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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 2 of 2)
9-24-2010 @ 8:35PM
gia said...Lauren, all I can say is you must not be a parent and if you are I feel very sorry for any child of yours. There are 850,000 child abduction EVERY YEAR! Thats almost a million children...just gone. Most of them never returned and most likely brutally raped and murdered. If you dont think your children are worth your time and effort than to any person with your views I say; DONT HAVE KIDS! I cant imagine having someone like you as a mother so do us all a favor and if you ahvent already, please do not procreate. its attitudes like yours that allow for those 850,000 child abductions each year. Ill be overprotective any day than have to bury one of my little ones because "they needed to walk". what a crock for lazy parents, so what of you have to sit in school traffic. Dont you think your babies are worth it? Would you want to live with the guilt your whole life that YOU should have been there?? That you let your baby down and she/he is GONE having God knows what done to them?? Think before you speak , do you think the parents of abducted children would have your cocky views?? Probably not.
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9-24-2010 @ 3:13PM
Serena said...Are you kidding me? 850,000 children abducted every year?? Where do you get your stats from? That's 2328 kids every day. Maybe 850,000 children per year GO MISSING and that is completely different. That takes into account children kidnapped by a custodial parent, runaways, etc. 100-150 abductions, the kind we all fear of the stranger in the white van with no windows, is more like it. And although it may be scary, teach your children how to react when the white van pulls up and then let them walk to school. Children were being abducted when I was a kid, when you were a kid, when our parents were kids and we still were allowed out of the house ourselves and allowed to walk to school alone.
9-23-2010 @ 8:57AM
Heather said...My child is only 21/2 but we were at a elementary school playground the other day and a huge pitbull came running out of the doggie door to greet its owner. They live immediately across the street. This same pitbull and another were running loose through the neighborhood not long ago and I called animal control. I notified the principal of the school who is concerned but nothing can be done.
I simply want everyone with children to pay attention to the animals in your neighborhood and act accordingly. It's a shame that people don't watch their pets. Those dogs could've easily have attacked children walking home from school.
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9-23-2010 @ 7:13PM
Heidi said...Not to overgeneralize, but SOME of these overprotective (to the extreme) hovering parents will be the ones who, in a few years, will be doing the 8th grade science project or writing the college admission essays instead of the kid. Then they will wonder why Little Johnnie or Susie is incapable of independent thought.
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9-24-2010 @ 9:15PM
gia said...Serena, my "stats" come from my uncle an FBI agent of 25 years but Im sure you must know more. Personally, ONE child is too many. The ones who are abducted are ALONE. Speak for yourself, as my mother NEVER let me walk to or from school alone. She cared enough to take the time to make sure I was safe. Unlike my childhood neighbor Kathy who's mom always let her walk to school alone until she was abducted,raped and murdered. Trust me, her mother wishes to this day she was there for her daughter. Its all about lazy parents, too busy to get THEIR fat asses up and out to watch out for their kids. Trying to use the excuse kids are fat from not walking to school, or stating that watched children won't think for themselves or excel like unaccompanied children,is more than ridiculous. I am a Physician with a 164 IQ and my mom watched me like a HAWK. I am so thankful to her for that! Feel free to let your kids roam all over by themselves, I hope you never have to regret that choice. I just dont know what kind of parent even takes the chance with their most precious little ones. How Serena, "do you teach your child to react when a van pulls up next to them" ??? How does a little girl fight off a grown man or two by herself?? Are YOU kidding ME??Perhaps we should ask Jaycee Dugard, abducted , raped and held captive for 18 YEARS. She was abducted right in front of other kids at the bus stop with a step father watching from just down the road. Now if he had been standing there, IT NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED. But oh yes, crazy me...please.
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9-26-2010 @ 9:26PM
Felicia said...Wow, I do that! I drive my son 1 1/2 blocks to school before I head to school. Maybe, I'll just watch him walk down the street :)
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9-27-2010 @ 11:17AM
Angela said...They don't let kids get dropped off at an empty driveway because if your child is the 1 out of 100 every year that is kidnapped, you will sue the school. Your child is their responsibility since they provide transportation, so they make sure that you, or a responsible adult that you notify the school of, are home to meet the child.
In our district, the only kids that are picked up at their driveways are the ones who live on busy streets with no sidwalks. Again, if your child had to walk to school on a busy street with a speed limit of 45+ miles per hour, and was hit and killed on his/her way to school, you would be suing the school disctrict for not protecting them.
I completely agree that excercise is necessary, which is why I am so glad that our school has gym twice per week, still has recess for all kids, and I let them play after school until I pick them up from the sitter's every afternoon.
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9-27-2010 @ 4:41PM
JenO said...Tell all of this to the poor mom who's little girl was abducted and killed while walking home from school with her siblings. My children are active and very fit and involved. They do not need their safety and innocence jeapordized to experience a full childhood. With all the trash on the internet pedophile crime is actually up. So, my elementary school age children will eaither walk accompanied or be dropped off.
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9-27-2010 @ 5:13PM
Raechele Wilson-Doran said...In Moreno Valley,CA, 30 min. from my house, a girl was abducted and murdered by 3 men who still haven't been caught, while walking home from summer school. In several nearby cities even closer than Moreno Valley, there have been reports of abduction or abduction attempts at least once a week. If that's your idea of safe, then I would hate to see your view of unsafe!
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9-28-2010 @ 11:47AM
Eva said...Lady, where do you live? Have you heard of the term "home invasion"? Did you read the headlines about someone getting thrown out of a party at Seton Hall Univ. and then coming back and gunning down a bunch of college students just this past week? Hello! We don't live in the world of Leave It to Beaver anymore....Exercise is important, but staying alive sure ranks above that!!!
