By: Mackenzie O’Connell, CycleHealth Intern
The phone rings, you answer. Immediately your feet feel stuck, you can’t move, and your thoughts start racing as you begin to assume the worst about the situation. “What’s going on?” “Is everyone okay?” “Wait, my child is out riding his bike… is he OK?!” The voice on the phone confirms... come quickly, your child has been hurt after crashing on his bike.
As a parent, you never want to receive that kind of call. It’s overwhelmingly scary and pulls at the heart, even if the problem was very minor. In today’s society, it has become the norm that when you turn on the news, the story being told will be about one of the various reasons why children are dying across the globe. We can’t prevent all bad things, but there are things we can do to protect ourselves and our kids. Bike helmets are one of those things. I sat down with Betsy Grams, Executive Director of CycleHealth, avid runner, and mother of two, about her recent experience with this challenge and where CycleHealth stands in regards to helping to make a change.
During the first week of June, Betsy was on one of her regular runs in her neighborhood. The night was similar to all the others, until she heard a loud scream and saw that a boy had crashed on his bike and was hurt. Betsy called 911, and then the boy’s mom. She had the boy’s friend stay with him as she ran to the nearby beach and yelled: “Does anyone have an ice pack?!” As the three waited for the ambulance and his mom to arrive, Betsy tried her very best to keep him calm.
Thankfully, the boy is now healing from his injuries. But the story is a good reminder for all of us, especially at the beginning of summer break, that wearing a bike helmet is essential for safe riding.
This summer CycleHealth is encouraging kids to bike quite a lot...112 miles to be exact, as part of our Summer Training Challenge. Those registered for the BreakAway Kids Tri can work to complete this tough challenge throughout the summer to prepare for the big race on August 18th. As fun as this challenge is, Betsy explains that, “We are asking kids to get on bikes this summer, so we have a responsibility to let people know our position on bike helmets.” This means that this summer when participants show up to CycleHealth’s BreakAway Kids Tri, “Kids will not be able to start the triathlon without a helmet. It’s a non-negotiable” says Betsy. In short, ‘No helmet? No ride’ is one of our creeds, and CycleHealth hopes to help it stick for families even after the race is over. To help families to truly remember the importance of always wearing a bike helmet, Betsy encourages parents to share with their children a rule her family uses when it comes to wearing a seatbelt when riding in a car. She says, “The seatbelt rule can be used with the exact same approach when it comes to biking. Just like I tell my children that we would not leave the driveway without everyone buckled, don’t allow your family to head out on a bike ride without their helmets.”
This message, though, is much easier said than done. In our world today, there are countless social media apps and Internet sites that kids use daily. The youth are constantly looking at pictures of beautiful celebrities, the pictures of the fun activities that other kids are doing that they are not, and they are spending lots of time editing photos and posts to make themselves look “cool.” Basically, kids are worried more than ever before about their self-image. If none of a child’s friends are wearing a helmet when biking, then he or she will not want to because that means he or she is the odd one out. To a child, not being in the “norm” and being different can be scary and upsetting. However, Betsy shares that, “It should be instilled in a child early that it’s cool to be a trendsetter and this trend [always wearing a bike helmet] is one that needs to catch on. Instead of agreeing with the child that the helmet will make him or her stand out in a negative way, tell the child that it will make him or her stand out in a positive and relevant way.” To further help the concept stick, get some craft supplies and have a helmet decorating party. If children are able to put some of their personalities onto their helmets, this can help them get excited to wear their new creation because they’ll want to show it off to their friends.
As technology continues to take over our lives, CycleHealth is continuing to send out challenges that require kids to work hard and are putting on fun events to get kids up and moving. They want to get kids excited about being outside and adventuring, instead of sitting inside for hours on the couch. However, going to the park, taking a hike, or going to the beach is not going to be quite as fun if a parent has to worry about the safety of their kids. This is why CycleHealth’s goal is to help parents and children change their current habits and understand that a strong and resilient kid is also a safe one.