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news
Wheelie (licensed on Flickr under CC BY 2.0 by Carlos Felipe Pardo).JPGKids caught cycling anti-socially face exclusion from Birmingham school
Children caught cycling anti-socially in a suburb of Birmingham face being excluded from school following complaints from local residents.
Responding to concerns raised by members of Streetly Neighbourhood Watch on Facebook, Billy Downie, the head teacher of The Streetly Academy said that he was prepared to take tough action against students found breaking the law or behaving in an anti-social manner.
In a post on the group’s Facebook page one member, Chantelle Birtwistle, called for action to be taken against children pulling wheelies while riding in groups on the road.
She wrote: "I've nearly gone into a young lad attempting one and he lost balance on Ferndale Road!
“It's unsafe for drivers too what if my baby was in her car seat and I'd knocked him off?”
In response, Mr Downie wrote: "We share your concern over the conduct of a minority of our students on bikes outside of school hours.
"In the past three months every student has had a hard hitting assembly on the dangers of thoughtless behaviour on bikes.
"Road traffic accidents are the number one cause of death in the UK for 14-to-25-year-olds and we have driven home this point to our students.
"In addition to this, we have run the national Bikeability scheme with over 50 students, mainly boys. This course entails a day working with cycling officers on road conduct and awareness.
He said that pupils would also be required to wear a cycle helmet when riding a bike to school, although given there is no mandatory helmet law in the UK the legality of that, or how it could be enforced, is questionable.
“We have also introduced a ruling that no student will be allowed to cycle to school without wearing a helmet or on a bike that is not roadworthy,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we are still seeing many of our students on the roads without a helmet.
“From a personal perspective, I believe this should be the law, but in the absence of that I believe the onus should lay with parents to encourage their child to wear a helmet when out on their bike, irrespective of their age."
As for anti-social riding, he said: “Where we have any reports of anti-social behaviour and where we can identify the culprits, we always take action.
“This can include warnings, engaging with parents and even exclusions from school.
“Sadly, whatever advice and guidance we offer or consequences we implement, we cannot take full control of every child at every moment beyond the school gates," he added, urging parents to take responsibility for the behaviour of their children.
In response. one mother of a child at the school wrote on Facebook: "Thanks Mr Downie. As a parent of a Y7 boy who is keen on wheelying I'm very keen to work together with the school and local community on this, and have spoken already with Mr Wood and Y7 parents. I'm keen to help prevent any further incidents if I can in any way?"
Another member of the Neighbourhood Watch group on Facebook said: "I absolutely agree with Mr Downie. PARENTS AND PARENTS ONLY are responsible for their childrens' behaviour.
"What Streetly school is doing is admirable but it is NOT their responsibility so to the parents of these kids I say GET A GRIP ! I saw a lad of about 9 or 10 doing wheelies on his bike on Lowlands Avenue and he nearly hit a parked car. He wasn't wearing a helmet either."
She added: "I have to say that if a child on a bike doing wheelies on the road damaged my car and I was not at fault I would be claiming the repair bill from the parents."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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75 comments
Godwinning
I'm guessing that that Danny Macaskill pulled a few wheelies with his mates when in his youth.
I don't think he did. Just always wanted to present the weather.
Your Google-fu needs improvement, grasshopper (or possibly your sense of humour) : ktache was referring to Danny not Ian...
Did Dr Waston bring you your morning cuppa?
You'd make a more convincing smartarse if you spellchecked your posts.
I'm sorry for your struggle.
Good comeback.
No, the other one. Shit comeback. Off you flounce. But change your name first and pretend it's your first post. Pleeeeese.
Yawn. You tried that line last night just before you were told to turn your light out.
Though the guidelines do say it depends on the child being identifiable as a pupil of the school. So the obvious solution is to give your offspring the blazer or other uniform item from a neighbouring rival school, to wear while pulling wheelies or not using a helmet.
The main thing about this for me is it just brings up my general dislike of what is happening with the academies system, that removes all democratic accountability from schools. Power-mad headmasters seem to be part of that.
Edit - incidentally, what would the reaction be if instead of insisting on bike helmets, it was a Muslim headmaster insisting girls wear the hijab outside of school? Pupils out-of-school clothing choices are none of his business.
I prefer the idea of the North London Academy of Western Values insisting that their pupils wear miniskirts and crop-tops (boys too) in order to shore up our civilization against encroaching Islamicisation. That could be coupled with http://road.cc/content/review/221475-weatherneck-system-breakaway-balaclava in order to ensure privacy.
cool! they're doing aero ones now, in a choice of colourway:
http://bbsimg.ngfiles.com/1/7672000/ngbbs43cc522e52cd0.jpg
Getting the few idiots identified and punished is good.
Tarring all kids with the same brush is bad.
Threatening kids with non-existant laws is just stupid and we don't want to teach our kids stupid, do we?
I'd thought that was pretty much official government policy now, wasn't it? 'Not being stupid' might give the masses ideas above their station... They might remember when we were at war with Eurasia and allied with Eastasia, instead of the new normal of being allied with Eurasia and at war with Eastasia.
It's obviously easier to bully schoolchildren than adult drivers...
Look at these little shitbags.....but.....but ....they're cyclists!!
https://youtu.be/PvBA3cMqxAI
Let's be real here. These kids are probably a bunch of twats riding with gang mentality. In a few years it'll be scooters, shitty supermotos and riding in big gangs being cocks for Youtube views and you'll all hate them then for ruining your cycling.
Please don't bring any rational common sense into this, you'll riun the thread.
Absolutely: pulling wheelies on a bike in the street is a guaranteed gateway into joining the Crips and pulling wheelies on a Honda Fireblade. It's how all the kids in my area have gone.
I'm not hearing gasps of surprise.
Agreed but some of the posters on this site have lost all sense of reason when it comes to defending certain idiots on bikes. All up for regularly given the usual DM cycle haters a good bit of stick, but some zealots on this site are the exact opposite of the same spectrum.
I don't think these kids are on the school commute.
"what if my baby was in her car seat and I'd knocked him off?”
Really? What the hell has that got to do with anything ????
I picked up on this. Probably the most ridiculous connection I've ever seen. And I literally mean ever. An ex-boss justified his hatred of cyclists, in part, because he felt threatened by cycists while he was in his car. The was the beginning of the process of him becoming an ex-boss.
Out of all of the possible mischief that kids can get up to, I can't think of anything better than them larking around on bikes and pulling wheelies. It's get them outside in the fresh traffic fumes, gives them some exercise, teaches them some hand-eye co-ordination and balance skills. Most importantly, it teaches them to hold moton cages in contempt.
I'd encourage them and I wish schools would concentrate on the teaching rather than random political agendas.
Spineless swine, cemented minds
and oh how I wished the conclusion had been that the Headteacher, Parents and the Community group were all working together to lobby for funding of a pump track / jump park on the probably unused out of school hours school grounds....in a parallel world somewhere I hope
Sorry to hear that parents no longer exist. Thank God you have the government.
Lord above - some kids appear to larking about in a public place hardly the end of the world. Somewhere someone is complaining about kids spending too much time on play stations then when the kids do get outside the get told off for behaving exactly how kids have behaved down the centuries. I don't know the area but I bet in the last few years a few play schemes have been shut down, youth clubs closed and other clamp downs on kids gathering. The headmaster would be better off hiring a decent instructor to teach them how to wheely properly, the instructor could then drops hints about finding safe places to show off.
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