Pre-teens and helmets

[Danestress]

We live in a smallish neighborhood, and my kids don't ride bikes that much. The bikes they have are too small for them. I'm happy to replace them, but only if my kids are going to wear helmets. They always have in the past, but all of a sudden, this is a big problem.

 

Likewise, neither of my sons (twins, age 11) have owned an scooter (the non-motorized kind) in a few year, but one now really wants one. We were at a friends house the other day just for a few minutes, and the kids had fun on the boy's scooter. It did actually bother me that they were riding on them in the street without helmets, but we weren't staying and I didn't want to make a fuss. A mistake I guess. So now my son wants a scooter and told me he is saving his money for one. I told him that was great, but that he needed to understand that he would have to wear a helmet (which I would gladly, gladly provide free of charge!)

 

He was almost in tears. He said that none of the boys in the neighborhood wear helmets when they bike or ride scooters. That's probably true, though none of them do either all that much. There are one or two boys in the neighborhood who I see without helmets on bikes, though.

 

I hate being the mean Mom of the neighborhood. I hate being the only one who is "over protective." I also hate to spend the next 35 years caring for and watching a son struggle with a preventable traumatic brain injury.

 

Arm me here, ladies:) I've always love this neighborhood and loved the boys in it. We have a good crew of nice young men. But lately I really feel like the odd man out. I'm the only one who seems to have a problem with kids in homes where the parents are out. I am the only one, apparently, who will insist on a helmet. I think I am the only one who is really "not into" sleepovers. We have had a few, but they aren't my favorite. These are good boys with nice, reasonable parents, and granted, most of them are a year older than my boys.

 

I feel like I am swimming upstream:(

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We have pretty much always made the boys wear helmets for both scootering and biking. Good thing too. My oldest jumped his bike over a skateboard ramp and landed on his head. He had a pretty good concussion and spent the evening in the ER, having memory loss (couldn't remember the accident, but more frightening couldn't remember where he was or why he was there) and a CT scan. Without his helmet, his injury would have been much worse, he probably would have broken both his nose and his jaw and he might have damaged his eye.

 

He wasn't generally a reckless rider. He just wanted to try out the ramp and he and his bike just weren't up to it. I can't express how scary it was to see my kid covered with blood or to hear him sobbing that he was hurting and didn't know why, bleeding and didn't remember what happened.

 

We put the busted up helmet out on the table at the next neighborhood potluck and pointed it out to all the kids, especially the boys.

 

IMHO, this is as good a time as any for your kids to learn that your family may not have the same rules as other families. Helmet use sets the stage for seatbelt use and coming home at an assigned time as an older teen. Training your kid (and you) to go against the flow now will strengthen those stand up for your standards muscles to resist other stuff latter on.

 

You are swimming upstream. But the other families don't always notice that there are rapids and waterfalls downstream. Other parents can be perfectly nice folks with parenting choices that I won't fall in line with.

[Rosie_0801]

Have you tried talking to the other parents? Perhaps they could be convinced to buy the least uncool (read most expensive) helmet for their sons and market it as being a group ID thing?

 

Rosie

[hornblower]

I have an almost 15yog & an 11 yob. They both wear helmets for biking, scootering, horseback riding, skiing, snowboarding, rollerblading, ice skating etc.

 

Vancouver is a pretty bike friendly city - lots of bikes & the vast, vast majority of adults wear helmets so maybe that makes a difference.

 

We - dh & I - also wear helmets when we participate in those activities btw.

 

Helmets can be cool. Many kids & YA's will 'detail' them with stickers & fancy paint jobs....

 

I'd be a firm mama on this issue.

[Danestress]

Have you tried talking to the other parents? Perhaps they could be convinced to buy the least uncool (read most expensive) helmet for their sons and market it as being a group ID thing?

