Remember kids... always wear a helmet. (The almighty bikeradar helmet thread)

starting to

I was made to wear a helmet when riding to primary school 20 years ago. This isn't a slippery slope, its just a helmet which in the eyes of the school, is for the child's benefit. What is there even to moan about?
If it discourages kids from riding then maybe better to teach them that there's more important shit than not wanting to be seen in a helmet.

This looks very much similar to me as the recent case of the parents of a child taking the school to court because another boy wore a dress.

They'd have more time to get on with educating my son if they didn't waste time dreaming up, implementing, and then enforcing misguided and counterproductive cycle-helmet rules.

I bet if he doesn't take his shin pads, he's not allowed to play football in PE, have you wrote to the head about that?

Ask who they (or the police they're referring to) have been taking advice from. That letter sounds as if it's been the council's 'Road Safety' officer or a similar 'Road Safety' organisation. It's mostly utter nonsense and straight out of their playbook. The only effect it will have is that fewer pupils will cycle to school. They're probably panicking because they didn't do very much before the RTCs they mention and are afraid of legal action. Stable doors, etc. Point out that the school (as well as the council, obviously) ought to pursue a proper Road Danger Reduction strategy and that what they're following is a discredited ideology that's been very much complicit in getting us to where we are now.

counterproductive cycle-helmet rules.

I'll go out on a limb and say its more counter productive to waste their time than them telling kids to wear a helmet.

if telling kids to wear a helmet is happening in the absence of a campaign telling parents (drivers) not to drive like cunts, especially around kids who may or may not be wearing plastic hats of questionable value, then yes - i think it's problematic.

In the last half term alone we have had
three RTC’s involving our students

Ask if these collisions involved parents driving their kids to school. Suggest banning that instead.

Why not ban parents from dropping their kids off in cars? From what I've seen, this is a major source of arguments at the school gate (you cut me up!), as well as probably being a greater risk factor for pupils' health, both through pollution and a greater risk of RTCs.

Melly, 'sometimes you just have to put up with petty bullshit' is indeed a life lesson, but not one I'm sure schools need to be underlining. I take your points about the responsibilities of and pressures on staff in education, but then let them concentrate on those and not faff about creating more work with these kind of petty regulations.

In the last half term alone we have had three RTC’s involving our
students

So drivers are hitting the children with cars and it's the kids that need to modify their behaviour?

What is there even to moan about?

The school starting to erode their pupils' personal freedom of choice, which is unacceptable.

three RTC’s involving our students

it's this sort of specious reasoning that needs challenging all the way to the top. At best it's quite possibly a valuable lesson in piss poor critical thinking - exactly the sort of thing school kids should be learning about.

You're clutching at straws. This is such a minor issue. I'd be more concerned that they're taking no action to ensure drivers near the school are not doing anything to prevent future incidents.

You're clutching at straws.

I'm not, and I didn't raise the issue, but confiscating bikes because the pupil chose not to use a helmet in their own time and outside of school premises is ridiculous and totally unacceptable IMO.

chose not to use a helmet in their own time and outside of school premises

not be allowing any child to cycle away from school without a helmet on.

I thought the school is just concerned with kids riding in and out of school premises without helmets but correct me if I'm wrong

@lazybeard's original post from a day ago says ...

Now I learn from my son that, starting next half-term, anyone cycling to school without a helmet will have their bike taken and locked up until a helmet is produced.

Is this even legal?

Students who bring bikes to school without a helmet will be able to
take them home once they return to school with a helmet or, parents /
carers will be free to collect them after school if they prefer

Their rule is the kids can't ride the bike away without a helmet, that doesn't change just because its the end of the day. They're not holding the bikes hostage, you can go and collect your kids bike if you refuse to send them to school with a helmet on out of stubbornness

stubbornness

ok you've handily dismissed all opinions contrary to yours with one handy word. good jerb tho!

That doesn't alter the "erosion of their pupils' personal freedom of choice" ... unacceptable IMO. Stubbornness has nothing to do with it.

Why not just get the kid to park the bike outside of school premises?

Not really. Its not my opinion that anybody should be made to wear a helmet. I'm just being devil's advocate. However, I think this is such a non issue, that I'd just stick a helmet on my kids head and pop them off to school explaining to them that they don't have to wear it at the weekends if they don't want to but they have to on the way to school coz bureaucracy

What are you on about? Nobodys eroding anything. You don't have freedom of choice on everything in life. You just have to get over it.

I expect that if you were to send your child to junior track sessions you'd write to the velodrome to explain your dismay at them forcing children to wear helmets when its not the law?

but they have to on the way to school coz bureaucracy

This is EXACTLY why I voted Brexit

What are you on about? Nobodys eroding anything.

Clearly, they are ... "personal freedom of choice", and that's a valuable thing.

I expect that if you were to send your child to junior track sessions you'd write to the velodrome to explain your dismay at them forcing children to wear helmets when its not the law?

Of course not. I would make be personally making sure that they wore one.

Hmmm. Coz bureaucracy? I don't wear a helmet (my choice), my littlen does (her choice), my middle one doesn't (his choice), but he also rides like a total cock, even though he has been taught otherwise, I've explained the dangers/risks of both his choices, but I certainly wouldn't make him wear one, that would be hypocritical of me. Just push the bike in and out of school, and if school wanna confiscate it then they deal with the shit that will most definitely come their way.

The school.policy could state that the pupil, on entering the school premises with a bicycle, must have a cycle helmet.

Parents/pupils could simply stash a helmet in a nearby hedgerow thrn retrieve this as arriving to school. Does this make pupils journeys (for which schools are not liable/responsible) any safer?