Kids ATV

All Freaked Out

It’s quite common that kids are sometimes in the wrong place at the wrong time and while they’re honing their ATV riding skills, they watch someone they know or love get into an accident…and then the nightmare begins. Well, literally speaking, some kids get so scared that they get nightmares at night and cling to their parents afraid of closing their eyes. Some of them are silently traumatized even if the ATV accident wasn’t in the least frightful. And the story can also take a turn when they become afraid of riding their own ATVs. Now, although it should be pretty harmless that they refuse to ride their ATVs, we should try our best to help them overcome the fear of ever riding one or not in the future. Whatever it is, as parents, we are responsible for helping them restore their confidence in themselves and believe that ATVs are not, in itself, dangerous. Human beings should not be afraid of machines. But how do we do all that in the face of such fears?

The first thing we should do is to bring ourselves to our kid’s level – never say that they are ‘silly’ or ‘being unreasonable’ for fearing the sight of an ATV. After all, in the eyes of a child, the horror that unfolded before the child is so frightening that it warrants such a reaction from them. It’s normal. So, we have to ‘understand’ and put ourselves into their shoes and see things from their point of view based on a child’s maturity level. Try to help them understand why accidents happen – and they happen because a person loses control or concentration over the ATV. Not the other way around. What we’re trying to do here is to divert the attention away from the ATV as a machine and to the human being who is in control of the ATV.

That’s why we have safety rules and training to help kids and adults alike take control of their ATVs. Kids need to understand that when a person is in control the ATV, the risk of getting into an accident is reduced tremendously. As a parent, we cannot promise them that no accident will happen to them or to us when we ride our ATVs but this is what life is al about. We take risks even when we’re not riding ATVs! The intention is not to scare them but to bring to their attention that life, in itself is uncertain. That is why we should always be as careful as we can be – whether or not we’re on our ATVs.

Once they are less traumatized by the ATV incident, you can try encouraging the child to clean the ATV or do minor chores involving his or her ATV. Instill a sense of confidence and pride in the child that the ATV is not a scary machine. Some kids, after being involved in an ATV accident, refuse to get close to an ATV because it brings back bad memories. By getting them to come into contact with the ATV again is a big step…this step is to help them eliminate the fear of the machine.

With kids, fun is always the keyword. To help them overcome and forget about the fear, invite their friends over and have an ATV party or gathering. As soon as things get fun, you’ll see that they will slowly but surely crawl out of their shells.

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