Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Bicycle stunts, Skateboards and other adolescent activities

[Racheli Gai (jnpalme]

Were the teenagers and children involved in setting the rules, or are they
just expected to "tow the line"?

IMO for people (of all ages) to follow a rule, they need to be a part of
the decision-making process.  Otherwise, you'll find that they find ways
to be subversive, in addition to feeling resentment etc.  - Put in another
way, coercion doesn't work very well, even when it's "well-meant".

R. (the anarchist).




 "Laura Fitch, A.I.A." <lfitch [at] krausfitch.com> said:

>Our community recently made a decision that all children and adults are 
>required to wear helmets on anything with wheels (except tricycles in 
>the courtyard).  I played a big part in this decision - as soon as I 
>listed the following, everyone agreed:
> - my best friend died from head tauma when hit by a car on her bike 
>when I was in 6th grade.  I can remember my father telling me on day 2 
>when she was still alive that it would probably be best if she died 
>because she was brain dead.
>- my former boss lost her niece to a head injury in a bike accident - it 
>was instant - hit by a police officer - completely the girls faulty road 
>skills.
> - my cousin is completely transformed in a bad way from head injury
> - my brother in law is completely transformed in a bad way from a 
>construction head injury
>- my sister in law worked as a social worker on the head trauma ward at 
>a Boston Hospital and would be glad to give everyone ten thousand 
>reasons for wearing a helmet
>- Of course we as a community are well aware that the boy down the 
>street was in a coma for two months after hitting a tree on his sled. 
> (He was already a little odd - so his mild but permenant damage may 
>have improved his behavior!)

>I'd say do it.  If you let the older kids parade around without their 
>helmets, not only are you endangering their lives, but you are setting a 
>precident for the younger ones.  And yes, I believe that if you have an 
>attractive nusance like a skate board park you are setting yourself up 
>for law suit.  Not only would I insist on the helmet rule, I would have 
>it very prominently posted for all visiting children / parents to see.

>Laura
>-

>Fred H. Olson wrote:

>> DocArtemis [at] aol.com is the author of the message below.
>> It was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager 
>> <fholson [at] cohousing.org>
>> because the message included HTML ;      PLEASE do not post HTML, see
>>  http://csf.colorado.edu/cohousing/2001/msg01672.html
>> --------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
>>
>> We have a strong group of adolescent boys here at Bellingham cohousing 
>> who
>> have been enterprising enough to emulate a skatepark and various ramps 
>> for
>> mountain bike stunts.
>> We are trying to devise a policy regarding the use of helmets.  Some 
>> members
>> feel very strongly that all children should wear helmets to prevent 
>> serious
>> injuries - especially head trauma.
>> Other people, particularly the parents, feel that their teens would 
>> not wear
>> them and then opt to do their skateboarding away from our site.  They 
>> would
>> prefer that their kids feel welcome here or that they feel that their 
>> kids
>> are skilled enough that it wouldn't be worth fighting "this battle."
>> We are also interested if anyone knows about the issue of liability.
>> Thanks for any insight
>> Liz Bernstein
>> Bellingham Cohousing
>> "True Peace is not the absence of tension, it's the presence of justice"
>> Martin Luther King
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-- 
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jnpalme [at] attglobal.net (Racheli Gai)
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