When I first read the title I thought it was like "Kids being educated...in a school?!"
2010-11-08 13:06:45
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Educating kids in school?
Forgive me if this has been brought up before. I was just wondering if Bike Pittsburgh or any other organizations have a program that involves people going to elementary/middle schools to teach kids bike etiquette and/or safety? It would be helpful to educate kids at a younger age or maybe around the time that they would be getting their driver's permit. Maybe it would be safer for everyone on the roads.
2010-11-08 11:07:54
the allegheny county health department does traffic safety programs and helmet fittings/giveaways and things like that.
sometimes local police departments do similar stuff and bike rodeos.
2010-11-08 13:19:09
Some schools (like Norwin where my wife teaches in Westmoreland County) even have bikes that the kids ride during gym class.
2010-11-08 13:54:26
I was asked to do such a thing for a Mt Lebo school but was unavailable on their date. I have contacted a couple of Pittsburgh Public Schools but the administrators weren't interested. Impetus for this has to come from a PTO, I think.
Eryn Hughes seems to be working the kid angle pretty hard.
The best age for educating kids about traffic cycling is 11-13. Younger kids are receptive and easy to teach but they are limited in what they're capable of understanding and reasoning about. At 11-13, most kids are itching to be independent, and parents are willing to allow them some measure of freedom. Older kids have other things on their minds.
2010-11-08 15:43:17
As we are working to form Flock of Cycles as a formal non-profit, this is a topic that has been brought up multiple times.
We hope to design a program aimed specifically at pre-driving age students to educate them about safe road use.
2010-11-09 23:49:07