Copenhagenize: Safe but Somehow Scary Foto Mikael Colville-AndersenBarn har tappat sin rörelsefrihet. Om de cyklar ramlar de på huvet. Om de går så blir de tagna av pedofiler. Vilket är det enda säkra transportmedlet? Bil, såklart -- frihetssymbolen!
Och barnen tycks stanna hemma också. Jämfört med för några år sedan är olyckorna med studsmattor tio gånger fler - i dag över 5 000 om året.
Expressen: 10 gånger fler olyckor på studsmattaDanmarks TransportForskning (numera DTU Transport, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet) gjorde för tio år sen en studie på barns resvanor.
Sikre skoleveje: En undersøgelse af børns trafiksikkerhed og transportvaner (PDF)
Samlet set tyder udviklingen på, at antallet af børn, der bliver kørt i bil til og fra en gennemsnitlig dansk skole, er fordoblet fra 1993 til 1998-2000. Omkring 5-10% af stigningen i denne biltrafik skyldes stigende bilrådighed, mens 5-15% kan henføres til skolenedlæggelser og 25-30% til en lavere gennemsnitsalder blandt børn. 55-60% af stigningen må således henføres til ændringer i opfattelser og holdninger.
Det ser ud til, at holdningsændringerne primært har bestået af en stadig mindre positiv holdning til at cykle. En mulighed er, at forældrene pga. øget biltrafik, trafiksikkerhedskampagner, medier mv. har fået flere bekymringer på deres børns vegne, og har sat nye grænser for børns selvstændige transport. Ændrede holdninger til brug af cykelhjelm i 1990'erne, der har resulteret i stigende brug af cykelhjelme, kan ligeledes have fået færre børn til at cykle, og i stedet gå og køre i bil og bus.
Politiken: Forældre gør selv børnenes skoleveje usikreHver fjerde af landets forældre til skolebørn er utrygge ved at sende deres børn alene i skole til fods eller på cykel, fordi de mener, at skolevejen er usikker at færdes på. Det viser en ny undersøgelse fra Rådet for Sikker Trafik. Men ofte er vejene sikre nok, mener direktør i Rådet for Sikker Trafik, Anders Rosbo.
Daily Mail: Boris backs couple threatened by social services for letting their children cycle to schoolMr Schonrock, 40, the managing director of an e-commerce company who walked alone to school as a boy, said: 'We wanted to recreate the simple freedom of our children. Like everybody else our age we spent a lot more time with our friends playing in the streets or parks without parental supervision and without our parents becoming unduly worried. These days children live such regimented lives. They can do nothing unless it's planned. We are trying to let them enjoy their lives and teach them a little bit about the risks of life.'
Mrs Schonrock, also 40, said she is 'confident that the benefits to our children far outweigh the potential risk from 'stranger danger', road traffic accidents and other factors.'
Evening Standard: Free our streets from the fretting of the nanny stateThe greatest aid to London street life would be simply to ban all car journeys to primary school. Children should go to their neighbourhood school, full stop. There is always one within easy walking or cycling distance. Anyone who wants their children to go “out of area” must let them walk or bus. It would liberate the streets of tens of thousands of car journeys. It would draw schools closer to their geographical catchment areas. And it would crowd the pavements with reassuring numbers of children to and from school. It would “re-communalise” the streets.
Daily Mail: How children lost the right to roam in four generationsWhen George Thomas was eight he walked everywhere. It was 1926 and his parents were unable to afford the fare for a tram, let alone the cost of a bike and he regularly walked six miles to his favourite fishing haunt without adult supervision.
Fast forward to 2007 and Mr Thomas's eight-year-old great-grandson Edward enjoys none of that freedom. He is driven the few minutes to school, is taken by car to a safe place to ride his bike and can roam no more than 300 yards from home.
Tillägg 11 juli:Helsingborgs Dagblad: Säkerhetens överfeta heliga koVi föräldrar är så besatta av tanken på alla de hemska saker som eventuellt skulle kunna hända våra barn att vi låter deras barndom passera utan att de riktigt kan njuta av den unika frihet den erbjuder.
CTC supports the 'right to ride to school'To describe the Schronrocks’ decision as ‘irresponsible’ sends out a message that roads are for adults only, and undermines the health benefits of cycling to children – such as greater cardiovascular fitness and reduced levels of obesity - far outweigh the risks.
The Telegraph: Boris Johnson: Hail the heroic parents who let their children cycle to schoolWe talk a lot about giving people responsibility. What the hell does that mean if the authorities are forced, by the rules, to second-guess the child-rearing decisions of this south London couple? Their vision of urban life is profoundly attractive – a city so well policed, and with so strong a sense of community, that children can walk or cycle on their own to school. Instead of hounding the Schonrocks we should be doing everything we can to make their dream come true – in every part of the city.
The Telegraph: The parents who let their children cycle to school alone deserve praise, not the social servicesThirty years ago – in 1971, to be precise, according to the Institute for Policy Studies – an eight-year-old such as their daughter would have been considered old enough to walk to school, by herself, by 80 per cent of parents. Now fewer than one in 10 parents thinks this is appropriate.
The Guardian: Cycling to school: is it really such a terrible risk?"Children must be safeguarded, but this should also be balanced with the freedom to be themselves and to take some risks," said Bob Reitemeier, the Children's Society's chief executive. "It is a question of balance. Young people consistently tell us that they need to be able to develop friendships, have fun and to play without adult supervision."