 

Rosie

 

DH suggested that maybe I needed to talk to the other parents, but it seems to me that the other parents surely know what helmets are and why people wear them, and have chosen not to make that a household rule. I'm afraid it would be insulting or annoying to them to say, "Hey, can we talk about helmets? I'm concerned that the kids aren't wearing them." I don't know. I don't want to suggest to other adults how they ought to parent ....

[Nestof3]

My boys always wear helmets when riding bikes and rollerblading, but not with the scooter. They only ride it in front of the house. I guess I didn't see it as such a threat.

[Danestress]

My boys always wear helmets when riding bikes and rollerblading, but not with the scooter. They only ride it in front of the house. I guess I didn't see it as such a threat.

 

It's getting hit by a car that seems scary to me. Even though our street is not particularly busy (there is only one entrance/exit) there are people coming and going like in any neighborhood. I know it's unlikely, and I think the other parents just don't think it's worth the argument.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Danestress

[EmilyK]

Our neighborhood and city are as Hornblower describes -- required for bike, skateboard camps and ski and riding lessons, and everyone (adults too) wears them when I see them riding around. So we don't really get a battle on it.

 

Do you have bike or skateboard day camps? Here they definitely emphasize safety and it is good reinforcement.

 

I'm with you on overnights -- my kids don't like them and I don't really encourage them to get over it -- it makes them sort of quirky among their friends, but they are anyway, and we seem to have friends that accept quirks.

 

The home alone thing is hard -- we've started leaving the almost 11 year old for a half hour or so -- most folks we know are more comfortable with that than we are, and have started a while ago.

[Nestof3]

It's getting hit by a car that seems scary to me. Even though out street is particularly busy (there is only one entrance/exit) there are people coming and going like in any neighborhood. I know it's unlikely, and I think the other parents just don't think it's worth the argument.

 

I never thought about that. Thanks!

 

Oh, and I am with you on sleepovers and in houses without parents. I cannot remember when I began allowing Aaron to be at someone's house without parents.

[snickelfritz]

And there's only one other girl who wears a helmet. And these are kids who are in the 4-7 year old range.

 

My favorite thing is when the parents say something like..."I know they should, but they just refuse to wear one."

 

um...ok...:confused: Did you tell them the bike was parked unless they had a helmet on? Works for us.

[Perry]

Helmets for the bike, 100% of the time here. Dh rides RAGBRAI every year, and ds rode for the first time this summer. There are over 10,000 riders, and almost every single one wears a helmet. Every now and then, some poor helmetless local will hop on their bike and ride along with the crowd. Every single rider, as they pass, chants "helmet. helmet. helmet". Very humiliating. It is just. not. cool. to ride without a helmet with these guys. There are frequent wrecks, and my guys saw pretty major wrecks every day. There are lots of broken bones, but head injuries are very rare.

 

None of my kids have ever challenged or questioned the rule. It's like seatbelts. Non-negotiable, no discussion.

 

 

OTOH, we don't require helmets for the scooter. They don't ride any faster than they can run, so I think the risk is pretty low. However, they aren't allowed to ride in the street. If they did that, they'd have to wear a helmet.

[BikeBookBread]

Non negotiable here -- even though the kids are only little 'uns right now. It will REMAIN non-negotiable.

 

DH is a bike commuter, and was hit by a car coming home from work on October 23, 2008. He was wearing his helmet, and if he hadn't have been, most likely wouldn't be with us, or in the same capacity as he is today -- back out riding as of last month. (Yay!)

 

Many neighbor kiddoes DON'T wear them. One sweet neighbor child's parent has said to me, "I can't get her to wear one". Daughter is THREE. Is this going to be the same parental excuse when she won't obey other parental "requests" down the road?

[Heather in Neverland]

I'll let you borrow my paddle for your upstream swim. Stand firm.

