What advice to give - WARNING: contains helmets

What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?

At present I duck the issue:

You will also need to consider insisting that your child wears a
helmet during training, especially in the playground where cycling
skills are being challenged. However, if a helmet does not fit
correctly and I cannot adjust it, your child will not be able to take
part in the training if you have requested helmet use.

The parents then have three choices:

I want my child to wear a helmet: yes, no, up to child.

Tilly wrote:
What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?

At present I duck the issue:

You will also need to consider insisting that your child wears a
helmet during training, especially in the playground where cycling
skills are being challenged. However, if a helmet does not fit
correctly and I cannot adjust it, your child will not be able to take
part in the training if you have requested helmet use.

The parents then have three choices:

I want my child to wear a helmet: yes, no, up to child.

Do you have to give advice? If not then duck the issue properly
by not bringing it up in the first place.

Following on from Tilly's message. . .
What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?
Here is my approach:

Whether or not your child wears a helmet is entirely up to you[parent]
but you must tell us[1] and you must ensure they bring it with them and
you must have adjusted it correctly or tell us you don't know how to
adjust it.



The important message is that training is at least 100 times more
effective safety-wise than a helmet. (It may be important to get this
across to kids as well 'cos they won't go far without some well meaning
person chiding them for going out on a bike without a helmet.) IME kids
are good at picking the bones out of this sort of thing if they are well
trained by real cyclists with good teaching skills in real situations.
Even a 10-yo can tell when they need to watch for the traffic and spot
where their mates are shaky and are full of enthusiasm to do the job
really well.[2]





[1] Part of a parental consent form that covers the usual stuff but also
EXPLAINS what goes on and how it goes on. (Shock horror! "WHAT! On the
roads! ... Yes that's 'cos we know what we're doing and also do you
teach drivers to drive in school playgrounds????.)

[2] Yes folks: Training is REALLY satisfying.


--
PETER FOX Not the same since the borehole business dried up

2 Tees Close, Witham, Essex.
Gravity beer in Essex http://www.eminent.demon.co.uk

What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?

At present I duck the issue:

I'd be tempted to not even mention them. This means you won't have to
exclude a child because of an ill fitting helmet. Also, if the parent
ticks the 'Yes to helmet' box then you might have a duty to ensure the
child continues to wear it. Not bringing them up seems least
problematical.

Peter Fox composed the following;:

The important message is that training is at least 100 times more
effective safety-wise than a helmet. (It may be important to get this
across to kids as well 'cos they won't go far without some well meaning
person chiding them for going out on a bike without a helmet.) IME kids
are good at picking the bones out of this sort of thing if they are well
trained by real cyclists with good teaching skills in real situations.
Even a 10-yo can tell when they need to watch for the traffic and spot
where their mates are shaky and are full of enthusiasm to do the job
really well.[2]

Nicely put.

--
Paul ...
(8(|) Homer Rules ..... Doh !!!

Tilly composed the following;:
What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?

At present I duck the issue:

I think it's probably important enough, for you and for them, to not duck
the issue. We know it's not fair, but I would think that if you're training
the kids it's likely that any insurance you have would require them, in the
event of an accident and claim, to have been wearing helmets.

You will also need to consider insisting that your child wears a
helmet during training, especially in the playground where cycling
skills are being challenged. However, if a helmet does not fit
correctly and I cannot adjust it, your child will not be able to take
part in the training if you have requested helmet use.

That's fair enough. If a helmet fits wrongly, then it's more of a danger
than a safety device.

It might be worth your while getting some small A6 or even credit card sized
cards made up with the 'rules' printed and laminated. At least you've done
your bit, and just as importantly these days have been seen to have done
your bit, in a reasonable way.

The parents then have three choices:

I want my child to wear a helmet: yes, no, up to child.

I agree. You shouldn't have to make the decision, though as mentioned
above, it might be forced upon you and so it also might be wise to make them
all wear suitable helmets, especially for the first few lessons. Perhaps
once they reach some arbitraray level of cycling competence, say cycle up
and down a length of cones without stopping or falling off etc, then they
can have a choice.

