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Don't Be Scared of Walking to School (or Even the Bus Stop)
Filed under: Opinions
Have you noticed that a whole lot of kids don't walk to the school bus stop on their own anymore? Their parents walk them. Or drive them. In gated communities, so help me, they golf-cart them. And then they all wait there together until the bus comes. The parents do, finally, putter off after that.
On the way home, many school districts play it just as overly protective. A pre-designated caregiver must be waiting at the stop or the child is driven right back to school. Rachel Whitten, a Kansas mom who'd like her kindergartener to be allowed to get off and walk three houses down by himself, was told that if no one meets him once, she'd get a written warning. Twice, a phone call. Third time? The police would be summoned.
So that's the bus stop story. But then there's the even more obsessive non-bus-stop story: Plenty of school buses now pick up children directly from their homes. Often enough, the kids are waiting in the family car. Mom or dad drives them from the garage down to the sidewalk, to keep them from getting too hot, or cold or kidnapped.
And finally, if you're sitting down, we can discuss the 50 percent of kids who are chauffeured door to door each day, even to schools just a few blocks away. Drop-off is, of course, a traffic nightmare. Parents, panicked about tardy slips, speed and swerve. Kids leap out. One pedestrian organization, PedNet.org, estimates that half of the kids hit by cars near school are hit by cars dropping other kids off at school. And yet, parents keep citing "safety" as a reason they drive their kids themselves.
No one said parents always make sense.
But drop-off is nothing compared to pick-up, which can involve a gym full of kids waiting indoors while a school employee stands at the head of the carpool line outside, barking into her Walkie Talkie.
"Letty's mom is here!," she yells. Letty is then plucked from the gym and hustled into her car like an unpopular dictator.
Next! The whole process can take half an hour and is quite the production.
What's bizarre about all this is that walking to school is good for kids. It's safer than back when we parents were doing it -- remember, crime is down since the 1970s and 1980s. And a whole bunch of studies are showing that kids who get exercise are not just slimmer and trimmer, but they concentrate better.
"We're trying to make the new norm walking," says Lauren Marchetti, director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School, which gives advice on how to start the transition from driving to walking or biking. "We want people to think 'Good parents have their kids walk.' "
It's weird that we have to re-normalize a healthy, happy, normal part of childhood. But it's even weirder that it's become normal to drive our kids from the garage to the bottom of the driveway.
On the way home, many school districts play it just as overly protective. A pre-designated caregiver must be waiting at the stop or the child is driven right back to school. Rachel Whitten, a Kansas mom who'd like her kindergartener to be allowed to get off and walk three houses down by himself, was told that if no one meets him once, she'd get a written warning. Twice, a phone call. Third time? The police would be summoned.
So that's the bus stop story. But then there's the even more obsessive non-bus-stop story: Plenty of school buses now pick up children directly from their homes. Often enough, the kids are waiting in the family car. Mom or dad drives them from the garage down to the sidewalk, to keep them from getting too hot, or cold or kidnapped.
And finally, if you're sitting down, we can discuss the 50 percent of kids who are chauffeured door to door each day, even to schools just a few blocks away. Drop-off is, of course, a traffic nightmare. Parents, panicked about tardy slips, speed and swerve. Kids leap out. One pedestrian organization, PedNet.org, estimates that half of the kids hit by cars near school are hit by cars dropping other kids off at school. And yet, parents keep citing "safety" as a reason they drive their kids themselves.
No one said parents always make sense.
But drop-off is nothing compared to pick-up, which can involve a gym full of kids waiting indoors while a school employee stands at the head of the carpool line outside, barking into her Walkie Talkie.
"Letty's mom is here!," she yells. Letty is then plucked from the gym and hustled into her car like an unpopular dictator.
Next! The whole process can take half an hour and is quite the production.
What's bizarre about all this is that walking to school is good for kids. It's safer than back when we parents were doing it -- remember, crime is down since the 1970s and 1980s. And a whole bunch of studies are showing that kids who get exercise are not just slimmer and trimmer, but they concentrate better.
"We're trying to make the new norm walking," says Lauren Marchetti, director of the National Center for Safe Routes to School, which gives advice on how to start the transition from driving to walking or biking. "We want people to think 'Good parents have their kids walk.' "
It's weird that we have to re-normalize a healthy, happy, normal part of childhood. But it's even weirder that it's become normal to drive our kids from the garage to the bottom of the driveway.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 2)
9-16-2010 @ 12:21PM
Angela said...My four year old kindergartener was dropped off at the wrong stop this week: there are three different stops in four blocks. Unfazed, he started to walk to his Grandpa's house, one block away. A kind stranger picking up her daughter made sure he made it safely, though he was perfectly capabile of doing it alone. Turns out not every adult is a pedophile and not every child gets kidnapped if alone on a street. Imagine that!
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9-16-2010 @ 12:23PM
pam said...THANK YOU for this!