[abbeyej]

You know, if you make your kids wear their helmets, they're two more examples out there for the other moms and sons: "Nobody else wears a helmet!" "Yes they do. Dana's sons, Rex and Rover, always wear their helmets, and you can too if you want to be allowed on wheels ever again." ... Maybe there are other moms out there just desperate to draft behind you as you paddle upstream. ;)

 

And yes, they're non-negotiable at our house too, for both bikes and scooters (and would be for roller skates/blades/boards as well).

[Impish]

Non negotiable here too. Even riding in our fenced in back yard (its interlocking brick) helmets have to be worn when Princess is on her trike, Tazzie on his bike with training wheels.

 

Its actually law in Canada. Children, I believe under the age of 18 (might be 16, but think its 18) must wear helmets, or parents face a hefty fine. I *think* it also applies to anyone of any age riding their bike on the street, but nowhere near positive on that one.

[AngieW in Texas]

My kids are the only ones who wear helmets while riding on their bikes. None of them try to fight me on it. My 16yo has a motorized scooter and she ALWAYS wears her helmet when she rides it. The other kids in the neighborhood used to wear helmets, but they all stopped around 10yo. I don't require a helmet for regular scooters, but I would require a helmet for skateboards.

[Cera]

Helmets are nonnegotiable here and always will be. They each get to pick their own with the understanding that they will be wearing it so they had better like it.

 

Would it help to point out that all the professional athletes wear helmets? Another thing to check is the helmet law in your area. Where we live helmets are required for 12 and under ($50 ticket). That makes the argument very easy for me.

[swellmomma]

Most of the kids in my neighborhood do not wear helmets. It is frustrating because while ds will put his on when I am around the minute he is off with his friends without me it comes off as I recently found out. The kids had been laughing at him for wearing one so he stopped. The exception is when he goes to the hills to do jumps, he has wiped out a few times and done face plants enough to see the importance of the helmet, but otherwise wants to be "cool" and not wear one. I still make him put it on when he leaves (in recent weeks I have physically put it on him before unlocking the shed to get his bike), but once he is gone it is more difficult to enforce.

 

My other 3 always always wear their helmets, even the littest puts on a helmet before getting on her trike. It is too loose because she buckles it herself, I just want her getting used to the idea you have to have a helmet to ride a bike/scooter/roller blades.

 

I also make them ride on the sidewalk, but again like the helmet he has taken to riding on the street though only in front of our house doing loops for the most part. That scares me a lot as well.

 

It is the law to wear a helmet here, the ticket is very expensive if you are caught without, but I have not seen much enforcement of it despite cops being around frequently enough to see it. Hopefully Ds comes back around with my continued enforcement of helmet wearing, and realizes safety is more important than looking cool to your friends.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My best friend fines her kids $20 if she finds them (or has it reported by another adult) not wearing a helmet. Not much use being cool if you can't hang out because you lost all your money.

 

Maybe for you it's not the hill you want to die on. For me, riding without a helmet is a non-starter. If I had told my son to ride on the sidewalk only and he were on the street, that would be the end of the bike for a week or so. If I caught him not obeying my safety limitations again I would revisit if he were mature enough to be operating a bicycle.

 

It would only take a few spot checks and cancelled play plans to turn this around. Seems like wearing a helmet is far less uncool than having your mom come and take you home for not obeying family rules. I've found that it is easier for my kids if they can point to an iron clad family rule as a reason for bucking the peer system.

 

This is as much character training for your son as it is a safety issue. If he can't stand up to scoffing from his friends over a helmet, how will he stand up over weightier issues.

[TraceyS/FL]

Non-neogotialble here.

 

My nephew was riding in a friends driveway and hit a pebble and went over the top. Concussion and trip to the ER. My sil insisted for bikes but not scooters until then. I'm pretty sure after that he never complained.

 

I didn't read your responses- but can you tale them to a trauma center? Swing by the EMS staton for a chat?

[unsinkable]

If you are on wheels, you wear a helmet.

 

Bikes, scooters, roller blades.

