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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be shocked at this?

278 replies

upsideup · 03/05/2018 17:47

DS1 has two friends round for dinner tonight, ones 8 and ones 9 and they have gone outside to play with bikes/scooters etc and both of his friends dont own a bike and have never been taught to ride one before and its not just them they all mentioned several other friends who cant as well.
I thought riding a bike was a still a pretty normal skill that all children had learnt to do by now.

AIBU to be shocked at this? Do most 8/9 year olds not know how to ride a bike?

OP posts:
ittakes2 · 04/05/2018 18:10

My daughter could not ride a bike until she was 11. Its not she didn't try - she couldn't get the balance right. She is hypermobile but its not that you would see anything obviously different about her body. She also has trouble swimming.

Claire90ftm · 04/05/2018 18:11

I think it's shocking that children don't know how to use the correct "there/their/they're" or that they misspell simple words. I feel that that is worse than not being able to ride a bike.

Caribou58 · 04/05/2018 18:12

I'm 59. Never had a bike as a kid, can't ride one now.

I can swim for miles, mind - which I feel is probably more useful to me.

Roversandrhodes · 04/05/2018 18:17

To me that’s weird but maybe it’s different depending on where people live.My little girl is 4 and can ride a bike

JessicaJonesJacket · 04/05/2018 18:19

I can't ride a bike. I could roller skate from about age 6 and I can ice skate too. For some reason I struggled with a bike.
DS prefers his scooter.

Goldilocks3Bears · 04/05/2018 18:20

I expect your little angels are champion swimmers, speak fluent French, play semi-professional chess, and have stopped revising for their 11+ because it's too easy?

YABU and a bit of a snob...

caperberries · 04/05/2018 18:25

My dc could all ride bikes by the age of 3 - without stabilisers.

It amused me that people would find it remarkable, but I think most dcs could ride by 3 or 4 with suitable interest & encouragement

notangelinajolie · 04/05/2018 18:25

Mine all learnt to ride a bike because their primary school does road cycling proficiency for all in year 6. Leaning to ride a bike before hand was a no brainer because a) the cycling proficiency test was like a right of passage and something they all talked about and looked forward and b) non of them wanted to be the one who couldn't ride a bike.

holey · 04/05/2018 18:29

I can't ride one due to bad family circumstances as a young child and therefore never having been taught. For this reason I was determined my 3 would learn, however only the boys can. At the age of 6, DD got to the point of me letting go and her riding unaided for around 5 metres until she realised I wasn't with her. She panicked and wouldn't go back on it unless I promised not to let go- completely missing the point of course- and was so traumatised that she never went on it again as she was scared! DS1 and DS2 however have both been strong riders since the age of 4 or 5 and still use bikes now in their mid-teens. Among their classmates, the vast majority of kids could ride before the age of 7, although very few still had bikes as they get older.
My sister's two have never been interested in learning however, and she and her DH haven't felt the need to teach them. Where she lives they are in the minority but are far from being the only ones, if that makes sense.

notangelinajolie · 04/05/2018 18:29

Surprised that not all kids have swimming lessons with school? Is it not National Curriculum?

wildbhoysmama · 04/05/2018 18:30

You're getting a hard time on here, op. I know what you mean by being shocked - it depends on your own experiences: If you've always had kids on bikes, you're surprised wen others kids don't have them. We've always had our 3 boys on bikes and we're in an urban area- parks nearby ish/ bike rack- but they are an investment ( esp as 2 older ones have both mountain and bmx bikes) and it's probably as both me, exh and DP have always been keen. I do think they're fantastic for adventures/ exercise and, Jn fact, our area has kids' bikes ( Inc ones for specific physical disabilities) you can borrow for a refundable deposit and a place which mends donated bikes to sell on for little money. Also classes/ sessions at the velodrome are free/ v cheap for local kids.There needs to be more of that.

PinkCalluna · 04/05/2018 18:31

Surprised that not all kids have swimming lessons with school?

Firstly not everyone on these boards are based in England and Wales where National Curriculum applies.

Secondly, I don’t believe any child had ever actually learnt to swim during school lessons.

jessebuni · 04/05/2018 18:37

My DS learnt when he was about 6-7 and also has a scooter which is later than most kids I’m sure. DD is 6 and we can’t get her on a bike or scooter she doesn’t want to know. All kids are different. We live in a top floor apartment with no where to store bikes nor ride them so they are stores at my parents house for the kids to ride there in the summer. Also all the bikes we’ve got have been from car boots sales or facebay sites secondhand. So there are ways for kids to have bikes and learn if they want to. I think it’s more that nowadays quite a few children aren’t bothered about learning.

BlueBug45 · 04/05/2018 18:38

Do people not teach their children to swim, or take them to lessons any more?!

