Bicycles against scooters
My son is one of the few who still goes to high school by bicycle. The neighbor who always accompanies him was recently bought an electric scooter and, as a consequence, has left the bicycle in the storage room (perhaps forever). We are lucky that we live relatively close to the high school and most of the streets are safe for cycling, even with sections of bike lanes.
Needless to say, in recent years the proliferation of electric scooters has been exponential among young people to the point that their use has had to be regulated. Even so, there is no exhaustive control over them. As I am a teacher, I know that there are students who ride them and are under fifteen years old. Almost no one wears a helmet. Often, a passenger is added on the back. They look at their mobile phones. And, due to the speed at which they circulate, it is highly probable that they are traveling at more than 25 kilometers per hour. That is to say, they have been tampered with. The urban police occasionally take a turn and warn some offender. But, as far as I know, it does not go beyond that.
My son, now, since it seems he is the only one who does not have an electric scooter, is asking us for one. He insists on it in that lovely way that teenagers have. If it's not for his birthday, it will be for Three Kings Day. He does not want to be less than the others. But at home, we already had this fight/argument with the mobile phone and we resisted it well enough, though not without wear and tear. Going against the current is always hard. For parents, and I can understand that for children, too. No teenager who wants to integrate into the group likes to be the different one. We understand it, but my wife and I have our principles, which sometimes are not those of the majority. It is not easy to convince a child, it is often deeply ungrateful, but educating is precisely that. Without overprotection, obviously. Let the rest of the families do what they think is best, but as a teacher, we would save many hours of tutoring that we could use for math and reading.
Our main argument for not buying them an electric scooter is that, considering they don't do any extracurricular sports and don't like to leave their room much, going back and forth by bicycle is a way to move the body and be healthier than balancing on their ankles. And moving their legs and building muscle. The bicycle seems more human and more ecological to me. And you can take it on the train if it fits, and go explore mountain paths.
I have observed that a good number of those who use electric scooters go faster than they should and act recklessly. Any pothole on the sidewalk or the road can send them flying through the air and when it rains they slip, especially on pedestrian crossings. In the end, obviously, everything depends on how you use it and on personal responsibility. On education, in short. I have also seen many characters riding next to a bus doing wheelies on their bikes. Luckily, they don't lack a good guardian angel. But man, what a lot of work they give him!