 

And you FASTEN THE STRAP. Yes, I'm yelling. And you wear the helmet OVER YOUR FOREHEAD.

 

I can't stand to see kids riding with helmets unstrapped or strapped in such a way that their whole forehead is exposed.

 

A little boy was killed on his way to school here in the spring. It was 3 blocks from my house and I pass his memorial every day.

 

You were a helmet every time or you don't ride.

[In The Great White North]

Dc (17,15,12) wear helmets with bikes.

 

I wouldn't let them in the road on a scooter with or without a helmet. As a driver, I hate it when slow and unpredictable (read: turn on a dime) things like kids on scooters are in the street. Now that they're starting to drive, they agree.

[TraceyS/FL]

And footwear.

 

The little boy up front wiped out on a scooter... rolled down the edge of the road and got his flip flop "enclosed" foot caught UNDER the bottom of a chain link fence.

 

My kids question my footwear rules more than the helmets.

[Peela]

Same issue here. Ds hates to be the only one, but the deal is, if we catch him without a helmet, he loses teh bike/scooter/rollerblades for a time.

 

What I think is that mums give in to kid pressure because their kids tell them that no one else has to wear a helmet and, they don't want to be the one mean mum. The same happens with movies- kids tell their mum that all the other kids have seen a certain movie (adult movie) and so the parent thinks, oh, cant be too bad then, or, I don't want my kids to feel like the only one left out. Bad for their self esteem.

But if we do the right thing for our kids, make them wear helmets etc, the other mums will notice and it might give them courage to stand by the right thing too.

[snickelfritz]

I wouldn't let them in the road on a scooter with or without a helmet. As a driver, I hate it when slow and unpredictable (read: turn on a dime) things like kids on scooters are in the street. Now that they're starting to drive, they agree.

 

 

So, this means our kids would never ride their bikes or scooters unless we drove them somewhere to do so.

[TraceyS/FL]

Ours doesn't either, and it's only 1.5 lanes wide. Which is why mine only ride their bikes on it when we are going for a bike ride. Then the main street doesn't have bike lanes, and i can't have my youngest 2 anywhere but on the sidewalk.

[unsinkable]

Helmets for the bike, 100% of the time here. Dh rides RAGBRAI every year, and ds rode for the first time this summer. There are over 10,000 riders, and almost every single one wears a helmet. Every now and then, some poor helmetless local will hop on their bike and ride along with the crowd. Every single rider, as they pass, chants "helmet. helmet. helmet". Very humiliating. It is just. not. cool. to ride without a helmet with these guys. There are frequent wrecks, and my guys saw pretty major wrecks every day. There are lots of broken bones, but head injuries are very rare.

None of my kids have ever challenged or questioned the rule. It's like seatbelts. Non-negotiable, no discussion.

 

 

OTOH, we don't require helmets for the scooter. They don't ride any faster than they can run, so I think the risk is pretty low. However, they aren't allowed to ride in the street. If they did that, they'd have to wear a helmet.

 

Hijack ---

 

I read about RAGBRAI when I was young (13 or 14) and I wanted to do it. It was back in the day when I lived on my bike! Well, FF to now & I have a brother that lives in Omaha who wants to do it, too. (He probably will, if his wife will let him! ;) )

 

So I was just reading some guy's blog about his trip and here are some captions:

 

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=5329&v=9T

 

This is the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. It crosses the Missouri River, connecting Omaha and Council Bluffs. You can walk or bike on the bridge.

 

Here I am on the Bob Kerrey Bridge.

 

This was the Expo. Lots of tents with all sorts of bike-related items...clothing, bike accessories, and food! I had a Tyson chicken sandwich.

 

You know how some things strike you as so sweet...this guy writing that he had a "Tyson chicken sandwich" just about brought tears to my eyes!

 

I don't know if I'll make it to Iowa, but I'm going to shoot for the bike ride along the Erie Canal.