I have a 6 y/o and I am aggravated that I have to be standing at the end of my driveway every morning to put her on the bus, I can't sit on our stoop which is 25' away, mind you they stop every driveway on my road to pick up 1 kid at each house.
When I was 6 (I'm only 28), I walked to school, the whole 3 1/2 miles, whether it was raining, snowing, or 100 degrees out. When a bus line was put in on my road, my bus stop was actually 1 mile past my house and we passed my driveway and I had to WALK!
It's ridiculous. If parents are so crazy about it then designate 1 person a day to wait at a BUS STOP for the kids and walk back with them. These parents that sit at the end of the driveway in their cars make me laugh. I hand my daughter an umbrella or wrap another scarf around her neck and send her off.
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9-16-2010 @ 7:19PM
Alison Coupland said...I live 1/2 mile away from my kids' elementary school. My kids walk (with a neighbor kid) every day, unless it's bitterly cold or storming. Once, I had the school call and ask how my son (7 at the time) was getting home when his sister couldn't walk with him. When I told them to let him walk, they asked if I was SURE, then they (reluctantly) let him go. He was so proud of himself, and the responsibility of getting themselves to and from school ON TIME (if they're tardy, they hear about it) builds character.
Plus, they'll be able to tell their kids about how they dragged a bowling ball home, all by themselves. Ah, the adventures of the walk ...
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9-16-2010 @ 1:02PM
Anne said...I used to walk to school of course it was in the next block, High School was a mile away and I got a ride only because my mom was going that way to work. But coming home I either walked or took public transportation. (it was about a mile and 1/2 away) I used to drop my son off at the corner on my way to work and I only waited if it was raining, but now because I am taking the bus more to work myself (saves gas and I get exercise when I have to walk a mile to the stop) he has to walk more.
If everyone is worried childhood obesity maybe they should let their child walk to school....a solution maybe!
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9-16-2010 @ 1:37PM
Alicia said...Oh god. I remember walking to school with my friends in the morning. One of the moms stayed at hoe, so we all met at their house and she walked us there and I walked home alone because you could practically spit and hit my house from the playground. I walked two blocks to and from the bus stop every morning and evening in middle school and same for high school, until I started catching an early ride with my mom because she had to go that way to work anyway. The latter was superior only because I got coffee and an hour to wake up before I had to deal with my classmates (I am not a morning person). I can understand this sort of thing for kindergartners, but once you're six, you should know your address and can be trusted to know which car/bus you should get into. Children aren't stupid and not everyone's a pedophile.
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9-17-2010 @ 5:13AM
Mary said...I'm not sure how smug and confident any of us would feel if one of our children were kidnapped or hurt when no one was watching them on their walks to or from school. It's not like that has never happened to other children, whose parents I'm sure also felt just as safe and secure until something went horribly wrong. If your worried about child obesity, get your kids to eat healthy and exercise or play more in a safe environment.....I would not agree with anyone who said that the world is a safer place today than it was 20 or 30 years ago....things change, they always do with changing times and there is no point stubbornly clinging on to the good old days and wanting things to be the same today....they cant be and they wont be. I'd take paranoid parents anyday over a missing child!
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9-16-2010 @ 5:07PM
Lauren said...Your view is very ignorant and merely plays on people's worst fears. The chances of your child being kidnapped, abducted or whatever are EXTREMELY low. And yes the world is much safer today than it was years ago. People only focus on the extreme news stories that stir up public fear when in reality your going to be fine. People fear dying in car accidents, but you don't see a huge push to get rid of cars do you? Children are capable of walking by themselves to and from schools. The chances of them running into a deranged pedophile is substantialy low. Your precious, overly protected child will be fine.
9-16-2010 @ 2:05PM
allison said...I cant believe the comments that I'm reading!!! Are these parents for real? Todays world is not safer its worse for kids. Stop complaining and be aware of what could happen to your kids.
9-20-2010 @ 9:46AM
Jodi said...Even if the chances are slim to none that a child would be abducted, what parent would take that chance?
9-30-2010 @ 10:37AM
Rebekah said...Lauren, are you kidding!? I absolutely agree with Mary on this. I think you need to re-check your state's sex-offender registry, you may be quite surprised. All it takes is ONE pedophile to take your child. Yes, kids are smarter than we give them credit for, but they are also trusting and innocent about the world. They have no understanding that there are people who would WANT to cause them harm.
9-16-2010 @ 4:32PM
JustMyThoughts said...I think the author's point - and it's a good one - is let's be worried about things we should actually be worried about. The number of "stereotypical" stranger abductions per year? Hovers between 100-130 for the entire United States. The number of kid pedestrians killed each year? Closer to 600 - five times more likely.
Where I disagree is that I think (and these are government recommendations as well) kids under the age of 10 don't have any business being alone and unsupervised. Period.
FYI - we don't drive or walk to school. We bike.
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9-16-2010 @ 6:31PM
dougalcandy said...I think the key here is PARENTS have to make the decision as to when their kids are ready and able to handle walking to the bus stop/school alone. Some kids are ready at 6--others may not be ready till much later. We live an a small town where many kids walk too and from school, often in groups. Every school has bicycle racks which are always full.
