streethack wrote:
You're way off Dave, but thanks for your misunderstanding.
I'm about to assemble a Fly Supernova 18 inch for my son who's soon to turn 9yo. I'm giving him every chance to be a much better rider than I was in my youngster days, because at his age all we had were the 80's and 90's heavy piles of shit, which pretty much inhibited the ability to get any decent amount of riding skills up, until being big enough to muscle those tanks of bikes around.
Front brakes are pretty dangerous for young kids, pretty sure I went OTB at least once hitting the brake too hard as a kid, and definitely went over when I once decided to stick my foot in the front tuff of my Kuwahara to see what might happen!

We all had fun back in the dark ages anyway, even though the bikes sucked bad. But the bikes of today are far superior, there's nothing to debate on that subject matter.
No one is debating the quality of modern bikes here.
I am pointing out that there are modern bikes and options for front brakes out there, and if the OP asks about that, it should not just be dismissed like your "forget about how those old bikes were setup back in the dark ages." blanket statement indicating he should just settle. Notice how I never said "give the kid a bike from 20+ years ago to ride"? I wouldn't even do that myself for anything more than to cruise my neighborhood and keep the wheels down.
Front brakes are only dangerous if you don't teach kids the right way to use them, or to just lock em up-assuming they lock in the first place. Most stock bmx bikes with front brakes aren't able to lock up crappy pads being spec'd on them, cheap cables, and in many cases poor setup/assembly by the factory and or shops.
My 4 year old uses his front and rear V-brakes just fine on his MTB and has yet to go over the bars, even when he is panicking. His v brakes work just as good as my Fly Seatstay, and Diatech Fiestas-both with clear odyssey pads. One finger lock up.
If my 4 year old can handle it, I am pretty sure older kids can also learn not to crank em down too. If it is such a concern, don't just hand a kid a bike and say "see ya". Ride with them, teach them and help them. Make them wear safety gear. If the danger of going OTB is such a concern, then maybe BMX likely isn't the best hobby for a kid to get into.
"Hey anybody ever make that mistake like right when you wake up in the morning and you believe in yourself?" -Kyle Kinane
"BIKES!" -Tom Segura