Most kids have no where nearby to go on bikes. Plus cars and trucks are enormously more dangerous to kids these days thanks to being much larger, heavier and quicker to accelerate.
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Weird thing is that many American kids no longer do this in the suburbs, and it used to be very very common 30+ years ago.
I imagine that is a combo of helicopter parenting + American roads becoming less safe.
DireTech@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Are you saying that suburban families with kids no longer live next to schools, parks, friends?
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Correct. I live in suburbia. I can’t ride a bike to anything useful without going on a multi lane highway.
I don’t even trust myself to do that ride without dying. People think cars own the roads.
DireTech@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Obviously friends their age would depend on neighborhood demographics.
However, in the US many of them are not able to bike to a playground or school and anything beyond their street could be a high speed road. I’d say only a small percentage can bike to the places you mentioned, especially after elementary age. Some areas of the US are good, but I doubt more than a tiny fraction of the kids in places like Texas could do that.
We specifically moved because our old neighborhood lacked all 3 and I didn’t want my kids growing up the way I did.
lechekaflan@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
However, in the US many of them are not able to bike to a playground or school
I find it infuriating that in some places there you can’t let your kid walk to school alone.
Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Agreed. I’m just saying that I’ve seen behavior burby places change, even when the demographics, parks, and schools reminded similar.
lechekaflan@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I imagine that is a combo of helicopter parenting
This absurdity is one of the reasons I refused to emigrate to the US.
Doomsider@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Of course kids can’t go bike riding because they are not allowed to be outside your sight.
cnn.com/…/mother-arrested-missing-son-georgia-cec