Hi – Turning here given desperation - or more exasperation. My son, recently turned 18, has been working as a Deliveroo bicycle dispatch rider for about 5 months now. I was OK with him getting the job. He showed initiative in getting it, it’s better paid than the shop work he had been doing and cycling around for 4 or 5 hours keeps him fit. Against that was the risk of cycling amidst the buses, taxis and city centre crowds where we live. So I insisted (as did his Mum) that he wear a bike helmet. This I think he did – at least initially. However, in recent weeks when I have asked him about it having seen numerous Deliveroo riders without helmets, I got the impression that he hasn’t been. Saturday, he called by my flat between jobs without helmet. I asked him about it, he said that he’d left the helmet with his bike down stairs. However, I saw from my window when he was leaving that he was lying as he didn’t have one on. A telephone call to his Mum confirmed that he hasn’t been wearing a helmet for weeks, despite her imploring him to do so.
Two things here. One is that it’s another unfortunate bi-product of Deliveroo (and other ‘gig economy’ companies) not having employees, but hiring self-employed riders. Therefore, they can’t insist on their employees wearing particular kit as a condition of the job. Two, what to do as a parent? One could take the view that he’s no longer a child, he’s a young man, it’s unfortunate but ultimately his life, his decision. The other is to continue to be a controlling parent, threaten to stop paying for his iPhone until he consents to wear one. Or someway, somewhere between these two things. Like I say, the silliness (‘I KNOW I won’t fall off Dad’) and dishonesty are really annoying me. What would others do?