Thursday, August 2, 2012

My New Project

Many moons ago (in a kingdom far far away known as Seattle) I worked as a Pediatric Rehab nurse at a well known Children's Hospital. I saw many kids with head injuries--some sustained from riding their bicycle without a helmet. I did not wear a helmet when I was a kid, but after seeing the effects of an accident where a helmet may have prevented a serious head injury, I started wearing a bike helmet. 

Flash to present time where I am riding much more than I did back then. I still ALWAYS wear my helmet. In over 25,000 miles of riding, I have only crashed once. In that one crash, I cracked my helmet. I'm sure glad it was my helmet and not my head!

I ride alot on the streets and trails in my community and the neighboring communities. I am always disappointed when I see a kid riding without a helmet (on the street or the trail). I've always wanted to do something about it. To that end, I have cooked up a little project. It's really very simple. Everytime I encounter a kid who is wearing a helmet, I'm going to stop and give them a dollar and thank them for wearing a helmet. Simple as that. I'm going to reward the positive behavior and ignore the negative behavior. I will also include a small card that says, "Thanks for wearing a helmet" along with this blog address. Do I think giving a single dollar is going to make a big difference?  Probably not (maybe if it was, say, a $10 bill, but I can't afford that). But, what if that kid tells his/her friends that some crazy lady on a bike gave him/her a dollar just because he/she had a helmet on? Maybe, just maybe, that friend might consider donning a helmet in case they might meet the crazy lady and also get a dollar.

So, this blog will not be filled with statistics of why everyone should wear a helmet. I'm fully aware of all the debate of helmet use vs. no helmets. It is merely my opinion that helmets are a good idea. You also probably won't see many photos. As a parent, I might get a little freaked out if my kids' photo showed up on some stranger's blog. This will just be a place to tell about my successes (and failures) in my efforts to tell kids, "Thanks for wearing a helmet"!

1 comment:

  1. Love this idea! Especially coming on the heals of my son losing his skateboard for a week for not wearing his helmet. "But I am only in the garage!" he protested. Concrete is concrete. I also had the pediatrician talk to him about wearing helmets after I took him in for a recent appointment.

    ReplyDelete