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9-28-2010 @ 3:25PM
MAlleNrOhSLVR said...my brother was allowed to walk to school in high school, we live right behind the football field at his school, he would walk the mile thru the woods, cutting across several other neighbor's properties, to and from work everyday and nothing bad ever happened to him.
I never got to walk to school b/c I went to a different school but I was always allowed to walk from the pool in the summer the mile and a half, maybe 2 miles to the library and back when I got bored of swimming or didn't have anyone to play with and again, before cell phones, and nothing every happened
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9-28-2010 @ 5:12PM
Tomi said...Granted, the "odds" as so many of you have put it, of my child being abducted or injured walking to or from school are relatively low. The odds of getting in a car accident at any given moment are also, relatively low, but my kids wear a seat belt EVERY time we get in the car. Just because the odds of something are relatively low, doesn't mean that we should take unnecessary chances with our childrens LIVES. We aren't talking about wrapping them in bubble wrap here. We're talking about protecting them from the pedophiles, and the careless drivers. I drop my kids off at the corner across the street from their school, and meet them in the same place. This gives them a sense of independence, allows them to learn SOME self discipline by having to get themselves to their classrooms and back to the corner at the end of the day, while also allowing me to make sure they are safe. I also ask them about their days, insist on meeting their friends parents, and stay in close contact with their teachers, does this make me an overprotective parent? If so, label me all you want.
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10-01-2010 @ 9:00PM
Think About It said...Did you ever stop and think that if it's safer today for kids than it was 20-30 years ago,it could be because parents are more vigilant? I found a little boy about 2 years old wondering around Sam's Club the other day.When I found his mother,she had no concerns at all.She didn't even say "Thank you" to me for bringing him safely back to her.It's parents like this that make me sick!
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9-29-2010 @ 5:41PM
Kristi said...I walked to school everyday by myself or with a friend 1st - 5th grade. Although before school in 1st-3rd I went to a friend/neighbor's house to be supervised because both of my parents worked. Our neighbor had children and would drive all 3 of us to school in the morning. The only time my Dad would drive me to school or pick me up was if the weather was really terrible, (ie. if it was pouring rain). Other than that, if it was rainy, I was given an umbrella, wore a raincoat and walked to school. I'd walk home by myself or with a friend. I wasn't like most of today's children, walked to and from school by a parent! As I already mentioned, both of my parents worked so I didn't have that luxury...even if I had a stay at home Mom, she wouldn't have coddled me like that! In 4th Grade my parents deemed me old enough to be home alone for a few hours everyday before and after school. I was given my own house key so I could let myself in after school so yes, I was one of those "latchkey" kids. We had wonderful neighbors that I could call if something would have happened. Before school I'd watch my cartoons until it was time to leave for school and after school, I'd come home, get myself a snack, watch my after school shows until my parents came home so I would have someone to help me with my homework. I do have some learning differences so that's why I would wait because some of the school work wasn't very easy for me (ie. Math).
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9-29-2010 @ 10:30PM
Laura said...Well, I would never allow my children to walk to & from practically anywhere alone... including school... and I have my own opinion about parents who do (as I'm sure they have about me, too). HOWEVER, I do believe this is a family decision & is none of the school's business. If a parent wants their kids to be set free when the bell rings... so be it. If the parent wants the child sitting inside the lobby until said parent arrives, walks into the school, has 6 forms of ID checked, a retina scan, DNA test, secret code words verified, etc.... then that's just fine, too. It's time we take back OUR children & make it known that it's OUR rules that apply to OUR children.... not a one-size-fits-all cookie cutter "safety plan" put in place by a government body. Exiting soapbox now... thanks for reading.
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12-12-2010 @ 8:15AM
Valigator said...Jimmy Ryce was taken from his bus-stop,,
The Journal Gazette
A 14-year-old girl was abducted while walking to her school bus stop Wednesday morning and then raped, Fort Wayne police said Thursday.
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore city police are investigating another rape near a bus stop, the ninth such incident in the city since Oct. 20.
Byline: By BEN ROSSINGTON Crime Reporter
A TEENAGE girl was dragged from a Liverpool streetLiverpool Street and raped.
:
The 16-year-old had been walking home alone in Waver-tree when she was grabbed by a man at a bus stop.
There are pages and pages of examples of these articles, bus stops are like candy for bad guys..until the "system" can determine "who to keep off" our streets? Parent are left to fend for their own, watch your kids, especially at Bus stops..
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1-24-2011 @ 3:18PM
Hanna Smith said...There’s nothing wrong if there are parents who are over protective when it comes to their children. I can relate from others because I am also concerned about my kids’ safety. I'm not taking away their independence it’s just that I want to make sure that they are safe all the time. One way of protecting them is giving them cell phones, so they could contact me when they need help. I also registered their cell phones to a personal safety and protection service which is very useful during emergencies. The service is so easy to use by kids and they can ask immediate help to family, friends and has a quick access to 911 during dangerous situations. These are just a few features that the service will provide. To know more about the service, check this out safekidzone.com
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8-16-2011 @ 11:04AM
Macy said...I agree with many comments here about exercising and letting kids go. However, can someone give me some advice on a problem I encounter daily. I pick my son up from the bus stop. The bus stop is a lot right off an expressway. Everyone except one parent picks up their child as this lot is fairly isolated. It is not in a normal neighborhood, but rather a rural area. One boy, small for his age, in fifth or sixth grade alway has to walk and it is a ways to his home, where no one is home. No one is there to pick him up whether it is raining, lightening, high winds, etc. Last year, I gave him a ride almost everyday but this year I am not able to do that. What is your opinion of this little boy having no way home? Is is abuse, neglect or just plain old fashioned "your on your own" philosophy?
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