Advocacy & Safety - Why kids don't ride to school.

The San Diego Union tribune has a feature article on why kids don't ride their bikes to school anymore. Article (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20050425-9999-1n25bikes.html)

among reasons cited are fears about traffic and abductions, which are totally unfounded.

From the article:
"

A Caltrans survey in 2001 found that children made 74.3 percent of all trips by car, 15.2 percent on foot, 7.5 percent on school bus and 1 percent on a bike. In San Diego County, 62,500 students – about 12.5 percent of all students – rode school buses in 2002-03.

In a 2002 national survey, 71 percent of adults who responded said they walked or rode a bike to school when they were children, but only 22 percent of the poll's respondents said their children walk or bike to school now.
"

...
From the article:
" ...In a 2002 national survey, 71 percent of adults who responded said they walked or rode a bike to school when they were children, but only 22 percent of the poll's respondents said their children walk or bike to school now. ..."


Not surprising. A lot of things have changed since there are now more cars than people.

These days many people with kids live in McMansion or new condo developments which are in middle-of-nowhere ex-burban non-cities. Too many "family" neighborhoods look like strip-mall hellholes, mixed up with sidewalk-free residential cul-de-sacs.

Everyone likes to blame sprawl, but there are other, far more important reasons, including laziness and perceived risk. Having met all of their personal wishes for material goodies, affluent folks want to control any risk factor which could endanger their idyllic lifestyle. They don't see the harm they are doing by turning their kids into couch potatoes, but they can see the harm in having a kid get run over by a car.

In 1976, my wife and bought our first house in a fairly high-crime district of west-central Los Angeles. The community finally took a bit out of crime by taking back the streets, i.e., by encouraging residents to get out and walk or bike and to participate in both structured and informal Neighborhood Watch activities. Fortunately, I live and work in areas (Encinitas and Carlsbad) where motorists are very accustomed to seeing bicyclists, joggers, and dog-walkers.

As a parent of a beautiful blonde haired, blue eyed, dimpled 10 year old girl, I wouldn't say that fears of abduction or traffic are unfounded. Sadly abduction happens everywhere, and far too often. As far as traffic goes, one need only read the threads on this very forum to discover that even adults with years of experience in dealing with vehicular traffic can be vulnerable.

Having said that, my kids ride the bus daily. The only exceptions are certain after school activities, and those rare occasions that they may have to carry something that I don't want exposed to the hazards of a school bus. Perfect example, my son did a report today on the influence of The Rolling Stones in the 1960s. My dad lent him his original copy of "Sticky Fingers" to use as a visual aid. There would have been hell to pay if anything had happened to it, so I picked him up from school, having dropped the album off to the care of his teacher last week, while he awaited his turn to give his report. This happens maybe 5 times a year between two kids. The middle school offers an activity bus a couple of days a week, so we take advantage of that when we can during sports seasons.

Unfortunately they don't allow kids to ride bikes to school and have removed bike racks. That's a big change from when I was in school in the same district, but this town has grown significantly since then, and what were residential streets have become significant arteries jammed with traffic. I guess I won't complain too much though, I really wouldn't want my son riding his Allez to school, and I really don't have storage space for him to have a beater too.

The only kids I see ride to school in my neighborhood in Brooklyn are the Orthodox Jewish boys who go to school on Ocean Parkway. There's a bike path that leaves them 10 yards from the school's front door, and the steel rail that separates the bike path from the pedestrian walkway is a natural, if unofficial, bike rack. Usually there's 40-50 bikes hooked on there during the day. Some of those kids can hammer! Full black suits, dress shoes, shirt and tie AND fedoras, and they're cranking away at like 17mph!

Fat, lazy, parents breed fat, lazy kids
Easier to blame, Crime, abduction, ABDUCTION?????????,traffic than to hang the blame on precisely where it belongs
Exercise is outside of the norm I.E. ,an air cooled mall, in front of a Tv frying their minds

Wonder where these kids will be in 20-25 years when they have to compete in a world market place with Asians, Indians,and other economically emerging nations, to say nothing about the Chinese who are on their way to owning the world in the next 50 years

Oh Mommy, Daddy, drive me to work in that fast food place.

