Comments on: Should children cycle to school?

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Mon, 07 Feb 2011 12:34:58 +0000

[...] old children cycle to school. There was a big scandal made in the news (You can read blog opinions here and here) where they said the parents were not fit to be … well… parents. In the United [...]

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By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:09:03 +0000

I was born in the saddle (cycle) but am appalled at how many parents I see out in the countryside or on the roads without cycle helmets on their kids. I would like to get involved in a campaign to get the message over about the safety imprecations of this?

What do you think Boris about these issues? Can I help with the campaign please?

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By: Louisa Jonas

Louisa Jonas — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 12:26:35 +0000

…yes, but Suzanne, your child was EIGHT. This is an eight year old being expected to not just walk to school but also be responsible for a 5 year old! Do you agree with that? If you had two children the same age, would you have let the 5 year old out unsupervised too? It took you a year to let your eight year old out!

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By: Suzanne Currell

Suzanne Currell — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:32:46 +0000

I think it is appalling that some nasty little snoop of a person decided to report these sensible parents to the school ,but I think it even more deplorable that our nanny state allows the school to make a decision as to whether or not these parents will be reported to social services! I am so disgusted! Ten years ago, where we live in London, my son’s primary was just around the corner, there was one road to cross, with a lollipop lady, and my son aged 8 was nagging me all throughout the year to be able to walk to school on his own. I had a very free open childhood, and I am a psychologist as well, so because I trusted my son, because I trusted the upbringing I had given him, I finally decided to let him. I alerted the school that I would be doing so, I followed well behind him on the first few days, and when I stopped following behind him, I phoned the school to ensure he had arrived for the first couple of days. My son was brilliant! He never once did anything stupid, and never once did I feel that he was in serious danger! I am fearful of the generations coming up, because they won’t have the right life skills, and the ones who fall in with gangs do so because sadly, at least they are learning some life skills, albeit on the streets, in a rather different way to what they would have done years before where they could have just been allowed to play outside with their mates! I am sick to death of liberalism run mad which seems to think it knows better than me, the parent. Worse still, are the people out there with nothing better to do than to sit around and judge those who have the courage to do what they can’t. Did the other parents in my neighbourhood get upset with me? Yes, because I was the first one to give my son the freedom to walk to school, did they all eventually follow? Well it was ten years ago, so yes, they did!

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By: Louisa Jonas

Louisa Jonas — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 10:00:46 +0000

…and can I also add that you are all mad if you think that parents should be able to make their own decisions, including bad ones. We all know that there are people out there who are not fit to be parents and children of such as these rely on the kindness of strangers to speak out when they cannot! It is our DUTY to report something that may harm a child and I would rather be reported a hundred times than someone see my children in a position of danger and do nothing!

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By: Louisa Jonas

Louisa Jonas — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:36:20 +0000

An 8 year old is not a competent person to supervise a 5 year old, not in the house on their own, not in the park and certainly not for a mile’s journey ANYWHERE! Can anyone say Madeleine McCann?

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By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:23:39 +0000

Great article Boris, seemed clear cut at first. A case of elfs taking over clear lunacy but there are issues common sense must prevail. How old are the children? How far are they walking/cycling? What is the neighbourhood like (are they bad)? Are the roads safe to cross? It is a case of the parents having to make the decision but why on earth were the social services involved?

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By: Kate Wesley

Kate Wesley — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 14:55:56 +0000

Mr Boris, I like your article. I was not allowed to walk to school until I was about 7. I would have cycled but it was 8 miles to secondary school. At first I wanted to say don’t let the elf and safety people win but it is not always safe. It is a common sense area and dare I say each case a separate risk assessment to use the lingo. Edna substitiution when we all know know what people are saying can be just as hurtful or non pc but there is no reason why we have to be pc is there?
What did the poor pigeons in the park do Ed.?

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By: Mårten Engelberg

Mårten Engelberg — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:04:00 +0000

“…bush-people means cave men, dinosaur time people”.

Dear Edna,
all things considered, I think we have all benefitted from this: we know what you mean by “bush-people”, and you now know how it’s generally understood by others – as SA bushmen, or perhaps people in the Outback. Neither existed in dinosaur time, nor are/were all bush-peoples cave-dwellers, nor particulary “stupid”. Nothing PC about that, merely C.

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By: Edna

Edna — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:35:30 +0000

It’s alright, love. I just know that in my book bush-people means cave men, dinosaur time people. Take care, love.

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