10yo scooting without helmet

[KarmenPQZ]

Just sanity checking here to get some more opinions.

my 10 year old hasn’t scooted in ages (years) and it turns out it’s because she doesn’t want to wear a helmet. She knew we wouldn’t agree to scooting without a helmet so she’s never requested it…. TIL now. Credit to her she’s come to us and asked rather than her usual screaming and whinging approach so I want to mull it over fairly.

but I don’t really need her to scoot anywhere. We mostly walk or cycle and she knows helmets on bikes are non negotiable so I don’t think she’s using this as a Segway.

what’s the thoughts on letting a 10 year old scoot on pavements without a helmet. She’s generally very coordinated and risk adverse so I think the probability of anything happening is very slim. But it still feels slightly wrong. Although I did borrow her scooter once and did a massive stack although I still didn’t hit my head! If she does a lap of the park on a friends scooter I don’t like it but don’t insist on a helmet within the park

AIBU to make her stick to helmets at all time?

Scooting is not comparable to walking imo.

Ours wore helmets for cycling and scooting from the very start (including when they were young and weren’t cycling on roads, just in the park or on the drive). It’s always been non negotiable. They certainly didn’t hang about on their scooters as they got older! I think a flat rule is easiest for everyone. No mulling it over is needed.

It’s the same now that they’re older, and into skateboarding, snowboarding etc. Helmets are worn.

Make the rules, stick to them. Job done.

I've never insisted on helmets for scooters,only for bikes.

Scooters don't go nearly as fast as bikes (I can keep up with my kids on foot if they are scooting - I can't keep up with them on their bikes however fast I run), and as you are standing on them (rather than balancing like on a bike) it's much harder to imagine a scenario where you fall on your head.

I don't see a scenario where my child hits their head using their scooter that couldn't play out exactly the same way if they were running rather than on their scooter. I don't make them wear a helmet to run down the street!

I don't think I've ever seen a kid wear a helmet on scooter unless they're doing stunts at a skate park.

I can't really see how a child is likely to injure their head more severely falling off a scooter than they are running along, or playing in a playground, or doing PE at school. Presumably you don't make your children wear helmets for that so why would she need one to use a scooter to get from A to B?

Kids are on their bikes on the pavement/cycle paths, not in the road. My kids go faster on their scooters than they do their bikes, and when they have fallen off their scooters they've hit the floor hard and the helmet has saved their head

My line is drawn, if they are walking or running, no helmet needed. If they are on something with wheels, they need a helmet

I've never seen a child over the age of about four wearing a helmet on a scooter.

My dd never wore a helmet whilst scooting. She has had four serious injuries in her childhood - two were whilst doing something innocuous (just bad luck); one was a slip at the park on wet ground (avoidable); and one was during a supervised safety exercise for an activity!

I think we have been lucky as she is extremely fast on her scooter, if you hit a bump going at speed you could easily fly off. Could you badly injure your head? I guess you could.

I think you are wise to stick to your guns.

I saw a kid scooting on the pavement without a helmet a few years ago. He went in a pot hole and I ended up calling an ambulance. He had a chunk missing from his head. He went to hospital and was eventually fine, but it was a pretty harrowing ordeal.

My kids wear helmets if scooting, skateboarding or on a bike, and so do I.

Never see kids wearing helmets around here

Unless she's doing stunts at a skate park or on a pump track etc I wouldn't insist on a helmet for a scooter for a 10 year old (but absolutely would for a bike) At 10 there's a very big difference in how fast they could be going on a bike vs how fast they are likely to be going on a scooter. I think it's a shame she's being put of a healthy activity because of this so I would relax. She could hit her head falling off a climbing frame, from a tree, running fast down a hill etc. I think the fact that she's come and asked you nicely shows it's really bothering her.

Same as a pp, if it has wheels, you wear a helmet

I don't make my kids wear helmets on bikes unless they are mountain biking or racing. It's an unpopular opinion in the UK but completely standard in countries that use bikes a lot - Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium.

I would make her wear one but I’m risk averse. If it has wheels, you’re wearing a helmet was my rule.

I see about 30/40 kids a day on scooters on the morning school run, today was the first time I have ever seen a kid on a scooter with a helmet.

I actually noticed it because it was so unusual, this kid was about 7/8 but none of the others were, even the nursery class.

