Big day...

[benb]

I let my 10 year old bike to school by himself for the first time. He has no phone or other communication device. (But will have a locked down phone soon now)

Pretty nervous, but I did the ride quite a few times the last few years with him. He has a decent command of riding on the road, hand signals, etc.. and the ride is more like 90% trail, not even bike lanes but completely separated infrastructure away from cars.

Still tough. Strangely one of the things that took the longest was managing locking his bike up without help. The last thing he did before he left was a mock lockup with the cable and showing me it was routed through the frame + both wheels.

Almost no one at his school locks their bike. That says something about town, but having had a bike stolen I really want him locking his.

[roguedog]

Wow, Odd isn't it?

THis is how it was for us growing up and we didn't think anything of it. Now on the flip side we experience probably what our parents felt.

Sounds like it's a pretty good route. Congrats to him on the milestone.

[AngryScientist]

Cool, a little bit of freedom is opened up, congratulations to him.

I have to look next time i'm over there, but i dont even think our schools have bike racks, i never see kids riding to/from school. Fortunately we are close enough that walking makes more sense than cycling.

The topic of when to give a kid a phone is a whole other story. It's crazy but it seems like all of my kid's (who dont have phones...) friends have a phone already.

I'd hate to be a teacher these days.

[deluz]

Yes I rode a bike for transportation from ages 6 - 18.
Parents never once drove me to school.
That was 55 years ago.
Good for you.

[benb]

The only times we've really ever drove him to school was a) Covid when busses were not running b) occasional doctor/dentist appointments, etc..

99% of the time he rides the bus. But he normally stays at an after school program till 5-6PM. Him being able to ride some days will mean we don't have to pick up from that, which could eliminate a lot of being stuck in traffic. Traffic is absolutely horrific getting from where we work over to the school.

It's NE, there will be lots of days he can't ride due to weather, but he really has wanted to be able to do this. He can leave about 15 minutes later than going to the bus and still easily beat the bus to school.

[hellvetica]

At least look into getting your kid(s) and apple watch. With all craziness in the world, it's a little more comforting knowing where they are and that they can communicate with you in an instant.