Article: Why do teens abandon bicycling? A retrospective look at attitudes & behavior

[eminva]

@rcannon100 81370 wrote:

I cant come up with the research fast enough but I believe it was Dr. Tanya Byron of UK who did UK’s child safety report recently, whose tag line is “we are raising our children in captivity.”

One of the data points she had was the distance of freedom children experience from home, over time. And I cant pull it up but its basically, in our parents time the freedom they experienced was their town. When we grew up maybe the distance we could go was a mile or so. Now, the distance parents allow their children to go is (a) on the block or (b) the front yard.

Her argument is that this distance where parents permit their children to venture gets shorter and shorter.

For me, that distance for The Kid would be…. um…. Purceville. No wait. What’s further? Harpers Ferry? GAP Trail…..

Is this what you are looking for?

[peterw_diy]

I like this one better: http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/

[GB]

@DismalScientist 81326 wrote:

Shamed by my spouse, questioned by the neighbors, and ignored by my kids.

I can’t help with the wife and neighbors, but your kids will most likely be just like you, and therefore will most likely ride a bike when others wouldn’t. Let them ignore you for now, evolution/genes/upbringing will turn them around eventually.

[GB]

QUOTE=rcannon100;81370]
One of the data points she had was the distance of freedom children experience from home, over time. And I cant pull it up but its basically, in our parents time the freedom they experienced was their town. When we grew up maybe the distance we could go was a mile or so. Now, the distance parents allow their children to go is (a) on the block or (b) the front yard.

just for the fun of arguing:

crime is down
crime reporting is up
people are more afraid of crime
people take action based perceived higher crime risk
opportunity for crime decreases based on action taken

So although it isn’t as fun, maybe keeping kids close has some benefits – I concede it has some costs as well.

[consularrider]

@GB 81383 wrote:

I can’t help with the wife and neighbors, but your kids will most likely be just like you, and therefore will most likely ride a bike when others wouldn’t. Let them ignore you for now, evolution/genes/upbringing will turn them around eventually.

I can only hope.

[rcannon100]

danah boyd, Whether it’s bikes or bytes, teens are teens, LA Times

If you grew up middle-class in America prior to the 1980s, you were probably allowed to walk out your front door alone and — provided it was still light out and you had done your homework — hop on your bike and have adventures your parents knew nothing about. Most kids had some kind of curfew, but a lot of them also snuck out on occasion. And even those who weren’t given an allowance had ways to earn spending money — by delivering newspapers, say, or baby-sitting neighborhood children.
All that began to change in the 1980s…

[cvcalhoun]

I’m happy to say that my two children, both born in the 1980s, got an upbringing more like that described for pre-1980s kids. In spite of the dire warnings I got from teachers and other parents (for things like letting them walk to school alone beginning in kindergarten), they failed to get abducted or murdered. And they have grown up to be independent, productive adults.

@rcannon100 82571 wrote:

danah boyd, Whether it’s bikes or bytes, teens are teens, LA Times

If you grew up middle-class in America prior to the 1980s, you were probably allowed to walk out your front door alone and — provided it was still light out and you had done your homework — hop on your bike and have adventures your parents knew nothing about. Most kids had some kind of curfew, but a lot of them also snuck out on occasion. And even those who weren’t given an allowance had ways to earn spending money — by delivering newspapers, say, or baby-sitting neighborhood children.
All that began to change in the 1980s…

[Author]

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