My husband, daughter and I decided when she was in 3rd grade she was old enough to walk home from school by herself every day. She was very comfortable with it and even got her first job--walking a neighbor's dogs and feeding them after school-- while on the way home from school. However, when this same child was 16, we refused to let her get a driver's permit, because she needed much more maturity before we would let her behind the wheel--point being, we KNEW her and her limitations and made decisions accordingly. We NEVER wanted to raise a clingy, fearful child. today she is 19, self motiviated, confident totally able to handle herself and take care of herself. She never did get her driver's license though, she's putting it off because THAT makes her nervous--she actually hates driving.
There are pedophiles in schools, churches parks, and even in your own neighborhood. A child can be violated or abducted anywhere. Why focus on the fear, make your child fearful of being independent? We really need to stop being afraid of everything, life is too short to live in fear of everything and we are transferring that fear to the next generation!
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9-17-2010 @ 12:03AM
kit said...I agree it is hard to let kids go, knowing that there are dangers out there. However, they do need to experience some autonomy & responsibility. Wherever possible, organize! When I lived in Japan, I observed the elementary kids walking to school in groups. The older students were like safety patrol, carried a bright yellow safety flag and made sure the younger kids crossed the streets safely, etc. Safety in numbers, plus autonomy, responsibility and exercise. It might not work everywhere, but it could be a positive change in some places.
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9-20-2010 @ 11:45AM
Donna said...What a wonderful idea! We can stop overparenting by letting older children/siblings shoulder the responsibilities of protecting the younger students. They learn responsibility and the younger students have more role models.
9-17-2010 @ 2:09PM
JenO said...I don't know if the world is safer now or not (altho I tend to side with anyone who sites actual numbers) but I do believe the level of risk we are willing to tolerate is WAY lower. We also tend to blame others and sue when something bad happens, which is probably why the schools have to be so over protective as well. Personally, I'm all for the organizing since it would take way less time to get a parent rotation going than to stand out in the rain with my kids every single day. They aren't in school yet and it is a bit far with two busy highways to cross for them to walk, but the bus stop is a block away and I'm not planning to drop them off in a car!
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9-18-2010 @ 8:16PM
Michele said...I can't believe that someone who is concerned about child abduction is actually called "ignorant" and then their "preciuos, overly protected" child is mocked. The issue of supervision goes WAY beyond pedophiles. I walk my first grader to and from school every day. Go ahead and call me over protective, smothering, whatever you like. I witness the chaos of the elementary school and the hoardes of children whos parents apparently "forgot" to tell them to be courteous and responsible on their way to school. These kids are running in the road, crossing in the middle of a busy street without even looking, pushing each other in the street because it "funny", you name it! I hate to break it to some people, but kids NEED some amount of supervision. That is why they are referred to as "children" and not just small adults. Sure, it's nice to throw around words like "autonomy" and "independence" but these things are a learned process that takes time to foster appropriately (ideally 18 years). In the mean time, I wish a few more parents would at least stick their heads out their front door long enough to yell at their wonderful little free spirit and tell him to stop pushing the kindergarteners off the sidewalk.
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9-18-2010 @ 11:32PM
Tracy said...I think those of you who think your child is safe walking to school on their own better wake up and realize it's now 2010 and the world is definitely a different place. Go to the sex offenders database and see that a registered sex offender is pretty much right around the corner—no matter where you live!
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9-20-2010 @ 8:26AM
LisaS said...JenO is right--it's more about the acceptance of risk being lower than the world being more dangerous. That perception is based on having more information--the CNN newsline running 24/7, the Sex Offenders list on the internet. The pervs were always there, we just didn't know. most of us didn't know.
Bottom line: if you choose to guide your child down the driveway/to school/whatever, that's fine. my kids will think circles around yours in the end because they've been taught to assess risk & reward. But mind your own business, and don't put others thru the torment one of my friends is currently suffering because one of her neighbours is applying her own standards to someone else's life.
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9-20-2010 @ 9:21AM
susan said...Elementary school kids do not have the ability to accurately estimate the speed and Distance of cars and school buses. Perhaps this is the reason there are so many pedestrian accidents involving children. It is safer to have a parent or adult walk the child to school.
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9-20-2010 @ 9:46AM
Jodi said...I don't think that a child should be allowed to walk to school on their own. Parents these days are reckless and then they are the ones on the news crying because something happened to their kid. Whether you like it or not, this world is not safe. People have no morals these days. My son is 5 years old and I refuse to let him play on the playground unless I am there. The reason is that other parents seem to think that their children are mature. Unfortunately, these same children (11/12 year olds), are the kids that pushed my sons head in the dirt. If parents would raise their children to respect other people, then our world wouldn't be so screwed up and we wouldn't have to be so overprotective. The bottom line is, if some parents paid more attention to their kids behavior then other parents wouldn't have to be so over protective.
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