A SOFT drink maker giving away 300 bicycles to teenagers in Orange sounds a bit like a corporation trying to ease its conscience, but other communities which have already experienced the Coca Cola-sponsored Happiness Cycle have seen some positives come out of the program.
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Here the bicycle giveaway is being run in conjunction with Orange City Council, which will provide the Anzac Park Stadium as the venue for assembling bikes and offering the kids a range of health advice.
The fitness advice, an app and the assembly stage are all designed to focus the lucky teenagers on adopting some healthy habits.
Teenagers who do not own a bike and register in time to receive one will get it straight out of the cardboard box in pieces.
The goal is to build a sense of ownership by having them do some basic bike assembly that is then checked by a bicycle mechanic.
Following the assembly stage there is some basic cycling instruction before they are sent off with their new bike, a helmet and an app that can measure kilometres ridden and hopefully shift the focus of their interests.
Happiness Cycle aims to get kids exercising regularly by introducing bicycling into their lives.
A ride to school on their own bike instead of a ride in the family car or on the bus would be a great start.
Whether it runs smoothly, and kids without bikes recieve and use them, is yet to be seen but the intention is a good one.
While Coca Cola is far from alone in marketing high sugar products to teenagers it can help address endemic problems with the diet of many kids by encouraging exercise.
The Happiness Cycle program and the council’s bicycle committee should be watching to see whether owning a free bike you helped build does in fact create the healthy habit of riding to school and a more discerning attitude to diet.