I was thinking about that when I was dropping my 6 year old off at some hobbies earlier - it’s pretty much expected to have learned how to ride a bicycle before starting school, and it massively expands the area you can go to by yourself. When she went to school by bicycle she can easily make a detour via a shop to spend some pocket money before coming home, while by foot that’d be rather time consuming.

Quite a lot of friends from outside of Europe either can’t ride a bicycle, or were learning it as adult after moving here, though.

edit: the high number of replies mentioning “swimming” made me realize that I had that filed as a basic skill pretty much everybody has - probably due to swimming lessons being a mandatory part of school education here.

  • Ilflish@lemm.ee
    24·
    10 months ago

    Ever indoor pool I’ve gone to in the UK has offered Swimming lessons. Not having natural bodies of water isn’t a great excuse for basic swimming. Seems to just be a culture difference since everyone I know had lessons at an indoor pool as kids

      • Ilflish@lemm.ee
        24·
        10 months ago

        How much do you think I’m talking about? You’d be spending more going to the cinema then a swimming lesson. Obviously it may not translate but if so then at least we’ve found a cause

        • SeaJ@lemm.ee
          2·
          10 months ago

          There are limited spots for public swim lessons in my city and they are $150 for a set of lessons. If you go the private route, it is generally at least double that.

          • Ilflish@lemm.ee
            1·
            10 months ago

            Well that definitely solves the issue. It might be £5-15 a lesson in the UK depending on your age