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Teaching Teens Bike Safety ‘Means the World’
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- We visited Mount Vernon to watch middle schoolers learn safe cycling skills as part of Washington state’s Teens Biking to Destinations curriculum.
- Children of the Valley is among 15 community partners working with Cascade and the state to teach teen-agers how to safely navigate their communities by bike.
- “We are seeing more kids stay off their phones.”
Paul Tolmé
A dozen teens pedal around the track at La Venture Middle School in Mount Vernon, Wash., while practicing braking and stopping, riding one-handed and using hand signals.
After several weeks of practice, these middle schoolers are preparing to take the road-readiness assessment that they must pass before leaving the track and biking onto the streets of Mount Vernon.
These students are among the growing number of teens across Washington state who are learning street safety, bike skills, and the fundamentals of active transportation through the Teens Biking to Destinations curriculum.
Created and administered by Cascade Bicycle Club in collaboration with the Washington State Department of Transportation, the Teens Biking to Destinations curriculum teaches youth in grades six to 12 who live in overburdened communities how to safely ride bikes for transportation and health.
Children of the Valley is among 15 community organizations partnering with Cascade to deliver the after-school bike safety curriculum as part of Washington’s Statewide School-Based Bicycle Safety Education Program, which is funded by the Climate Commitment Act.
The program is enriching the lives of teens, says Children of the Valley Executive Director Flora Lucatero.
“We are seeing more kids stay off their phones,” Lucatero says. “They tell us that if they weren’t in the bike club or riding their bikes, they would be on their phones or playing video games at home.”
Students learn how to maintain their bikes, plan safe routes that use bike lanes and trails, and ride to places of interest in their community.
Other organizations partnering with Cascade to teach Teens Biking to Destinations include 2nd Cycle in Tacoma, 3Forks Bike Shop in Pullman, Auburn Parks and Recreation, Puyallup School District, the ReCyclery in Port Townsend, Sharing Wheels Community Bike Shop in Everett, Walk N Roll in Olympia and Thurston County, Wenatchee CAFÉ, and WMBC in Bellingham.
Bike Clark County in Vancouver and the International Rescue Committee in Spokane will begin offering the curriculum in the coming months.
Youth Development Partnership Manager Rachel Longest trains the community organizations to become youth bike instructors, and Cascade helps the organizations source bicycles, helmets, and other necessary resources.
Youth Development Program Officer Jacquelyn Billups oversees the program, with a goal to create healthy, independent, and mobile youth who bring positive impact to their communities. “Equipping youth with the knowledge and tools to bike in their neighborhoods is just the beginning,” Billups says. “These are our future leaders, and they’re building the confidence to reach new destinations.”
Biking Instead of Gaming and Scrolling
Back on the track in Mount Vernon, instructors from Children of the Valley offer tips and encouragement to the students–some of whom never biked before signing up.
In addition to bike handling, students learn about bike laws, the rights and responsibilities of people biking, and how to safely navigate the built environment.
“Without this program, many of the students we serve wouldn’t have access to learning how to ride a bike and using it as a mode of transportation,” Lucatero says. “Learning to bike gives them opportunity and access.”
Graduates of the Teens Biking to Destinations program use bikes to grocery shop for their families, to attend after-school sports, and get around their neighborhoods without a motor vehicle.
At a time when teens are experiencing mental and physical health challenges due to social media, sedentary lifestyles and too much screen time, Teens Biking to Destinations is a force for positive change.
“Giving kids the agency and freedom to get around on their own by bike is so huge,” says Abi Ruksznis, program director for Children of the Valley. “Teaching kids to bike means the world.”
Washington State Leads in Bike Education
Thanks to the Statewide School-Based Bicycle Safety Education Program, which includes the after-school Youth Development program for teens and a separate in-class Let’s Go curriculum for kids in elementary and middle school, Washington is leading the nation in the effort to teach bike safety and active mobility skills to a new generation.
Learn more about Teens Biking to Destinations and the statewide Youth Development program.
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