All summer long my 7-year-old has been begging me to let her ride her bike to school once September rolls around.
Never mind that she would have to pedal 10 miles round-trip in order to make her dream come true.
Oh, and we live in Northern Wisconsin where the snow is measured in feet not inches and it’s not unusual for the wind chill to dip into the -50s during the winter months.
Details, schmetails.
The problem is that she sees a ton of kids from our neighborhood bike down a short .04-mile hill to the public elementary school during our daily drive to her private Catholic school which is located another five miles down the highway.
I am not opposed to kids riding their bikes to school. However, I do think that parents need to assess their child’s maturity and riding skills before giving them the okay to do so.
If you are planning to allow your kids to bike to school this year, consider these helpful safety tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP):
1. Children should always wear a bicycle helmet, no matter how short or long the ride.
2. Teach your kids to ride on the right-hand side of the sidewalk so they are moving in the same direction as auto traffic.
3. Kids of all ages should know how to use appropriate hand signals.
4. Give your children lessons on how to obey traffic lights and stop signs.
Kids should wear bright color clothing to increase their visibility. You might consider purchasing your son or daughter reflective vests if he or she plans to ride during the late fall when the sunsets earlier.
Even if your child opts not to ride his bike to school and decides to walk instead, he will need to know the rules of the road.
According to the experts at AAP, it’s a good idea to make sure your child’s walk to a school is a safe route with well-trained adult crossing guards at every intersection. Consider doing some practice walks with your children prior to the first day of school. This way they will be confident about the route and you will have peace of mind once September arrives.
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