Encouraging Cycling to schools

[anjiecol]

What is being done in your local area to encourage students to cycle to school?

What could be done to encourage more students to cycle or walk to schoool?

 

[less'go]

Originally posted by anjiecol
What is being done in your local area to encourage students to cycle to school?

What could be done to encourage more students to cycle or walk to schoool?

Took my neice to see a teenybopper movie called "confessions of a teenage drama queen" which featured the heroine always on her bike, and lots of kids riding bikes to school. Since films and TV are very influential, I think that's a good move!

 

[SomeGuy]

My school has a wire cage for students to lock their bikes in, but thats about as far as they go to encouraging cycling.

Oh and part of the year seven (thats 13 year olds) sport class is Bike Ed.

 

[keydates]

My school doesn't even have a bike rack. Kind of odd, since there are a good 2000 students there. I'd say maybe 5 people bike to school. Probably less, since I don't see many bikes around. Most either walk/take the bus/drive.

 

[SomeGuy]

Only 5? Damn. My school of six or seven hundred students has maybe 20-35 students ride to school. Not sure on exact numbers, but it would be around there.

A couple of the teachers (2-5) also ride.

 

[keydates]

More or less...probably less people. I know of at least one kid rides his bike to school. It's not the preferred way of travelling. Of course, that may be a result of not having any sort of bike rack.

 

[Brunswick_kate]

How do **I** encourage my child to cycle to school? Well, Daddy bikes with her in the morning and Momma bikes her back home after school. She's not competent enough to be trusted to manage on her own in the traffic.

I only mention this because a few years ago, I caught myself in mid sentence decrying the lack of emphasis we put on physical fitness for children....the whole "somebody ought to do something". It wasn't until I finished embarassing myself that I realized that "someone" was "me" and I really should do something about encouraging my child's physical activities.

The school has bike racks -- I guess the rest is up to her parents.

 

[Gittins]

Originally posted by Brunswick_kate
How do **I** encourage my child to cycle to school? Well, Daddy bikes with her in the morning and Momma bikes her back home after school. She's not competent enough to be trusted to manage on her own in the traffic.

My fifteen-year old daughter has started riding with me in the mornings. My commute is about nine miles, hers is roughly the first third of that. Even though we aren't able to talk much, it's a nice together time for us.
She's realized that she can get to her 6:00 early morning religion class BEFORE her regular high school classes and not even have to get up earlier than her car riding brother and sister. She works out with her mom a few days a week on the weights and gets a hot shower right before her high school classes begin.
I'm proud to be able to pass a good habit on to my kids. It's one thing to lead by example, but sometimes they need a gentle push as well.