Yes, abduction. Watch the news, any news. Seems to happen daily. I wish it didn't, if it were my child I'd kill if I could, but none of that makes it non-existant.

Yes, abduction. Watch the news, any news. Seems to happen daily. I wish it didn't, if it were my child I'd kill if I could, but none of that makes it non-existant.
But does it happen MORE than it did 30 years ago, or do we only HEAR about it more? Of course it could be answered that that simply means we have a more accurate picture of it now than we did then, and if we knew then what we know now, they wouldn't have been riding then either.

Still, I hope that when my kids get old enough to ride to school (they are 7 and 5 now), they can, since we live in a smaller town and the school can be gotten to on mostly neighborhood streets. But I can't judge what's right for other parents.

Fat, lazy, parents breed fat, lazy kids
Easier to blame, Crime, abduction, ABDUCTION?????????,traffic than to hang the blame on precisely where it belongs
Exercise is outside of the norm I.E. ,an air cooled mall, in front of a Tv frying their minds

My mother is a teacher in RI. Her school will not let children ride bikes into school due to liability issues. They won't even let my mother commute via bicycle, because they can't have a double standard. I told her to tell the principal that 4th graders can't drive to school, but the teachers do as an example of a double standard that is in use every day.

Some other threads/articles:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=83111
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=95098&highlight=children+florida

Half this forum is people ranting about how dangerous people drive, but now when it comes to letting children out on these busy/dangerous roads, you claim that statistics are invalid. The roads/traffic are perfectly safe for our children to go out on their way to school. I can see where parents would be scared. We don't let children have driver's licenses until they are 16 because they supposedly don't make the best decisions. So why would you think it is OK to give them just as much responsibility with a bicycle on the roads???

Abduction is very rare and in most cases it is by a relative or a friend. It gets in the news because it is easy to report and attracts a lot of attention which is good for the advertisers.

The article is a good read.

debunking the child abduction thing, it says that there were 364 child abuductions in the whole nation last year, and that includes kids takenf rom their homes, shoping malls, etc. There were also 17,000 kids injured or killed in car wrecks. The chance of kid dying in a car are proablymuch better than a kid getting abducted.

when I was about ten, I jumped off a curb and fell of my bike on the way to school. I scraped up my face and had a little chip in my tooth, but I made it to school, put a bandage on my face and made it throuhg they day.

my schoolw as about a 1.5 miles away from my house on quiet and moderate trafic streets with bike lanes. I'm sure that 15 miles a week did me good.

I really wonder when parents of moribly obese children are going to be charge with neglect, or at least parents are given more education on nuturtion and excerise. Sure some people are natural chunk but 12 years old shouldn't be weighing 200 pounds

I wouldn't say that riding the bus is a complete waste. Every morning, I walk my bike and my daughter about a quarter mile to the school bus stop. We say goodbye and I ride on to work.

When I was in elementary school, I walked or biked between a quarter mile and a half mile each way to school. Since we walk quite fast, I suspect my daughter is getting exercise that is not insignificant compared to what I got at her age.

Paul.

But does it happen MORE than it did 30 years ago, or do we only HEAR about it more? Of course it could be answered that that simply means we have a more accurate picture of it now than we did then, and if we knew then what we know now, they wouldn't have been riding then either.

Still, I hope that when my kids get old enough to ride to school (they are 7 and 5 now), they can, since we live in a smaller town and the school can be gotten to on mostly neighborhood streets. But I can't judge what's right for other parents.


Does it "happen" more... I doubt it. It is my belief that there are a certain percentage of wierdos in the population, and those folks are the ones that don't quite fit the mold. However as population density increases, the chances that one may be exposed closer to home to one of these wierdos also then increases.

Unfortunatly as population density increases, so too does traffic in a particular area.

So generally I blame these woes on increasing population density.

The child abduction thing is a lot like the 'razor blade in the halloween candy' story that freaks so many people out. Turns out the candy thing has only happened once ever, and it was a family member that did it!

Statistics support the notion that if you are going to be kidnapped or raped, it is probably going to be someone you already know, by more than a factor of 2. Great, huh?

I think that if you watch enough news you'll be afraid of everything. I refuse to let the news making something seem scary be a justification for something. Scary sells, realistic doesn't. I carry a huge grain of salt around with me for any mainstream media I read or see.

