Use Your Brain, and Save Your Brain

LeadAfter school, you walk out the door and throw on your backpack. You unlock your bike from the bike rack. Then you hop on and ride off. What’s missing from this picture? There’s no bike helmet. Every year thousands of kids under the age of 16 are seriously injured while riding their bicycles. Many of those injuries could have been avoided if the cyclists had been wearing helmets. Opinion Statement If you want to avoid injuries, be responsible, and set a good example—always wear a helmet when biking.

Topic SentencesSafety is the number one reason that every cyclist should wear a helmet. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, half a million cyclists are injured every year in the United States. The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute reports that 97 percent of the fatalities happened to riders who were not wearing helmets. In 2014 alone, 729 cyclists died in crashes, nearly two per day. Most of those deaths could have been prevented by wearing a bicycle helmet.

Helmet designers have created a wide variety of light-weight, aerodynamic helmets to fit any head at any price. Detail Sentences In fact, according to Randy Swart, director of the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, $20 helmets perform as well as $150 helmets in crash simulations. So, whether you choose a sleek racing helmet with deep vents or a dome-shaped helmet that protects your ears as well as your brain, you'll be much safer than riding without one. You'll find helmets for mountain biking, street biking, and doing tricks (Best Bike Helmets 2017). Whatever helmet you get, make sure it fits well and is comfortable, and make sure it looks good on you. That way you'll be sure to wear it.

Wearing a helmet protects not only your head but the heads of all of the kids that look up to you. When we were little, we went to Safety Town to learn about crossing streets safely and riding our bikes with helmets. Those rules still apply now that we are teenagers, and are critical for us to model for younger people. Over 150 of the bike fatalities per year involve children. What if one of those children decided not to wear a helmet because "the big kids" don't wear helmets? Set a good example. Keep yourself safe, and show the little brothers, sisters, and neighbors in your life how they can keep themselves safe on their bikes.

Answer to ObjectionSome middle school students say that wearing helmets isn't cool because it is just for kids. However, more than 550 of the bicycle fatalities last year were not children, so bike helmets are really for people of all ages. Making good health decisions is cool, avoiding injury or worse. And, according to KidsHealth.org, the best way to fight the crowd who say helmets are not cool is to find a great looking helmet and wear it with pride.

A bike helmet is one of the most important pieces of bicycling equipment you can use. Yet, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, almost no teens wear helmets! So do yourself a favor. Call to ActionProtect your head, and maybe your life, by wearing a helmet when you ride.