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'Course I don't pay much attention to kid's bikes since I don't have children nor do I teach children cycling.
But I noticed some kiddies' bikes in European had pseudo back bike pannier racks. Scroll down to see the pic.
When growing up, the bike I used had the old rat bike trap at the back over the wheel to hold down books, a pkg. or ..ouch get your hands caught.
Why do you call them pseudo?
I have a rack on my commuter at the moment, a leftover from this summers bike touring, but I don't have panniers on it, I just put my stuff in a drybag and bungy cord it down. My son is miffed I haven't put a rack on his, but not for panniers. He wants to carry his gym bag the same way, or offer friends a lift on it.
At the kiddie bike in the photo link there, didn't seem to easily have a hook/catch to secure a bike pannier down. That's why I termed it 'pseudo'
But then there are so many different pannier designs..and for kids, just have a fabric joined double side pannier set that hangs over each side of each wheel would be another design configuration.
If your son wisely wanted his bike set-up to be like mom's bike rack, that only shows you how far behind probably alot of youth here are in North America about how to use bikes as a means of transport (not just play) and what a bike can carry. :)
A side question: Given the climate of Norway or more specifically, Oslo: Are there are alot of regular cyclists?
Oslo is a faily small town, so it's quite easily cycleable, but we have a fair amount of public transport as well. Cycling for transport is not unusual, but it's pretty much the domain of the young or the sporty, and mostly in summer. We don't have anything near the volumes of everyday cyclists in everyday clothing that, say, Denmark has. But we have very comfortable biking temperatures all through the summer season.
I asked about the rack, you see, because I rarely ride with one on, but I didn't consider it to be especially for panniers. I do have panniers that can be attached (and have been used exactly twice in the past 15 years!), but the hooks are all on the panniers, the rack is just a metal rack. Like you I grew up with a "rat trap" on the rack for small stuff, and with friends hitching a lift on the back.
I usually ride with a small, narrow backpack, but it is nice to have my back completely free, at least for now when it's still warmish out. I'm not fond of the way the rack makes my bike backheavy, but it does make for some interesting moments when everybody and his grandmother "has" to pass me on my commute because of the rack...:p
Oslo sounds very similar to many parts of Canada and U.S. at least the colder areas.. from a cycling perspective.