07-01-2025, 05:41 PM
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A Classic Childhood Pastime Is Fading
Kids on bikes once filled the streets. Not anymore.
Walk down a quiet American street a few decades ago, and chances were good that you’d come across a vision of the Spielbergian sort: a gaggle of school-age children charging down the block on bikes, armed with a steely sense of purpose, and without any protective headwear.
You’re less likely to catch that kind of scene today. Over the course of the 1990s, an average of 20.5 million children ages 7 to 17 hopped on a bike six or more times a year, according to data from the National Sporting Goods Association, a sports-equipment trade group. Only a few decades later, that number has fallen by nearly half, to about 10.9 million in 2023. Of those kids, according to the association, just less than 5 percent rode their bikes “frequently.”
With this decline, kids are losing more than a potential mode of transport. Biking supports children’s independence and overall health in a way that many activities cannot. It’s a great way to get moving and build strength, and can improve coordination and balance. Like many types of fitness, it can help reduce children’s future chances of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But compared with some of the other ways that children get exercise, such as team sports, it’s much more affordable (especially if you buy a used bike) and, crucially—once kids are trained—doesn’t require as much effort from adults.
The thought of their kids traveling solo might get some parents wringing their hands, and for good reason. Biking can be risky, and finding an appropriate place to practice can be tricky in the city or in the suburbs. But if parents can find safe environments for teaching their children to navigate streets confidently on their own, the amount of freedom those kids will gain is invaluable. On a bike, a child gets to choose where to go and how to get there without having to check in with a parent, which lets them practice making decisions. As they ride more, the activity can even start to rewire their brain, helping them form spatial maps of their neighborhood and develop the kind of competence and knowledge that can seed lasting resilience and self-esteem.
Kids aren’t the only ones who benefit when they start getting around on two wheels. When enough children bike—or simply get outside—whole neighborhoods can be transformed. Research has shown that when children play in the open, whether they’re riding a bike, kicking a ball, or merely puttering, parents feel more of a connection to their neighbors, and many people begin to feel safer.
As fewer kids venture out, however, neighborhoods can lose those social ties. Many people blame smartphones for this trend. But as Esther Walker, the research leader at the nonprofit youth-cycling organization Outride, told me, “I’ve never read or heard a student say they just would prefer to be on their phone.” Kids do want to bike, Nancy Pullen-Seufert, the director of the government-funded program the National Center for Safe Routes to School, told me—but conditions on many streets don’t exactly inspire confidence. Walker regularly speaks with middle schoolers in Outride’s programs, and she told me that although they crave mobility, many also say that the traffic in their neighborhood makes riding too dangerous or that their parents won’t let them go on their own.
more following the link...
A Classic Childhood Pastime Is Fading
Kids on bikes once filled the streets. Not anymore.
Walk down a quiet American street a few decades ago, and chances were good that you’d come across a vision of the Spielbergian sort: a gaggle of school-age children charging down the block on bikes, armed with a steely sense of purpose, and without any protective headwear.
You’re less likely to catch that kind of scene today. Over the course of the 1990s, an average of 20.5 million children ages 7 to 17 hopped on a bike six or more times a year, according to data from the National Sporting Goods Association, a sports-equipment trade group. Only a few decades later, that number has fallen by nearly half, to about 10.9 million in 2023. Of those kids, according to the association, just less than 5 percent rode their bikes “frequently.”
With this decline, kids are losing more than a potential mode of transport. Biking supports children’s independence and overall health in a way that many activities cannot. It’s a great way to get moving and build strength, and can improve coordination and balance. Like many types of fitness, it can help reduce children’s future chances of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. But compared with some of the other ways that children get exercise, such as team sports, it’s much more affordable (especially if you buy a used bike) and, crucially—once kids are trained—doesn’t require as much effort from adults.
The thought of their kids traveling solo might get some parents wringing their hands, and for good reason. Biking can be risky, and finding an appropriate place to practice can be tricky in the city or in the suburbs. But if parents can find safe environments for teaching their children to navigate streets confidently on their own, the amount of freedom those kids will gain is invaluable. On a bike, a child gets to choose where to go and how to get there without having to check in with a parent, which lets them practice making decisions. As they ride more, the activity can even start to rewire their brain, helping them form spatial maps of their neighborhood and develop the kind of competence and knowledge that can seed lasting resilience and self-esteem.
Kids aren’t the only ones who benefit when they start getting around on two wheels. When enough children bike—or simply get outside—whole neighborhoods can be transformed. Research has shown that when children play in the open, whether they’re riding a bike, kicking a ball, or merely puttering, parents feel more of a connection to their neighbors, and many people begin to feel safer.
As fewer kids venture out, however, neighborhoods can lose those social ties. Many people blame smartphones for this trend. But as Esther Walker, the research leader at the nonprofit youth-cycling organization Outride, told me, “I’ve never read or heard a student say they just would prefer to be on their phone.” Kids do want to bike, Nancy Pullen-Seufert, the director of the government-funded program the National Center for Safe Routes to School, told me—but conditions on many streets don’t exactly inspire confidence. Walker regularly speaks with middle schoolers in Outride’s programs, and she told me that although they crave mobility, many also say that the traffic in their neighborhood makes riding too dangerous or that their parents won’t let them go on their own.
more following the link...
