Why do cyclists receive so much abuse from kids?
It doesn’t happen very often, maybe once every couple of months. And it’s usually kids jeering or, on rarer occasions, kids throwing stuff at me. It’s probably wrong to call it abuse, the kids are usually having a laugh and it doesn’t bother me at all.
But it makes me think, what is it about me on a bike that provokes this reaction?
The flashing light on my helmet attracts a few comments, and I wonder is it things that they perceive to be out of the ordinary that push them to make a comment?
After dropping the kids off at school this morning I was cycling along and a young kid (about 4) said “Hey bikes aren’t allowed on the road” I know kids that age often say the first thing that comes in to their head. I remember when my youngest kid was about the same age, we were at Tescos and he shouted out “Dad I’ve just seen a wee boy with a big mans head!” It was the first time he’d seen a dwarf .Kids of that age are just reacting to things that are outside their area of experience, but it’s sad that she sees so few bikes on the road that it occurred to her to be worth commenting on.
Friday, March 03, 2006
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3 comments:
It helps if you don't take yourself too seriously and start laughing with them, as if you were saying: I think it's weird too, but it is so much fun!!! I can't help myself." They just have to learn to accept and hopefully appreciate all the "strange" things outside their normal world.
I think it is the same reason that people beat up mascots!
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=27817741&blogID=93618326&MyToken=bb4261a6-4f38-4bed-8901-b98c0badeeed
Perhaps she'd heard an adult telling another child not to ride their bike on the road before!
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