Let me start out by saying I do not presume to tell anyone how to raise their children. As a first-time dad who is learning everything about children for the first time, I am not an expert on how best to raise kids by any stretch of the imagination, and I always defer to parents on what is best for them in their situation.
Over the last several months, our community has been plagued by some truly stupid and reckless behavior by the so-called “wheelie kids.” If you have never happened upon them in Lansdale, consider yourself lucky. There is nothing that raises anxiety in a person, especially a driver of a vehicle, faster than a child on a bike riding head-long at you to see if you will try to avoid them. Obviously, nobody with a rational mind wants to hit a child with a car.
The problem here is not the drivers though, or even adults for that matter. If passenger vehicles were simply not sharing the road, that is something the police could deal with quickly. But that is not the problem. The core problem is a group of young kids who are entertaining themselves by disrupting traffic and risking their lives to get a reaction from adults. It is, undoubtedly, stupid. Of course, children have been doing stupid things for decades. Certainly, some will sit there and say “we never did anything like that” which might be true for a few. But most people, at some point when they were growing up, did something that was truly dumb and looking back they laugh about it. The question is not will it happen, it will, but how do we manage it in today’s world?
Obviously, the best and most convenient answer is, “parents need to better manage/monitor their children.” Sure, this is accurate in some sense. We are all responsible for making sure our children don’t get out of control. But again, inevitably, it will happen, and parents can’t be around all the time. Does it then fall to the police to manage? If the children are breaking the law, certainly a citation/warning is warranted and will be issued to anyone who is violating the traffic laws in such a mindless manner. But, let me be clear, I will not have law enforcement attempting to arrest children. There is no world where that practice ends up going well for anyone involved. Lansdale police chasing kids on bikes through town will only risk more traffic chaos than the children originally intended, risk the lives of other pedestrians around, and the lives of the officers who are weaving through traffic trying to keep up.
What can be done then? Lansdale Police will continue to issue citations without remorse for this kind of blatant disregard for traffic safety. $300 fines per violation should make parents pay a little more attention to what their kids do. Additionally, since it takes a village to raise kids, giving them a place to play, like a skate/bike park, might help the situation. I will concede that I am positive that not all of them are doing this in traffic because they like doing tricks and need a place to go; some are just looking to cause problems in the community.
The actions we can take are limited, and we will need parents help in solving this issue. Police chasing kids for riding bikes and being dangerous should not be how we deal with the youth in our community. However, putting this in perspective is important too. Lansdale is lucky that one of our biggest nuisances is kids on bikes being a pain in the rear. Other communities are not so lucky.
(Mayoral Musings is a weekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Lansdale Borough Mayor Garry Herbert.)
See also:
Mayoral Musings: Permit Parking Planning And FAQ
Mayoral Musings: The Risk And Reward Of Alleyway Maintenance
Mayoral Musings: Officer Gallagher Exhibited Training, Dedication
Mayoral Musings: Is This American Democracy Now?
Mayoral Musings: Lansdale's Rate Of Perceived Change