There are dangers with biking to school, but there are dangers on the bus, and dangers while driving a car. My parents taught me how to ride safely, made me wear a helmet, and made me call if I was going to be late for any reason. I rode my bike quite happily to school from 2nd grade through high school.

Taking away the bike racks is utter crapola. Working families can't always change their entire daily schedule just to drop off or pick up a kid, busses don't always go where they need to go, and some schools are just too far to walk. A bike is a safe and effective way for kids to get around, and it'll give them a little well needed exercise.

Sigh... People wonder why asthma and juvenile diabetes is so common these days. Every little choice we make through the course of the day adds up to an outcome, and we quickly lose sight of the effect our choices make.

peace,
sam

I don't suffer from fear of my child being abducted. My daughter is a school patrol, she walks to the bus stop and rides the bus. I was just reacting to the statement from the original post that these fear were totally unfounded, a statement which also apparently applied to concerns about traffic. Abductions happen. I'd say it's a tossup whether it happens more now or it's just reported more, but if there were 364 in the US last year, that's an average of 7 per state. The problem is that's not what the article you're quoteing says. It says that 364 children were reported abducted by a non-family member in the state of California between 1995 and 2000. That's an average of almost 73 per year in California.

This source, (http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=242) shows that in 1999 over 58,000 children were abducted by a non-family memberin the US. The State Department says that since the late 1970s, over 16,000 children were abducted and taken from the US, or prevented from returning to the US, usually by a parent.

These are not numbers that should be dismissed as out of hand, and if you dismiss that concern as "totally unfounded", you must not have children.

Here is my .02 worth on this topic: First of all this idea of not allowing kids to ride to school is bullsh!t if you ask me, for some kids this might be the only excercise they get all day, I mean they go to school for what is it? 8 hours per day, they they go home and by then they are too tired to do any excercize so they watch televsion until bedtime. This whole idea was probably started by some femist woman's group, if parents raised their kids properly than the chances of abduction would be rare, the best defence against child abduction is the self esteem of the child. When I was going to school I rode my bike everyday and if the school didn't like it tough ****. Maybe if the schools provided proper gym classes and not classes for aonly 10 minutes per day, than kids would be in better shape. Also schools need better bike storage facilities, kids are probably afraid to bring their bikes to school because they fear they may be stolen or damaged, if they had a place inside the school where the bikes would be safe than I believe more kids would ride.

Sigh... People wonder why asthma and juvenile diabetes is so common these days. Every little choice we make through the course of the day adds up to an outcome, and we quickly lose sight of the effect our choices make.

Asthma and juvenile diabetes are not triggered by lifestyle choices. That's patently false.

Asthma and juvenile diabetes are not triggered by lifestyle choices. That's patently false.


obesity can lead to diabetes in both adults and children

There are far more common causes of child death:accidental drownings, gunshot, car accidents, abuse.. Accidents kill far more kids than abduction. But they don't get publicized because most are not crimes, just accidents. There were child murders when we were kids, butwe didn't have amber alerts and the internet and the missing children's network.

ALl this is just yet another reason for lazy american kids to play Xbox all the livelong day.

obesity can lead to diabetes in both adults and children
Nitpicking maybe:

Juvenille diabetes (Type I diabetes), as mentioned first, is not caused by obesity. Obesity is related to Adult-onset (Type II) diabetes. Recently, there have been news reports that many more children are developing the Adult-onset Type II diabetes, possibly as a result of obesity.

Juvineile diabetes (type 1) is HERIDITARY, there is nothing a child can do about but treat it then die from it. To blame this on a lifestyle choice is cruel and inhumane.

Schools took bike racks out and banned bikes over liability issues. Kid rides bike to school, bike is stolen at school, school is sued by parents.

obesity can lead to diabetes in both adults and children

As others have said, juvenile diabetes (Type I) is not caused by obesity.

And in no way is asthma caused by lack of exercise. In fact, asthma often leads to obesity because kids don't get proper treatment and are afraid of exercise.

There are far more common causes of child death:accidental drownings, gunshot, car accidents, abuse.. Accidents kill far more kids than abduction. But they don't get publicized because most are not crimes, just accidents. There were child murders when we were kids, butwe didn't have amber alerts and the internet and the missing children's network.

