If my son were to ride, I'd be more comfortable with him being in Holland. The Dutch design won't work for the way American motorists careen through turns ignoring pedestrians and pedestrian-like cyclists.

I'm currently teaching my now 8-year-old to negotiate traffic on a bike. The two-lane low and moderate traffic roadways he will be allowed to ride on are a good match to his driving skills, and when he controls a travel lane, motorists respect him more than they respect me. As for high traffic roads, I won't let him travel those until his skill level has progressed to the point that not only is he less likely to make his own mistakes, but that he can detect and even predict the errors made by American motorists. Pedestrian-like cycling won't accelerate that.