Figure 1.--The photo was taken in 1980, in Catahoula Parish, Louisiana, on the first school day. We are not sure if all the barefot boys were old enough to begin school yet, but because they have bavk packs they seem to be. Perhpsthe chool had a kindergarten. Notice that the girls are not biking.

Some American kids came to school on bikes. We don't think this was important in the cities. For one thing city kids lived close enough to elementary schools that riding bikes had no real benefit. . And riding bikes in th cities with all the traffic was dangerous. I don't recall bikes at my city elementry school. As people moved out of the cities into the suburbs after World War II we see more children riding bikes, especially in elementary school. The distance from home were greater and the traffic less congested. It was, however, more of an issue than say a county like New Zealand where many children rode bikes to school. This varied from school to school, but was important at some schools. We do not think that bikes were important in many high schools. I don't recall bikes at my suburban high school. Hopefully our American readers will add their recollctions. Here the cool factor as definitly with cars and many students, or more precsely their parents, could afford cars. And of course students living more than a mile from school could ride the school busses. And given the weather such as rain and snow, the bus was often a prfereable option in many locations. Gender here was a factor. We think boys were more likely to ride their bikes to school than girls. Age ws another factor. Often parents did not think 6-year olds were mature enough to safely ride bikes to chool. Often this xwas a discussion at ome as to when the child would be allowed to bike to school. After all mazny 6-year olds only recently had their training wheels off.

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Created: 7:27 AM 5/9/2014
Last updated: 7:27 AM 5/9/2014