ALl this is just yet another reason for lazy american kids to play Xbox all the livelong day.

over 70% of deaths in youth in the US are from:

Motor Vehicle Accidents
Other Unintentional Injuries
Homicide
Suicide

So I guess I shouldn't worry about homicide in any way, since there are 2 causes of death that are more common for kids. Following that logic, I guess I shouldn't worry about anything but heart disease and cancer, since those are the leading two causes of death in the US overall. Hell with that seat belt, right? Don't worry about a helmet or even getting hit by a car, unintentional injuries rates overall 5th, so it's not an issue, right?

I'm just saying that the fear should not be dismissed as "totally unfounded." My kids are active, certainly not "lazy American kids...playing Xbox all the livelong day." They're doing a century with me in June...they ride with my wife and I regularly, and regularly ride distances of 25 miles or more at a time. They ride the bus to school, and they go to and stand at the bus stop alone. I think their own self-confidence and normalcy are worth the risk. Of course if something were to happen, I'd be one of those parents losing my mind and asking myself why I didn't walk them to the bus stop. I'm just saying that the fear some people have (especially if something has happened in their neighborhood) is not without reason.

As others have said, juvenile diabetes (Type I) is not caused by obesity.

And in no way is asthma caused by lack of exercise. In fact, asthma often leads to obesity because kids don't get proper treatment and are afraid of exercise.

My daughter does have asthma, but it's mild and controlled by medication. Continuous activity isn't usually a problem for her, but very intense/strenuous activity can cause her to weeze. She's anything but inactive, and if anything she's slightly underweight...she's very trim.

over 70% of deaths in youth in the US are from:

Motor Vehicle Accidents
Other Unintentional Injuries
Homicide
Suicide

So I guess I shouldn't worry about homicide in any way, since there are 2 causes of death that are more common for kids. Following that logic, I guess I shouldn't worry about anything but heart disease and cancer, since those are the leading two causes of death in the US overall. Hell with that seat belt, right? Don't worry about a helmet or even getting hit by a car, unintentional injuries rates overall 5th, so it's not an issue, right?

I'm just saying that the fear should not be dismissed as "totally unfounded." My kids are active, certainly not "lazy American kids...playing Xbox all the livelong day." They're doing a century with me in June...they ride with my wife and I regularly, and regularly ride distances of 25 miles or more at a time. They ride the bus to school, and they go to and stand at the bus stop alone. I think their own self-confidence and normalcy are worth the risk. Of course if something were to happen, I'd be one of those parents losing my mind and asking myself why I didn't walk them to the bus stop. I'm just saying that the fear some people have (especially if something has happened in their neighborhood) is not without reason.
I know that parents and schools teach children how to avoid and handle dangers such as crime and traffic. It seems that at a certain age, bike riding to school would be safe enough. Do you think it might be reasonable for schools to encourage bike commuting for middle school children (say over age 10 or 12)? It really would be good for their health, and it might instill lifelong fitness habits. Also, do any schools have bike clubs where kids can learn about riding fun and safety? The schools spend a lot of money on driver ed, which is fine with me, but it seems like a good idea to teach cyclist ed too.

I know that parents and schools teach children how to avoid and handle dangers such as crime and traffic. It seems that at a certain age, bike riding to school would be safe enough. Do you think it might be reasonable for schools to encourage bike commuting for middle school children (say over age 10 or 12)?

Sure kids are taught, but putting myself in the mindset of a predator, I've never met a kid under 14 that I couldn't overcome and slam into a car in a matter of seconds. About 14, I've seen some damn big kids...

Keeping in mind that the predation and traffic safety are separate issues please...

Yes, I would love to see kids encouraged to bike commute. There is however one major intersection between my home and the elementary school where my daughter goes, and two major roads between here and the middle school where my son goes. If they could ride sidewalk I'd maybe fight for it, but I discourage that with my kids as much as practicable, and the street routes are very very busy at that time of day. There's also a commuter bus stop without shelter along the sidewalk route, and there tend to be quite a few adults milling about in the mornings. As I mentioned before...my sone rides an Allez, my daughter a Sirrus, and I'd really rather not have them ridden to and locked up outside the school.

