How should the brakes on a child's bike be adjusted? I picked up a child's bike from the recycling center - and I was going to give it to a financially strapped worker that I know.  The brakes could easily be adjusted to be quite a bit stronger - but I'm wondering if that's a good idea.  (It looks to be for someone aged 4-7.)

I don't know how feasible it is for a child to go over the handlebars, or if poor handling skills (well, compared to an adult) could cause them to crash with the "better" adjusted brake.  It would be understandable if someone so small wasn't very good at choosing a power on a tightly adjusted piece.

So, what should I do?  What do shops/stores usually do?
With young children is very rare for them to have the hand strength to cause a problem with brake strength. Their hands are small and weak, giving small reach hence low level action in the brake handle. Children bikes are built using cheap components (Even the components on the best children bike rate just above BSO adult bike components) 

The bikes for my boys (now 11 and 7) were always adjusted with both brakes giving maximum possible braking. I would be very surprised if a front brake being too tight would cause a crash, unless it was grabbing and not braking progressively.  

Further - the kind of crash needs to be considered. I would rather my boy went over the handle bars through too much brake force than under a car though not enough.....