Outrage: How to respond?

I’m no medical expert but i
I’m no medical expert but i thought i would have a quick read up on a childs skull. Whilst the chld is young (upto 18 months) the sutures in the skull are still open and soft – obviously not the age we are looking at here.

As the child grows so does the skull but its not until they are older that the sutures fuse together – usually once the brain has stopped growing but they do get smaller as the child grows.

So taking this into account the child still has soft spots in the skull when they are at an age to start cycling. Personally speaking i would get my child to wear a helmet at this stage and both my kids still do.

If it has come from Govt then they are not alone. In the USA the centre for disease control and prevention makes the same point and the brain injury assoc of america validates the points made regarding children and brain injuries.

I found this on the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, who i think might know a thing or two about head injuries and its a straight cut and paste from their website.

“Every year, more than 500,000 people visit emergency rooms in the United States with bicycle-related injuries. Of those, nearly 85,000 were head injuries in 2009. There are about 600 deaths a year, with two-thirds being attributed to TBI. It is estimated that up to 85 percent of head injuries can be prevented through proper usage of The Snell Memorial Foundation, American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)-approved helmets. It is essential that the helmet fit properly so that it doesn’t fall off while the user is riding or if he or she takes a fall”.

The following facts/statistics are from Safe Kids USA:
■Head injury is the leading cause of wheeled sports-related death and the most important determinant of permanent disability after a crash.
■Without proper protection, a fall of as little as two feet can result in a skull fracture or other TBI.
■Approximately 50 percent of U.S. children between 5- and 14-years-old own a helmet, and only 25 percent report always wearing it while bicycling.
■Universal use of bicycle helmets by children ages 4 to 15 could prevent 45,000 head injuries.
■Helmet use can reduce the risk of head injury by 85 percent and severe brain injury by 88 percent.
■Eight states and the District of Columbia require children to wear a helmet while participating in wheeled sports such as riding on scooters, in-line skates or skateboards.

Feel free to poo poo what i’ve typed but i’ve added it just to make people aware of whats said in other countries and NOT to start a helmet debate.

msw wrote:Yes, that comma

msw wrote:

Yes, that comma after “Parents” is a disgrace.

And the letter being addressed to – Parent/Carer – is also outrageous. T hese words are not proper nouns as any fule kno.

kids should wear a helmet,
kids should wear a helmet, when they’re old enough to make their own decision then they can decide for themselves. Don’t be a chump!

My wife is a schoolteacher,
My wife is a schoolteacher, and her thoughts are that the school is following government advice. If the government view changes, then so will the school’s.

So petition the government to change their stance 🙂

Regarding the security of the bike – my company has the same policy. I have a proper lock. Schools run on a very tight budget and simply don’t have the cash to keep replacing bicycles.

No problem. I personally
No problem. I personally think children should be encouraged to wear helmets and for them to indemnify themselves if the child doesn’t is reasonable. Especially if you want them to wear a helmet, they then go home without it, injure themselves and then you blame the school. Blame the letter on the parents, not the school.

Yup, if you’re outraged at
Yup, if you’re outraged at that then perhaps you need to reassess your outrage parameters.

It is one thing for adults to
It is one thing for adults to consent to and choose wearing a helmet or not, but children don’t give informed consent. And parents have never had it all their own way in child raising matters, society has always interfered and quite right too. So Sportive rules apply, play by the rules or don’t play at all, but feel free to write them a strongly worded letter.