An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings
“What If”
New York Mom Fights Middle School That Banned Her Bike Rides With Son
A New York mother is fighting back against her school district after administrators and officials told her she and her son didn’t have the right to bike to school together — and that his safety, even beyond school walls, was out of her hands.
These people can’t be serious!
Janette Kaddo Marino said their 3-mile rides to and from school in Saratoga Springs have been met with stiff opposition from officials and even a state trooper who claimed it was unsafe — and illegal — for her 12-year-old son Adam to travel on his own pair of wheels.
Undeterred, she and her seventh-grader have continued cruising to Maple Avenue Middle School this fall in defiance of a 15-year-old school regulation that effectively forces kids to take the bus or hitch a ride in a family car.
That is absolutely insane! Oh sure….let’s push for kids to get as much exercise as possible, so they won’t have weight problem as they get older, but make sure there is no way for them to do through rules and regulations.
“They really don’t have the right to tell me how to get my kids to school,” Marino told FOXNews.com, emphasizing that she always accompanies her son and is “very safety-oriented.”
“This just doesn’t seem right to me that the school district would have that kind of authority over a parent,” she said — noting that students have been asked not to walk to school. “We’re not hurting anyone — we’re just riding our bikes.”
Just one more example of “authorities” attempt of making parents irrelevant. And it’s WRONG WRONG WRONG!
Even though administrators have tried to stop the Marinos from biking, school officials say they don’t actually have the right to bar parents or students from walking or biking to school, and that the policy itself has been widely misunderstood.
“The existing policy is worded in such a way that it may lead one to believe that we’re prohibiting biking to school,” said Saratoga Springs superintendent Janice White.
Uh, yeah, it does appear that way, doesn’t it. When you tell a mother she can’t right a bike to school with her own child, yes, it certainly does.
The one-sentence clause in the school board handbook looks clear enough:
“The riding of bicycles by elementary pupils to and from school is prohibited.”
And just who the hell came up with that bright idea? Some “I know what’s better for you than you do” group?
She said the initial concerns raised by school officials were misplaced, including their worries that her son might be snatched by a kidnapper.
“I don’t know if the fear is warranted. It’s almost like (they’re suggesting) you stay inside, you get fat, you have heart problems when you get older because there may be a pedophile out there,” she said.
The ‘what if’ game has been played way too often, to the detriment of our children. ‘What if’ has put our kids in a bubble. What if he/she falls off the swing, and gets a scratch? What if that scratch gets infected? How about, what if you mind your own freakin’ business and let kids be kids?
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Does anyone remember the good ole days when a parent was responsible for the actions of their child? Bring those days back. Parents had control of their children. Police were not called if a child was spanked. Kids were allowed to be kids, and parents were allowed to do their jobs. Get government out of the job of parenting and schools. Bring back the days of common sense.
Madalyn
Gracious sakes. Parents should be responsible for raising their own kids, making decisions concerning their well being? What a novel concept, eh?
I remember the days of being a kid all too well….walking to and from school, a real ‘play ground’, riding bikes without a helmet, knee pads, and all the other bubble wrap bullsh*t. Kids aren’t kids anymore, they’re trophies.