Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has more than 100 mastheads across Australia. Today's is written by 10-year-old guest reporter Peta Bianchi-Howden.
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Bikes were once trending; now they're not. Kids are quickly becoming less and less active, while screen time rates are soaring.
Traffic jams are now life in front of schools as many parents drive their children to school.
Active travel to school has plunged from 75 to 25 per cent in the past 40 years, the Australian Sports Commission says, indicating this a wider issue.
Though other sports, such as swimming and gymnastics, haven't declined in participants, bike riding has had a sore blow.
When I talked to 16 people my age, about half of them couldn't ride a bike. This is a serious problem.
Riding to school is a great way to exercise and have fun. You can also encourage your peers to do it too!
Inspired by the Tour de France
Have you heard of the Tour de France? It's an extremely famous bike riding competition.
At my old school we used to bring our bikes to school and ride around to celebrate it.
After that my dad and I rode to and from school.
When I did this I realised that I was much less moody because I wasn't staying inside as much and I was spending more of my time out in the fresh air and exercising.
"At primary school about seven out of 25 kids rode bikes to school, and it was much safer than it was now, because the traffic wasn't so bad," my grandmother told me.
"I think the traffic has affected the number of children that get on bikes," she said.
This may show that we should encourage more cycleways to be built so it's a safe way to increase the number of children riding to school.
Get kids back on their bikes
My dad taught me how to ride and I love it. When I first got off my training wheels, I'm pretty sure I fell off as soon as I got on. But I persevered and now one of the best in my year.
Presently, even though my current school is too far away to ride to, I still ride in my free time and treasure all the good and bad memories that I created with my bike.
I would advise every kid to jump on a bike at the first chance and start riding because it will literally take you away.
Peta is a Year 4 student from the Blue Mountains, NSW.
