No Bike Helmets on Kids... grrr!

techiemom

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 6:05 pm

Now that school is starting up tomorrow, I expect to see lots of kids riding their bikes without helmets. I live near a frum school and it's the same every year. Some of the kids are wearing hats, some kippahs, and only some of them helmets. And - maybe it's just my perception because I'm in an area with lots of frum kids - but I don't see this with the public school kids, or even the kids at the community Jewish day schools.

I would love to actually do something about this, but I'm not sure what or how! There's been a few near accidents with kids without helmets and kids who where all dressed in black and drive bikes at night without lights. If the parents can afford a bike, they can afford the helmet and a light.

Any ideas? I almost would like to call a police community liaison and have him visit the school... but there must be something a little less drastic.

jewels

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 6:19 pm

My children's school has a rule that if they ride their bikes/or rollerblade to school they must wear a helmet. If they're caught without one their bikes/blades are confiscated. They actually enforce this rule and are incredibly strict with it and I rarely see kids biking here without a helmet. I do feel however that it's the parents responsibility to make sure their children have helmets and wear them but sometimes kids fight wearing them. It's definitely easier when it's a school rule.

Ruchel

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 6:32 pm

Safety aside, it is incredibly cultural. Hardly anyone in my posh public middle school would wear a helmet, either. Certainly not for rollers. Even my paranoid ultra protective dad didnt force it, even as a kid.

In other circles, parents even enforce knee and elbow protections. I would qualify these circles of white, wealthy, older and careful about "everything" to a huge level.

Whether I would enforce the helmet would depend on child, road, environment...

Now, no light at night? That is very shocking to skip to me, and is legally mandatory anyway.

That's my experience here.

jewels

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 6:59 pm

Exactly. I can't imagine safety is a cultural thing. I'm assuming they wear seat belts in France? IMO wearing a seat belt and wearing a helmet are one and the same. If you put your kid in a seat belt you should put a helmet on his head. My son fell off his bike directly on his head. I don't even want to think about what could've happened to him if not for the helmet. He was riding his bike on a regular city sidewalk, not even going very fast and his tire just got caught on an uneven part of the sidewalk. It's not like he was riding wild or in the street.

the world's best mom

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 7:07 pm

Maybe you can have a Hatzalah man speak to them. My dh is on Hatzalah and he went on a call in the Catskills recently where a kid fell off his bike without a helmet, had a seizure, then was coming in and out of consciousness. They had to helicopter him to the city. He can tell similar stories about seatbelt/car seat safety. (As can I, from the side of someone who stayed safe using a seat belt and carseat.)

techiemom

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 7:27 pm

I like the idea of speaking to someone in Hatzalah, since I know someone and I can ask his opinion. Good suggestion, World's Best Mom!

I'm not sure that I can relate this to a cultural issue, when it's a matter of protecting children. Statistics prove that it saves lives, and it's the law. But this gives me a good place to start...

geemum

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 7:39 pm

Raisin wrote:

I wonder about those public rental bikes on the street they have in some european cities, including mine. They don't seem to come with helmets, and most people don't carry around helmets with them.

That's a really good point!

I think it a topic that should be addressed in schools - by hatzola or the local police.

My kids know that when it comes to safety issues (seat belts, helmets etc) however much they grumble and complain ("nobody else does, it's so nerdy....") I will not give in!

Then again, I see parents doing the school run and the kids are not strapped in - to me this goes together with the helmet issue! In fact I think it's worse because it can be enforced (adult present, whereas on a bike the kid can remove the helmet down the street) and also because cars are a more dangerous machine than a bike.

And to add to this.... how many of the US yellow school buses have seat belts on? I know the one I used didn't!

MaBelleVie

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 7:46 pm

Ruchel wrote:

Yes, what constitutes safe is highly cultural. It is not like some groups just dont like their kids or something lol

I don't really understand how safety can be determined by culture. I think you mean that concern for different safety measures varies by culture. The kids in the posh middle school who don't wear helmets are not just as safe as the kids who are wearing helmets. Their parents just don't see helmets as a safety concern. Not something I can identity with at all, having seen the tragic results of everyday biking accidents.

NativeMom

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 7:55 pm

I don't let my son ride his bike or a scooter without a helmet. I wore one when I had a bike and as a kid it prevented a serous injury!
I like the hatzahlah idea, maybe encourage schools to start a bike safety program?

When I was younger (5 yrs old) my parents sent me to this summer program called safety town. They taught us everything--bike and fire safety, how to cross the street safely, to avoid strangers and much more!. I wish they would do something like that in frum communities.

Monsey Mama

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 8:18 pm

I don't think all cultures value safety as much or maybe they are not informed. I see kids on Chasidish buses jumping all over the place. There is no order. These buses are largely private in my town. Perhaps, the public school drivers enforce proper behavior.The childen from yeshivas on public buses are much more orderly.

I get so upset when I see bad parenting. I don't know how many more tragedies we must endure as a community. Could you believe I still see little kids unattended constantly? Don't we ever learn anything? How many more children must we lose before ladies will properly supervise? I don't get it. The children come first. It is endemic in the Jewish communities. CPS would be called elsewhere. It is as bad as not reporting perverts. These Mothers should be ashamed of themselves.

MamaBear

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 8:35 pm

Monsey Mama wrote:

Excellent post. Their bad parenting perhaps is a lack of education on proper safety measures. There are many cultural differences between the US and France, but this is not one of them.

In general, I think parents can be lazy and stupid with certain things. I know so many parents who have told me, oh just strap my child into your car. When they see my shocked face at their lack of concern over a booster seat, they proceed to tell me that their child doesn't like to sit in one. Really?? So your child dictates what happens in your car? Well in my car a 4 yr old needs to be a booster. Heck at that age mine are still in a 5 pt harness.

When it comes to a child's safety I speak up. I have no problem telling a parent that they're doing something wrong if it's about something so clear cut.

http://www.bhsi.org/stats.htm

techiemom

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 9:35 pm

The tiny kids supervising even tinier kids makes me crazy, too.

I tried googling around to see if there were any programs already existing in the Orthodox community and could only find this Street Smart Safety Program Helps Orthodox Kids but there doesn't seem to be much about any other safety issue eg. biking. Maybe the schools would be willing to bring in someone about safe biking and maybe extend to different kinds of safety. We did it at our shul at one point and we did have parents and kids coming out to participate.

amother

Mon, Sep 05 2011, 10:25 pm

At our local, OOT boys yeshiva, I see kids riding bikes and using roller blades without helmets. When I asked a Rebbi about this, his response was "we have to pick and choose our fights". So, they can bash their heads open by not wearing a helmet, but they cant eat at my house on shabbos because I have a dd over the age of bas mitzvah! The priorities they teach kids these days are really skewed!

ora_43

Tue, Sep 06 2011, 6:03 am

MaBelleVie wrote:

I don't really understand how safety can be determined by culture.

The question of whether a 1 in 1,000 chance of something happening is "safe enough" or only a 1 in 1,000,000 chance is a cultural thing.

But it's also a question of choosing risks. With a helmet, there's less risk that an accident will end with a head injury, but sometimes there's more risk of careless behavior. Or more risk that people will decide to just not ride their bike at all rather than have to choose between a helmet and a ticket - and that creates its own problems.

Overall I don't think that western European countries have a significantly higher rate of bike-related head injuries than do countries with tougher helmet laws. And some European countries have way more people biking and thus fewer traffic fatalities, so even if they do have more head injuries, maybe they break even or even come out ahead in terms of safety. It's complicated.

As for the OP - why not contact the principal, note your concerns and ask if they'd have any interest in teaching bike safety?