Save the Children

Children Our kids deserve open space to be themselves
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	"Instead of driving by neighborhoods, we are really in neighborhoods.." Marion Rice quoted in BikePortland

	When people ask me why I would ride my bicycle in the dark or in the rain, I can answer in one single word. Children. I know that when I ride my bicycle, there is no possible way that I could cause harm to the children coming home from school. Firstly I don't have enough mass to cause damage were a child to run into the street, and secondly I emit none of the gases which cause asthma in developing lungs.	I love to see safe open spaces where children can play.

	Every parent worries about the huge obsticles facing children today. The poor education, TV addiction, ADD, asthma, obesity, and dangerous streets. What these parents don't realize is that most of these issues are related to one single cause. The public roads are not really public. They are designed to be used only by those who are old enough to drive. This means that every American citizen under the age of 16 is relegated to pedestrian status. Such status gives them no outside protection from the vehicles which have access to every road and driveway in the country. Children and their parents alike are terrified of such a situation. And they are right to be terrified. Automobiles are the highest cause of death nationally for minors. This is unconscionable to me, which is why this site exists.



	When streets are free of cars, children can play their basketball game uninterrupted, parents feel safe letting their kids get some good outside time, and conversation is less difficult. People simply feel more comfortable with safe, quiet streets.

	Why do we consider gasoline to be a higher financial priority than our own children? Imagine how much more money there could be for learning tools, if children walked to school and bypassed the cost of schoolbuses.

	Unfortunately the parents feel unable to do anything because they can't stop 'the damn idiot drivers' (who of course are always someone else). Therefore they insist that the child remain indoors, or chauffer their children and sacrifice their own freedom. Without a place to release their energy, children become frustrated, lethargic, unmotivated, and overweight. These children are unable to develop a sense of independence because they don't even have freedom to travel within their neighborhood.. We have denied our children the most basic human right...the right to go from one place to the other. This is one of the many reasons that I live in Portland. While our city is clogged with cars like every other American city, Multnomah has taken couragous steps to calm the streets which allows children some degree of independance. This gives some parents the courage to 'buck the system' and give their children the freedom to play outside.	"We'd love to walk and bike to the places the kids need to go - but the roads are a nightmare."

Here in Portland children have the opportunity to enjoy that all important sense that they can be the engine of their own transportation. This combats the obesity, depression and lethargy of an indoor lifestyle.

Robert Ping poses with a group of children near Portland's Car Free Day.	When cars are removed from the streets, kids actually get the chance to play outside.	If you build them, the children will come. Creating safe avenues where kids can play is essential.	Louis Hankins gives new meaning to the expession "Go play in the parking lot."

Portland leads the country in creating roads which safely acomodate bike traffic.	I came upon this family of 8 while riding the famous Los Angeles bike path.	Street closures allow today's kids to enjoy what many of us once enjoyed - a place outside to play.	Each person who decreases their auto dependancy helps make this dream a reality.

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Special thanks to dynamicdrive.com for navigation code