My daughter will be going to a different middle school next year, having been accepted into a Math & Science program, and that trip would be out of the question both due to distance (well over 15 miles) and
LOTS of major roads that are very busy with morning commute traffic.

I don't think the policy here is district wide, I believe it's up to the individual school to determine whether or not to allow kids to ride bikes to school based on where their students are coming from in relation to traffic patterns. Some of the schools in the district would be just fine for the kids to commute to.

My wife has adult onset, type one diabetes (juvenile diabetes) she contracted it when she was 30. Horrible disease thas you wouldn't want to wish on anyone. She has always been excellent shape, and always maintained (and still does) a rigorous excercise routine. She is on an insulin pump is constantly monitoring her blood sugars, But even still here blood sugars occasionally drop to the point were she goes into a seizure. In a best case scenerio, she comes out of it when you give here tons of sugar. In a worse case, its a ambulance ride to the ER.

Heading of a thread hijack:

What I've noticed living in SoCal and Long Island, where there is a huge gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", is that for the most part, the "haves" tend to be in better physical shape. Its kind of obvious that kids in the Haves have access to safe neighborhoods have access to, have good diet and are involved in many extracurricular activites.

The biggest factor seems to be that "haves" parents are much more motivated and involved in their kids lives.

But ironically its the kids in the poor neighborhoods that cycle to school. The rich kids all have mommy drop them off in their SUVs.

Sheesh

Also, do any schools have bike clubs where kids can learn about riding fun and safety?

You know I missed this part the first time around. Our middle school seems to be very open to starting clubs based on the kid's interests. I think I'll see if I can talk Jason into getting the right teacher sponsorship to start a cycling club. I'd be more than happy to volunteer. He loves to ride...rode with the lead pack on our last club ride, averaged something over 14 MPH on a 30 mile ride. I was behind with my daughter and didn't see him most of the day, but several members made it a point to seek me out, and tell me how well he did, not just in keeping up, but also in his riding etiquette and overall manners.

this is good. Parents involved and doing something about it. Good job, twahl

Juvineile diabetes (type 1) is HERIDITARY, there is nothing a child can do about but treat it then die from it. To blame this on a lifestyle choice is cruel and inhumane.

Schools took bike racks out and banned bikes over liability issues. Kid rides bike to school, bike is stolen at school, school is sued by parents.

There ya go!!! In an article on this in my local paper, replacing stolen bikes constantly was the number one reason why kids didn't ride their bikes to school. At least our Jr High and High School have a fenced area with the bikes locked inside during school hours.

The San Diego Union tribune has a feature article on why kids don't ride their bikes to school anymore. Article (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20050425-9999-1n25bikes.html)

among reasons cited are fears about traffic and abductions, which are totally unfounded.

"

Yup, TOTALLY unfounded. My paper was covering the kidnapping of a girl off the street on her way to school in Vallejo, kept in a closet in San Jose, and "rented out" to other pedophiles for a couple of months, before the guy finally killed her. They found out because he's confessed after being convicted of another kidnapping where the girl got away eventually. This is a continuous assault of info on the senses.

Help organize a Safe Routes to School program in your community:

http://www.saferoutestoschools.org/

Help organize a Safe Routes to School program in your community:

http://www.saferoutestoschools.org/

I've visited that site and found it interesting, but there's no way around at least a busy 4 lane road between me and the school. I'm kind of boxed in between an interstate, the primary artery through the county, a 4 lane feeder, and Bull Run, which seperates us from Fairfax county. It's kind of discouraging really, but hey, my kids ride. Just not to school.

Ok, since it caused a bit of a flareup, let me rephrase! Instead of saying 'juvenile diabetes' is affected by lifestyle choice, I mean to say, 'juvenile onset type-2 diabetes' is affected by lifestyle choice. Yes, I know they are different diseases, but my point stands. Doctors are seeing so called 'adult onset' diabetes in younger and younger patients, including children, and this change seems to be brought about by changes in lifestyle, including diet and exercise, which not only affect whether or not someone will contract type-2, but also when they contract it. If someone has a strong genetic risk factor, their lifestyle choices might make the difference between onset at 12 and onset at 55, which means a lot for their life.