While I am a huge advocate for helmets, and wear them myself, they are not a nirvana.
I see so many children wearing over-sized, badly fitted, old, wonky-strapped helmets that also do not protect as much as we think. I spend £100+ on my helmets and look after them - a £10 Halfords special thrown in the shed daily really does not have the same benefit. Children's attitude to risk, physical literacy, self awareness etc is more important in my view.

Add in how low the chances of really serious head injury is on a low speed scooter. A collision with a car - a small bit of polystyrene does nothing to stop 2 tons. A small off - well you can do the same running! So when exactly will this helmet be the thing needed to stop or reduce an injury?

And, as OP has found, insisting on helmets (or worse, luminous gear or pads etc) can actually stop children from being active.

Pause and think a moment: car drivers and passengers are more likely to have a head injury in an incident, so why don't we all wear helmets in the car?

Helmet wearing is cultural as much as safety in the UK. Go to Nederlands or similar and see how few children and adults wear helmets there....

OP, at the end of the day it is risk / benefit judgement time. I personally would rather my kids active than sedentry.

(BTW, all mine grew up wearing helmets. But there is a balance.)

My son is a speed magnet on his scooter so a helmet is a non negotiable same with the bike although he is slower on that.

Having been to the wholly avoidable death of a young man on a skateboard, I am a MASSIVE advocate for helmets. Even a cheap one would have saved his life according to the hospital and the coroner.

Helmets should be non-negotiable on anything whether it is powered or not. Skates, skateboards, bikes, scooters - all falls with a bit of speed are capable of inflicting brain injuries.

Same here, it was always enforced for both scooters and bikes.

Scooters go fast on very small wheels - this makes them more prone to stop, skid, flip on uneven pavements. Scooters are not very stable.

I’ve not made mine wear helmets since they were 7 or 8 years old. Horse riding is the exception.
If it was scooting or riding a bike on difficult terrain or on ramps etc I’d feel differently.
We all do our own risk assessments and for me it’s fine without. They’re all well balanced and not riding up the M6. What you’re comfortable with is what you should enforce.

I used to until earlier last year when my DS (10) came off his bike and very severely broke his arm. Two surgeries and several metal pins later and a LOT of feedback off Dr's, I realised how it could have easily been his skull if he'd fallen differently. He happily wears one now!

Lots of food for thought thanks all. I’m still undecided because it’s not like the helmet is going to do any damage. If she doesn’t scoot she has to walk or run or cycle so no danger if being sedentary. The benefits of it are quite limited. As others have said she’s on pavements not roads and not going as fast as bikes, at a sped where i can keep uo with her on foot. And also with a one foot on or near the floor and standing position rather than a cycling position where there is a higher chance of going head first over the handlebars.

that said there are of course going to be some anecdotes of people who have had head injuries on scooters. As there are from runners, drivers etc where helmet wearing isn’t standard.

hmmmmm lots of different angles to think on. Thanks all!

I didn't wear a helmet when scootering as a child. In fact, my sister and I didn't even have helmets until I came head first off my bike, aged 7, and broke my nose on the pavement.
I'm a primary school teacher now, and started my career in 2007 teaching Reception. We had scooters and bikes for them to ride in the playground, and it never occurred to us they should have helmets. In fact, I'd say it was only in the last 3-4 years that helmets have become a "thing" in schools.

I personally wouldn't insist on my 10yo wearing a helmet to scooter. But I do follow a family online of an 8yo girl who came off a golfcart at very low speed, hit her head just wrong, and now to all intents and purposes, is basically in a vegetative state. Can't move, breath, talk or communicate in any way. I think she must be about 12 now.

There’s not a chance I’d let my child scoot with no helmet. This is because through my professional life I have seen many children with head injuries as a result of this. In my opinion it is neglectful.

I'd let her depending on how fast she was going.

Bikes are different, partly because most kids will be going faster even at a young age, but also because they will be going MUCH faster in a couple of years and you need to entrench the habit of helmet wearing when cycling. Most kids wont continue to scoot as they get older therefore it will always be a low speed activity.

Obviously it's safer to wear the helmet but my DS (4yo) regularly falls over when running (almost always because he is not looking where he is going 🙄) and theres obviously a chance he might incur a head injury, however, no-one i know makes their kid wear a helmet when running around.

My kid incurred a head injury tripping and hitting his head of a coffee table - was in neglectful of us not to make him wear head protection in our living room?