. Either way it suggests that something is wrong with the way we use cars in our society.

As for the deaths caused by cars vs inactivity/obesity, when it comes to children it's not even a contest. Children don't really die of heart disease or diabetes, but lots of them are killed by cars. The question is whether someone who has an active lifestyle at an early age is more likely to keep it up into adulthood when those factors become much more of a risk.

Get down to Cardiff today. 290 Kids racing on closed roads.

Local bmx tracks still great places for kids to ride, our weekends revolve around racing now, lad is 8.

Traffic is bad nowadays, I have moments when I think commuting on the bike is not worth the risk now, our local roads are all double parked as well so not child friendly for riding.

Can't get my head around a lot of drivers lack of empathy for others outside their metal boxes, there seems to be something fundamentally lacking in the way driving is taught, the driving is a privilege not a right message needs to be reinforced.

So what's the first step we could do as a society that would be acceptable (i.e. get voted for) to prevent the traffic aspect of this.

Public information films making clear the existing rights of pedestrians and cyclists.

Enforcement, prosecution and decent punishment for car related offences.

Presumed liability.

Planning guidence that favours sustainable transport.

Transport budget of decent levels.

You absolutely will not get any of that whilst baby boomers are voting for the agents of the finance, oil and vehicle manufacturers who are making a lot of money from keeping people in cars.

Presumed liability

"That's right"

"But what if we changed the law so that it he gets run over there's a better chance of getting an insurance payout?"

"Well, in that case I don't mind him getting run over."

bails, are you very stupid or pretending?

Reminiscing some - but as kids, we had to have bikes. The bike took us everywhere; up the road to knock for your mates, over the park to meet the others ... in the summer up the forestry to go scrambling (probably early DH-mtbing), or venturing about to scrump apple/plum/pear trees.

Nowadays cycling is seen as almost a dangerous sport. Only kids who wore helmets when I was younger were little 10yr olds who pretended they were on motorbikes with a card rattling off their spokes, or the odd type adults who also had the shopping basket on front of bike.

Has there been a study to prove our opinions?

I had a computer for gaming but cycled/played footy all the time too.

Play a console game and hours/days/weeks go by and the kids are up all night secretly.
Why go out when you have PlayStation network or Xbox Live to okay with friends?

Facebook?

I had to teach a lot of my friends how to cycle on the road back in the 80's/90's. Maybe more training
is needed for safety and confidence.

Consoles, traffic, fear of risks that are far lower than the perceived.

But I'd say kids scooters have a lot to blame. They're a lot cheaper than a bike and a lazy option to walking. Just push with one leg and point in the rough direction they want to go. Okay bikes could be considered lazy option, but they require some effort to pedal and skills. Easy for parents to chuck in the car and seems to be a requirement for any school run, along with a monster sized car to fit it in.

Ruining skateboarding too. I go past skate parks sometimes and they're all trying (badly) to jump on scooters!

Amazes me even older kids on scooters. In my day scooters were for the under 6, and usually for girls. You were seriously uncool with one. A Grifter was the bike of choice, if you weren't rich enough to afford a bmx.

NAh, scooters are a good thing: they get kids used to the idea of 2 wheels good. Parents like them because they don't take up space, and they can be folded after taking the kids scooting to school, then brought home until collecting the monsters in the afternoon.

But generally, there's less cycling becuase of increased motorised traffic & more fun things to do indoors.

Global warming and/or El Nino?

Granted I'm far from being a kid these days, but like many of the rare Saturdays I don't work, the weather in not-so-sunny Southampton has been very uninviting for outdoor activities today! 😥