Asthma isn't 'lifestyle' related in the same way, since diet and exercise aren't as big of risk factors. However, it is related to lifestyle in that air pollution is a major risk factor for asthma, and choosing to operate cars more than may be necessary is a lifestyle choice that can exacerbate asthma problems, though that occurs on a community level, rather than an individual level.

Does that help? I'm certainly not wishing these diseases upon anyone, and I'm well aware of the fact that there are many things that contribute to whether or not someone contracts a disease, and that one can't immediately 'blame' a person for their own disease. However, one can't discount the risk factors that people DO have control over, and lament their frequent ignorance or outright defiance of that. I have family members with diabetes too, and my comments weren't meant to be crass or insensitive.

You are your body, and every choice you makes affects it. There are some things you don't get to choose, and some you do.

peace,
sam

i think kids dont ride bikes as much because...
1.they dont want their nice bike getting jacked
2. they dont want people ****ing with their bikes
3. ?

http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/projects/cda2.htm

Some info from the CDC about the increased prevalence of early onset type-2 diabetes in people aged 10 to 19, noting correlation between obseity and low physical activity, as well as other factors like exposure to diabetes in uetero.

peace,
sam

That is so sad that schools take away the bike lock facilities and don't allow kids to ride to school. One of the best things is getting a bike and finally having the freedom over your own mobility.

When I was a kid a lot of horrible, newsworthy things happened to me and people I know. The difference between then and now is back then you didn't talk about it.

I think kids should be forced to ride to school. Put crossing guards at those busy intersections and give them the authority to stop traffic in all directions. The only exception to forcing kids to ride to school is please don't force 13 year old (or so) girls. At that age, riding a bike is complete torture, fraught with opportunities for total, feminine humiliation.

Do you think forcing them to ride would take away some of the fun?

I ride to school, as do alot of my friends. Most of them ride because it's their means of transportation, my parents are gone in the morning and don't come home until around 6pm, so if I want to get to school, go to a friends house, whatever I have to ride.

Fortunately for me my ride is fairly safe, most of it is on an enclosed bike path(concrete walls seperate the bike path from the 56 freeway) and then it's a short stretch on a 2 lane road. The only thing I worry about is the not-so-adept teenage drivers driving to school while I'm trying to negotiate traffic and get into the left-hand turn lane.

BTW, I ride a >$2k bike to school now, my solution is to leave it in one of my teachers classroom. He rides to school as well and understands how much a good bike can cost so he's understanding enough to allow me to leave my bike in his classroom.

Ok, since it caused a bit of a flareup, let me rephrase!

Much clearer. What's likely to be more deadly in the future is this generation of fat, sedentary kids growing up and becoming an even larger bloc of fat, sedentary adults than we've ever seen before.
If you're a fat little kid, chances are not on your side that you'll grow up to be a trim, healthy adult.

I predict over 10% of the public will have had gastric bypass surgery in 30 years.


Asthma isn't 'lifestyle' related in the same way, since diet and exercise aren't as big of risk factors.

AFAIK, onset of asthma has nothing at all to do with diet and exercise. Triggers are typically environmental and hereditary.

(I'm very asthmatic)

Does it "happen" more... I doubt it. It is my belief that there are a certain percentage of wierdos in the population, and those folks are the ones that don't quite fit the mold. However as population density increases, the chances that one may be exposed closer to home to one of these wierdos also then increases.

Unfortunatly as population density increases, so too does traffic in a particular area.

So generally I blame these woes on increasing population density.

This doesn't have an effect on the probability of being abducted. Sure, with higher population density the weirdo will be closer to more kids, but at the same time, there are more kids to choose from for the weirdo. So the probability for a kid "near" the weirdo will decrease. Overall, assuming we don't know where the weirdos are, an individual kid's probability is exactly the same.