Cost and time.

Kids in my extended family are taken for lessons asap mainly because we have all decided it is a life skill. However other families simply can't afford it, and don't live near or can't get to a leisure centre.

Mmest75 · 04/05/2018 18:45

It seems strange to me - but each to their own I suppose. My DD learnt at 5 and my son I’ll do the same ... we do try and make an effort to go places where she can ride as agreed it’s not like the 80’s ... I’m sure I used to bike to the shop at 7 and of course no helmets!

pollymere · 04/05/2018 18:50

I did try to teach dd but she prefers to scooter.

manicmij · 04/05/2018 18:50

A lot depends on the local terrain available for learning to ride a bike. Know of one child who learned at 5 and another who was nearer 7. First one had easy access to flat safe area whilst the 7 year old had to be taken to a park. Scootering has lessened interest in learning the skill, not so expensive though there are lots of bike recycle organisations selling them very cheaply. Scooters are easier to store too.

Iceweasel · 04/05/2018 18:51

I am very surprised by the number of posters saying their kids can't ride a bike. That's not to be critical, I just haven't come across any kids who can't ride (over about 4 years old with stabilisers, 6 without).

My DS was riding a balance bike at 2, and a pedal bike without stabilisers at 3. He has joint hypermobility.

jessebuni · 04/05/2018 18:51

Also re the swimming situation my DS is 9 and this year did have some swimming lessons with school. 6 x 1 hour lessons. That was it. He learnt hardly anything. Swimming lessons local to us are £167 per term upfront. It took my quite some time to save that up to get him a term of swimming lessons. DD is 5 and not had any lessons through school yet and won’t until year 4. I am hoping that once DS gets enough of the basics I can then get DD swimming lessons. Unfortunately I can’t swim as my parents couldn’t afford swimming lessons for me when I was a child so I can’t take them swimming to try and teach them either. In fact I’m terrified of water!

Iceweasel · 04/05/2018 18:57

My DS was in swimming lessons from age 4 to 8. His stroke technique is appalling and he looks like he is in difficulty but he can swim 200m like that.

Pepperypig · 04/05/2018 18:59

How can someone be flamed for asking this question? Every kid I know learned to ride a bike. They don't have to cost a fortune and they can be stored in a shed, close, wherever. I don't think the OP is being unreasonable.

Octonautstotherescue · 04/05/2018 18:59

Wow...that’s such a shame that people are actively discouraging cycling. It’s healthy and actually makes you feel good. The more people who cycle the less “dangerous” cars you’ll have on the road. Most journeys made by car are less than a couple of miles - you could easily cycle. Look at Denmark and the Netherlands - lots of healthy and happy cycling folk.
My DC were cycling at 4 - balance bikes then pedals with no problems. They love cycling and I hope it’s a life skill they’ll enjoy all their lives!

Takfujuimoto · 04/05/2018 19:02

😂 Chainsaw! Wtf?

Anywho, my parents were rather lacking in providing cycle lessons and I ended up learning myself at 9yrs old on my teenage neighbours bicycle during the summer she discovered boys who had mopeds.

Both of my eldest were riding by 6 without stabilisers because we lived surrounded by lots of parks.
DH takes them out sometimes since he is a lot more confident around this area but I wouldn't want them cycling alone until well into secondary school.

I see lots of children using scooters on the way to school and hardly any bicycles, maybe for safety reasons?

I don't find it that shocking, more of a shame since it can be fun for kids to learn cycling, gives them some confidence and can improve coordination.

Notasunnybunny · 04/05/2018 19:06

I can understand where you are coming from op. When I was at school EVERYONE took their cycling proficiency in year 5, it was just considered essential. I think with less freedom to mess around on bikes kids just don’t have them as a basic standard toy now, I was always off here and there from as young as 6 or 7. My own ds (13) doesn’t have a bike, we live on a very steep hill. When we went to centre parcs it only occurred to me he hadn’t ridden a bike in about 5 years until he had to get used to riding one before we could head off.

Dwellerfromunderthesink · 04/05/2018 19:08

I’m surprised too OP. Not shocked though.
I’m in my 50s and learned on my friends old bike when I was 5. Everyone had bikes as far as I can remember. As an adult I was diagnosed with ehlers Danlos type 2 and dyspraxia. Neither of these were known about when I was growing up. I just wanted to ride a bike like the other kids and Carried on picking myself up off the pavement till I could do it. Same with DD who also has ED2. She wasn’t diagnosed till adulthood either even though she had all sorts of unknown joint problems as a kid. She could ride a bike at 5. Again all her friends played out on bikes.

I do admit that with the increase of traffic there’s been over the years, I’d not have been happy with her cycling around if it was like it is now.