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?

I’m sorry about your kid. No I don’t think so, we cannot make them wear helmets everywhere, but as OP points out there is no harm to come from getting them to wear helmets on a scooter which is certainly a higher risk activity than just walking around.

Thank you - he's fine, just a lot of blood but some sticky strips sorted him out.

I'm taking issue with your use of the word neglectful, which I think is inappropriate.

A look online tells me that the largest cause of head injuries in children is falls (often playground falls) and I never see kids on play equipment wearing helmets (although sometimes my Son forgets to take his bike helmet off when he cycles to the playground and I'm always quite pleased!). We don't tend to think of these parents as neglectful.

I stand by it, to be honest. It is a safety measure that I believe is necessary for that particular activity. I understand not everyone will agree.

You are entitled to have different boundaries for your kids but parents who decide to allow their kids to scoot without a helmet are not neglectful under any definition. They just have just made a different (but perfectly reasonable) decision to you.

Apart from anything, neglect is illegal and this clearly isn't,

I honestly don’t think I’ve seen any child on a regular scooter with a helmet on. My 5 year old scoots to school by my side without a helmet and so do a lot of the other children his age. Wouldn’t be letting him go down steep hills or anything like that on it though.

Nope, not on little scooters. I’d be battling every time.
Similar dilemma to the front v rear facing car seats for infants over 1.

If you believe it is safer for your dc then take on the battle.

You’re the parent after all.

Helmets here for scooters and bikes. They can get up a reasonable pace on their scooters and it's not much hassle putting on helmets. Having once seen the consequence of somebody coming off their bike without a helmet my stance is non negotiable.

I think near us it's about 30% that wear helmets on scooters but really I am not all that interested in what other parents do.

Cycling UK has a lot of info reviewing the evidence re safety issues of helmets - it’s for bikes rather than scooters but still might be worth a read as the issues will be similar. It’s not a clear-cut issue (which is why there’s no law that cyclists need to wear a helmet).

What if a bike or car hits tgem while walking? Or do they need a helmet for that also?

Control the hazards that are within your control.

You can prevent a head injury in a reasonably foreseeable situation where the risks are apparent. You cannot prevent everything.

Why does everybody keep going back to this comparison?

The likelihood of a child coming off a scooter is a lot higher than a child being driven into by a car. I appreciate that not everybody has a background in statistics/probability but it's not really that difficult to understand.

We all see risk differently and have different thresholds for when a risk needs to be mitigated.

But I quoted the poster that said about them being hit by another vehicle

Always made my two wear a helmet for anything with wheels, and still do. Mine have different helmets for scooter / skateboard and bike because of the likelihood of different impact areas (you’re more likely to come off your scooter or skateboard backwards and need a helmet that goes further down).
Mine are 15 and 13 now and still wear their helmets. DD got into a nasty accident requiring surgery after falling off her skateboard. Thankfully not involving her head but if she’d have fallen off in a different way it could have been a different story. I don’t like her using it at all anymore.