I think we mostly agree that it would be good for kids and for cycling if more students rode to school. I have read the following concerns or problems and also list some possible solutions:
Problem: Traffic safety. Possible solutions: Crossing guards and safety patrols, overpasses and other facilities, safety education.
Problem: Predatory criminals. Possible solutions: Teach kids how to avoid (not necessarily fight off) this danger, travel to school in groups, crossing guards and safety patrols, better police patrols.
Problem: Bicycle theft. Possible solutions: Racks for locking, theft prevention such as security cameras, education of parents and children.
Problem: School is too far from home. Possible solution: None--except long term solutions of return to community schools and rollback of urban sprawl.
People are thinking that it is more dangerous for kids to ride (or walk) to school, but maybe the real problem is that we are no longer set up for it. When I was a kid in the 1960s, we had all the "possible solutions" that I listed above. As far as I know, millions of baby boom kids like myself made it to school just fine!

Yes, abduction. Watch the news, any news. Seems to happen daily. I wish it didn't, if it were my child I'd kill if I could, but none of that makes it non-existant.

It's our perception of the risk that has changed over the years. Even if it "seems to happen daily", that is 365 occurrences per year in a total population of 300 million plus, people. I'd suggest that your child's risk is far greater of being seriously injured or killed in a car crash on the way to school than of being abducted.

It's our perception of the risk that has changed over the years. Even if it "seems to happen daily", that is 365 occurrences per year in a total population of 300 million plus, people. I'd suggest that your child's risk is far greater of being seriously injured or killed in a car crash on the way to school than of being abducted.Or dog bite, bee sting, lightning, etc.

Nevertheless, there is a real risk, and parents get paid the big bucks to think about things like this. They rightly worry more about a low probability risk with severe consequences, than a higher probability risk with lesser consequences. There are few consequences more horrifying than a child abducted by a sexual predator! I think the real answer is to teach kids to stay safer. Travel in groups, come straight home from school, stay away from all strangers, etc. These guidelines work well, and they are taught in schools and homes. Each parent knows if their own child is willing and able to follow the guidelines.

One solution to many of these issues... ride with the kids to school. My oldest starts kindergarten in the fall. The road to school is too dangerous for kids to ride on their own (they need to cross a 4-lane high-traffic arterial road). I have a Burley Piccolo trailer bike on order for the specific purpose of riding my son to school. If the road had been safer he would certainly be capable of riding himself.

I'll send him on the bus if the weather is too bad for riding (does not happen often around here). What I will NOT do is drive him.

That's what I did. Rode with them the mile to school. How long does that take? Keeps them safe and you get to teach them how to ride (that translates nicely when they're ready to learn to drive) and you can get an idea what they look like when riding on their own (if you keep your distance and stay quiet on occasion).

People die and are severly injured every day in cars, yet parents often feel this is far safer than risk the rare chance of a random, stangers' abduction. Driving everywhere gets the kids in that frame of mind and leads to poor health down the line. A far greater risk.

It's our perception of the risk that has changed over the years. Even if it "seems to happen daily", that is 365 occurrences per year in a total population of 300 million plus, people. I'd suggest that your child's risk is far greater of being seriously injured or killed in a car crash on the way to school than of being abducted.

That seems low, but again...the original poster misquoted the statistics in the article. that was 365 occurances of a non-family related abduction in the state of California over a 5 year period. Not the entire US, just one state. The national numbers are far more frightening and not nearly as reported as everyone seems to think. We get a couple a week on the national news, but with 58,000 occurances in one year, that's more than 150 per day! You want to dismiss that as inconsequential? You minimize the fear that parents may have, knowing that there will be 150 kids abducted by a non-family member that day? That's insane.

Excessive risk-aversion. Or, in more direct terms, being wussies.

Excessive risk-aversion. Or, in more direct terms, being wussies.

Got kids?

This doesn't have an effect on the probability of being abducted. Sure, with higher population density the weirdo will be closer to more kids, but at the same time, there are more kids to choose from for the weirdo. So the probability for a kid "near" the weirdo will decrease. Overall, assuming we don't know where the weirdos are, an individual kid's probability is exactly the same.

Your probabilities almost worked, except for the fact that families are having fewer children these days, therefore there are more weirdoes per square area, per child than there were in the past, when there were less people per square area and more children per couple.

I know one thing that really freaked me out vis-à-vis "weirdoes" was when my local city put the sex offenders in a database that allowed you to see the approximate location of them (not actual addresses, but density in an area). That was not a pretty sight. I imagine that in a less densely populated area, the dots that represent the weirdoes would be much further apart.