Above we have Oliver and Gillian Schonrock who have caused quite a stir, initially in Dulwich, South London and near the rabbit's former stamping ground and then nationally. Probably by now their story is discussed heatedly in the remoter parts of Papua New Guinea. They allow their five year old son and eight year old daughter to cycle to school alone. This has caused a heated debate. The headmaster of Alleyn's a local (and very expensive) school has pronounced darkly that social services may need to get involved. The Schonrocks riposte that they are trying to teach their children self-confidence and responsibility, which is nice.
Boris (Bozzer) Johnson - Mayor of London - attacked 'overly cautious health and safety guidelines' and pronounced that we shouldn’t be attacking the Schonrocks 'but try to make their dream come true'. I don't quite follow this bit. 'Dave', a prime minister, has also weighed in to cheer the Schonrocks on.
Now here is the rabbit's complaint - admitting that I have form for being rude about cyclists - one of the arguments deployed in support of the Schonrock children cycling to school unsupervised is that they cycle on the pavement. I'm sorry. Am I missing something here? Speaking purely personally, pavements are for pedestrians and I have no wish to share them with cyclists, adult or child - accompanied or otherwise. It's odd that no-one else seems to have mentioned this elementary point. While searching for anti-cyclist rant, I came across a photo posted in a very early White Rabbit - January 2008. The caption is - erm - do not swallow your chewing gum. Sound advice as you see...
12 comments:
Love the bubble gum bouncers!
I agree, if there is no bike path or bike lane, it is even MORE insane to let your young child ride to school alone.... let's not even get into all the freakish kidnappers in the world that like nothing better than an unsupervised child.
The Maven could think of several other ways to teach children self-confidence and responsibility.
my kids will turn 5 and 8 respectively this year. there is no power on earth that would make me let the older one cycle anywhere without me just yet, let alone the younger one. the name tells you the schonrocks are feckin insane.
Well I suppose it depends upon how far or close the school is to the children's home. Plenty of 'town kids' biked to our elementary school b/c it was so close to everything. But then again, times were different and kids didn't have to worry about being kidnapped, back in the 1970's. I think 5 is a bit young to allow a kid to cycle to school though.
If the parents are comfortable with the decision, no one should be interfering, unless there are laws that prohibit cycling on the sidewalks. (My town has a law forbidding cycling on sidewalks in commercial areas, but not in residential areas.) In my community it is not uncommon to see 5 and 8 year olds walk or cycle alone to schools, stores, and friends' homes, but I'm not in a large city.
It seems to me that many people in your country feel it is their moral duty to run to the authorities and tattle on neighbors. Also there seems to be an hysteria about child kidnapping.
I always blow bubbles from other orifices than the one shown.
Hmmmm....
Little Flower/Catchy - I think the evil paedophile lurking behind every bush is overplayed but...
Maven - Me too! :D
SW - agreed. A bit of a transatlantic divide here!
JoJo/Catchy - Dulwich is a busy crowded suburb of south London with - among other things - a major arterial road, the South Circular passing through it. Cycling on sidewalks/pavements is a criminal offence which would usually attract a fixed penalty for an offender over 10. It's an offence because it's downright antisocial. Why should pedestrians have to fight for space with cyclists? Plus accidents can easy happen in the competition for limited space and the pedestrian comes off worse usually.
wait, how busy is the streets?
and how far is the school?
my seven year was just granted the priviledge of cycling two blocks away in a very residential (IE NOT EVEN REMOTELY BUSY) street.
but, again, how busy and how far becomes the deciding factor.
"Why should pedestrians have to fight for space with cyclists?" I cracked up at that. Don't ever visit the Bay Area then. The cyclists there are bastards. They run you down on the sidewalks (esp. the bike messengers), they ride in the middle of roads so that cars can't pass, they blow thru stop signs and red lights, they will mow you down on multiuse trails.
just for the record, it was the scary traffic issues i was concerned with, not the 'SCARY SCARY PEEEDOS!'(Copyright daily male et al)
Mrs Hall - It's about a mile. Dulwich is a prosperous but pretty busy south London suburb. I post an aerial map when I have time.
JoJo - recognise the description exactly. It's not so much that so many cyclists are antisocial gits but that they are so self righteous with it.
SW - Quite so. The problem is not really Mr P. Dophile lurking behind every bush - which he isn't.
Well we only want the upper classes on our pavements.Had they been oinks we would have needed the services of Jeremy Kyle
I don't know about the kids cycling to school, but Boris Johnson is a dipshit. Clearly, he is a true politician and has perfected the art of speaking and saying nothing at all.
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