 

---Hijack over

[Ferdie]

My kids are the only ones who wear helmets while riding on their bikes. None of them try to fight me on it. My 16yo has a motorized scooter and she ALWAYS wears her helmet when she rides it. The other kids in the neighborhood used to wear helmets, but they all stopped around 10yo. I don't require a helmet for regular scooters, but I would require a helmet for skateboards.

 

I wonder if it is a TX thing because the kids in our neighborhood stop wearing helmets around age 10 also. I see them all over town, including riding along busy streets, (2 lanes, 40 MPH) without helmets.

 

It is mandatory in our family. My oldest ds stopped bike riding for this very issue. He is too embarssed to be the only teen wearing a helmet. A few weeks ago I gave my kids money to bike up to Sonic for a drink. My oldest refused to go and he LOVES Dr. Pepper. So sad.

[unsinkable]

I wonder if it is a TX thing because the kids in our neighborhood stop wearing helmets around age 10 also. I see them all over town, including riding along busy streets, (2 lanes, 40 MPH) without helmets.

 

It is mandatory in our family. My oldest ds stopped bike riding for this very issue. He is too embarssed to be the only teen wearing a helmet. A few weeks ago I gave my kids money to bike up to Sonic for a drink. My oldest refused to go and he LOVES Dr. Pepper. So sad.[/QUOTE]

 

Mommy question: What do you say to him? Do you try to convince him that it is not worth it to miss out?

 

That is usually the tactic I take if my kids want to do something but are embarrassed but I wonder if I shouldn't.

[mchel210]

Fl has state laws for 16 and under wearing helmets. I tell the kids...but besides that you cant do anything. I always tell them. You can tell them the law...but I try and leave it alone by 11 yo. My son 13 is always wearing a helmet. He is used to it. He has been required by us since he was on any bike/scooter!!

 

The school stops the kids around here and tells them to put on their helmets...do you think it works? No..the kids just stare at the principal and do nothing. They dont care. Or they put the helmet on and dont clip it. That really helps.

 

My hubby is a cop and threatens them to put on a helmet or they will get a ticket. (he never has done it) Here it is $86.00 for failure to use helmet. FS316.2065(3b)

[ChristusG]

Be firm on this one. No helmets means no riding. If caught without a helmet, the bike is put away for a few weeks (or scooter or skateboard or whatever). My girls (ages 2 and 5) are not allowed to ride without a helmet.....except for when my 5 year old rides her Big Wheel. It's very close to the ground with really no tip-over risk. But I do require it with tricycles because those DO tip over.

[stacim]

Absolute non-negotiable here, on any and ALL ride ons, including scooters. My boys like to do bunny hops and other little tricks on their scooters, and they do go pretty fast on them. Even if kids aren't riding very fast on scooters now, what happens when they start wanting to get a little more daring? Do you change the rule then? IMO, just easier to set the standard from the beginning.

 

It also helps that DH and I wear helmets. I see a lot of parents who require their kids to wear helmets, but don't wear them themselves. :(

 

~Staci

 

BTW - My kids are 13, 10, 7 and 3.5 and will be wearing helmets as long as they live under our roof and want to ride!

[IATeachingMom]

Here's how we addressed it at our house.

 

If you'd like to touch your bike, you're helmet needs to be on and BUCKLED. Otherwise...no bike. End of story. My kids take their helmets to other people's houses and for the most part, when I tell the other parents OUR rules, they respect and implement them when they are caring for our kids. Actually, one of my youngest's best friend now has the same rule as we do. I just mentioned that for US, if he wanted to touch a bike/scooter, he had to have a helmet on. The other parent responded by saying....wow, I bet that's effective.

 

ps- We had to say that if you wanted to TOUCH a bike/scooter....= helmet because I have a sneaky little one and "riding" on the back of someone's trike was technically not "riding it myself" so in his brain...no helmet required. He's quite literal though....we have to say exactly what we mean. Someday it will be a strength of his........I hope.