--
Paul ...
(8(|) Homer Rules ..... Doh !!!

On Thu, 10 Mar 2005 23:52:29 +0000, DaveR
wrote:

Tilly wrote:
What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?

At present I duck the issue:

You will also need to consider insisting that your child wears a
helmet during training, especially in the playground where cycling
skills are being challenged. However, if a helmet does not fit
correctly and I cannot adjust it, your child will not be able to take
part in the training if you have requested helmet use.

The parents then have three choices:

I want my child to wear a helmet: yes, no, up to child.

Do you have to give advice? If not then duck the issue properly
by not bringing it up in the first place.

School politics dictate that parents must decide.

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 00:13:02 +0000, Peter Fox
wrote:

Following on from Tilly's message. . .
What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?
Here is my approach:

Whether or not your child wears a helmet is entirely up to you[parent]
but you must tell us[1] and you must ensure they bring it with them and
you must have adjusted it correctly or tell us you don't know how to
adjust it.

Brilliant! A couple of minor changes. My experience is that parents
rarely adjust helmets correctly.

Whether or not your child wears a helmet is between you and your child
but you must tell us and you must ensure they bring it with them and
it must fit correctly or be adjustable to fit correctly.

The important message is that training is at least 100 times more
effective safety-wise than a helmet. (It may be important to get this
across to kids as well 'cos they won't go far without some well meaning
person chiding them for going out on a bike without a helmet.) IME kids
are good at picking the bones out of this sort of thing if they are well
trained by real cyclists with good teaching skills in real situations.
Even a 10-yo can tell when they need to watch for the traffic and spot
where their mates are shaky and are full of enthusiasm to do the job
really well.[2]





[1] Part of a parental consent form that covers the usual stuff but also
EXPLAINS what goes on and how it goes on. (Shock horror! "WHAT! On the
roads! ... Yes that's 'cos we know what we're doing and also do you
teach drivers to drive in school playgrounds????.)

[2] Yes folks: Training is REALLY satisfying.

On 11 Mar 2005 03:29:48 GMT, Mark Thompson
wrote:

What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?

At present I duck the issue:

I'd be tempted to not even mention them. This means you won't have to
exclude a child because of an ill fitting helmet. Also, if the parent
ticks the 'Yes to helmet' box then you might have a duty to ensure the
child continues to wear it. Not bringing them up seems least
problematical.

Unfortunately, not an option.

On Fri, 11 Mar 2005 06:05:53 -0000, "Paul - xxx"
wrote:

Tilly composed the following;:
What advice do I give to parents of 10/11 year old children about
helmet use when offering cycle training?

At present I duck the issue:

I think it's probably important enough, for you and for them, to not duck
the issue. We know it's not fair, but I would think that if you're training
the kids it's likely that any insurance you have would require them, in the
event of an accident and claim, to have been wearing helmets.

We looked into that.

As a school, if we ask that helmets are worn we have a duty to provide
them. If we give parents a choice we have no such duty.

You will also need to consider insisting that your child wears a
helmet during training, especially in the playground where cycling
skills are being challenged. However, if a helmet does not fit
correctly and I cannot adjust it, your child will not be able to take
part in the training if you have requested helmet use.

That's fair enough. If a helmet fits wrongly, then it's more of a danger
than a safety device.

It might be worth your while getting some small A6 or even credit card sized
cards made up with the 'rules' printed and laminated. At least you've done
your bit, and just as importantly these days have been seen to have done
your bit, in a reasonable way.

The parents then have three choices:

I want my child to wear a helmet: yes, no, up to child.

I agree. You shouldn't have to make the decision, though as mentioned
above, it might be forced upon you and so it also might be wise to make them
all wear suitable helmets, especially for the first few lessons. Perhaps
once they reach some arbitraray level of cycling competence, say cycle up
and down a length of cones without stopping or falling off etc, then they
can have a choice.

The training is for Level 1B (stopping quickly, swerving, looking
behind without wobbling, signalling) and Level 2 (cycling safely on
residential and local roads) of the National Standards. Level 1A is
being able to cycle without support. If they are below Level 1A they
need additional individual training.