Have you noticed kids no longer bike to school?
One of the reasons is that schools no longer encourage biking. Take the case of Bridgewater-Raritan High School in New Jersey. Students there banded together and managed to raise $2,000 to purchase a new bike rack at the school. But school officials denied their request. Katherine Dransfield, one of the students seeking to organize a school bike club, explained that "Essentially, what they told us was that they didn't want to promote biking as a way to get to school."
The school officials should be ashamed of themselves. Biking has numerous benefits. It promotes public health and exercise (and our students, many of whom are struggling with obesity, could certainly use it), reduces traffic congestion, and helps the environment by reducing pollution.
In fact, some here at Fordham regularly bike to work during the spring and summer. Mike Petrilli, our esteemed Vice-President for National Policy, is an avid biker. He's also our resident greenie and political squish, who champions organic food, energy conservation, and combating global warming. I, on the other hand, being a hard-boiled conservative, don't share Mike's--how shall I say it--romantic views. I'm all for steaks and gas-guzzling cars. I do, however, commute to work on the train and subway everyday. So, I can't be that much of a reactionary.
Regardless of our ideological differences, there is one undeniable fact: Mike is considerably slimmer and fitter than I am. A major reason for this is that he exercises regularly--and biking is a key part of his regimen. It is good for you; the more biking, the better. It's time students were reintroduced to the joys and benefits of riding their bikes. And schools should not stand in their way.