[Danestress]

 

This is as much character training for your son as it is a safety issue. If he can't stand up to scoffing from his friends over a helmet, how will he stand up over weightier issues.

 

I told him this morning that before long he's going to want to drive, and he needs to start proving to me now that he's the kind of kid who will always value safety (wearing seatbelts, not using the cell phone, not speeding, not packing the car with too many kids) over looking cool for his friends. I think when he thought about it that way, it made him feel better, because what he heard was "someday you will be driving" lol.

[Danestress]

I really do find it hard to make this adjustment to having an older child and letting him be unhappy or mad at me.

 

After I read your comments, I felt fortified. He brought it up again this morning, and I felt mentally better able to think, "It's okay. You are upset and angry with me about this, but I am not really swayed by that."

 

I also told him (and it's true) that I found a reference to a 12 year old boy being killed on a scooter when he was struck by a car as his twin brother stood watching. That kind of hit home for my 11 year old boys:( I know that we can't protect against ever accident. We take risks sometimes because we want to do things that are fun or challenging. But I can't think of a good reason why one wouldn't wear a helmet, apart from the cool factor.

[HollyinNNV]

 

I hate being the mean Mom of the neighborhood. I hate being the only one who is "over protective." I also hate to spend the next 35 years caring for and watching a son struggle with a preventable traumatic brain injury.

 

Arm me here, ladies:)

 

I feel like I am swimming upstream:(

 

OK-recently dh provided anesthesia for a twenty-something young man. Young man was riding a bike-no helmet-on a flat surface. This was just a casual ride, not mountain biking or racing. For some reason he fell. Even with everything modern medicine could provide, he died.

[Natalieclare]

My dd14 wanted me to tell you that skateboard helmets are *much* more appealing looking than bike helmets. She thought that might help. :D

[Rosie_0801]

DH suggested that maybe I needed to talk to the other parents, but it seems to me that the other parents surely know what helmets are and why people wear them, and have chosen not to make that a household rule. I'm afraid it would be insulting or annoying to them to say, "Hey, can we talk about helmets? I'm concerned that the kids aren't wearing them." I don't know. I don't want to suggest to other adults how they ought to parent ....

 

I was thinking more at inviting them to help you. "Sonny boy refuses to wear his helmet because he's a kid and doesn't want to feel like a dork *roll eyes at such juvenile thoughts* so I thought if we all bought the kids matching "cool" helmets, they might be a bit more agreeable over it. Are you up for it?"

 

Or if you don't think that'll work, send your hubby to talk to friend's dads. Or if you don't think that'll work, buy your boy the coolest/ most expensive helmet and send him out to boast about it. Then cross your fingers they'll all go and nag their parents over it, hehe.

 

Rosie

[elegantlion]

Safety is non-negotiable here too. My ds hasn't balked about our rules yet, but we all wear helmets when we ride. If he does ask I'll just kiss his cute little head and remind him that I love his head and that I'm spending a great deal of time filling that cute little head with knowledge so I want it kept safe.

[kewb]

My ds was hit by a car while riding his bike at the beginning of the summer. He is thankful he was wearing his helmet.

 

Helmets are non-negotiable in our house.

[abbeyej]

My dd14 wanted me to tell you that skateboard helmets are *much* more appealing looking than bike helmets. She thought that might help. :D

 

Good point! Some helmets really are "cooler" than others. And that's where I'd be willing to have some back and forth. (Lol, maybe parenting teens really is like toddlers -- we're just going from, "Would you like to put on your red pajamas or your blue ones for bed?" to "Would you like to wear your red bike helmet or your matte gray skate helmet when you ride your wheeled vehicle?")

