another Parent of 3 wrote:
Parent of 3:
You are absolutely correct in your assessment that 5 year old don't belong on a motorized bike. It is certaintly not worth the risk, no matter how small. It is hardly the fault of the 12 year old. Sorry, if I were the parents, I would have a hard time living with myself.
Have you ever been on a "motorized bike"? No, that's ok not many people have. Have you ever let your children follow their bliss? Yes? Good me too. It's just that what I think of as bliss involves, running, riding "motorized bikes", swimming, blah, blah, blah. I agree with you that I would have a hard time living with myself if anything happened to my boys. We all would, we love our kids, some of us love them so much that we want them to develop the same zest for life that our parents instilled in us.
Try to wrap your mind around the concept that many of us do not see motorcycling as a dangerous activity. I grew up around "motorized bikes" so are you implying that my parents didn't love me? (I won't tell you about riding on the tank, hanging on the handlebars, without helmets or shoes with my Dad back in the day, you'll start trashing him and tell me I'm lucky to be alive. My response would be yes I am lucky to be alive because being alive is a blast). These kids aren't anywhere close to little Evil Kenevels, they're puttering around driveways, closed courses or remote public/private lands. They have a grin from ear to ear, they are learning to control their bodies and minds. They are developing a high degree of self esteem and judgement. Of course they're no good at it they're only 5. But barring tragic accidents, they will be...They are interacting with their Dad's in something that they both love to do.
Obvously I'm a little bit sensitive about this issue mostly because I can't help but feel for the family that just lost their son. I may be overreacting but one truism out of all of this is that they absolutely did not lose him becasue they were inferior parents to you. I don't pretend to know them but I would venture to guess that they loved their little one at least as much as you love yours. They lost him to an accident plain and simple.
I'm going to check out of this thread but it is one of the reasons that I like letsrun.com even when I disagree with some it is from a runners perspective and runners usually have a very steadfast resolve, which is a quality that I like.