[st_claire]

Here's a good story for you. I told DH that our kids could only go sledding if they wore a helmet. As he is a big bike helmet pusher, I figured it would be no arugment. He said they would look lame as other kids didn't wear them. So he thought he would prove they were useless by asking his dad, a retired E.R. pediatric doctor how many kids he would see a year with head injuries from sledding. His dad said tons. How many from biking dh asked. Maybe just one or two, most of them wear helmets. lol, needless to say, dh agreed with me after that.

 

If the kid says helmets are not cool, tell them being dead is even more un-cool.

[Tap]

Ds15, dd10 and dd2 wear their helmets for all activities. We are the only family in our neighborhood that requires it. Because of living in a neighborhood that is full of cars backing in and out, it isn't negotiable. You ride, you wear...or you don't ride....period.

 

My kids know the rules, and know that the rules aren't changing, so they don't ask.

[Danestress]

So the child who most wanted a bike got one two weeks ago. He was so happy. We brought it home and he immediately talked his brother into going for a bike ride with him. We had firmly established the helmet rule.

 

They came 15 minutes later. The one with the old bike was beside himself - could hardly speak. The other child came limping into the house and burst into tears. He had been going too fast and lost control of the bike he wasn't used to yet. He hit a bump and went flying head over heels. Apparently it was quite dramatic. He was pretty well busted up, but luckily nothing was broken. His brother said it was one of the most shocking accidents he's ever seen. They both said they were so so glad he was wearing a helmet - that it could have just been so bad. His helmet was pretty banged up!

 

So of course I told this story to the mothers of their friends. One immediately vowed that she was going to get tough on helmets. She loves my son and was distressed that this happened. She called the other mothers in the neighborhood and said she didn't want the kids on their bikes around her house without helmets. She has the big empty lot for playing sports next to her house, so this pretty much means that the kids are having to wear helmets when they come out to play! Yeah!

 

Thank you so much for helping me be tough about this. It's not like I was going to capitulate on the helmet, but you made me feel more courageous about taking a firm stand.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I'm so glad he's ok. If his helmet is banged up, he will need a new one.

[*********]

So the child who most wanted a bike got one two weeks ago. He was so happy. We brought it home and he immediately talked his brother into going for a bike ride with him. We had firmly established the helmet rule.

 

They came 15 minutes later. The one with the old bike was beside himself - could hardly speak. The other child came limping into the house and burst into tears. He had been going too fast and lost control of the bike he wasn't used to yet. He hit a bump and went flying head over heels. Apparently it was quite dramatic. He was pretty well busted up, but luckily nothing was broken. His brother said it was one of the most shocking accidents he's ever seen. They both said they were so so glad he was wearing a helmet - that it could have just been so bad. His helmet was pretty banged up!

 

So of course I told this story to the mothers of their friends. One immediately vowed that she was going to get tough on helmets. She loves my son and was distressed that this happened. She called the other mothers in the neighborhood and said she didn't want the kids on their bikes around her house without helmets. She has the big empty lot for playing sports next to her house, so this pretty much means that the kids are having to wear helmets when they come out to play! Yeah!

 

Thank you so much for helping me be tough about this. It's not like I was going to capitulate on the helmet, but you made me feel more courageous about taking a firm stand.

 

Good job mom! :001_smile: Glad your boy is ok. :grouphug:

[lgm]

I solved the problem by taking the teen and a friend mountain bike riding. Had to send friend back home to get his helmet before journey was underway. The park rule was helmets for all bike riders, so they left theirs on while speeding away from me. When they met me for lunch, they had a new found respect for helmets as well as bike maintenance. Seems they both crashed unexpectedly on a flat wide part in the trail and they both realized some brake adjustments were in order. Friend has now been seen biking with helmet on in the neighborhood and my teen now has no problems wearing his. (Previously ds was willing on group rides, but not tooling around with certain 'friends' who were trying to convince him that his parents were controlling him since the law only requires bike helmets up to age 14 here). Now I must address the perception that marijuana is harmless in comparison to tobacco and review the concept of gullibility vs skepticism....teens! Hard to remember I was one.;)