Why Don't Kids Walk To School Anymore?

[Mugu]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 28, 2008)

Maybe when we were their age, we walked five miles to school, rain or shine. So why don't most children today walk or bike to school?

It's not necessarily because they're spoiled, lazy or over scheduled. According to a University of Michigan researcher, concerns about safety are the main reason that less than 13 percent of U.S. children walked or biked to school in 2004, compared to more than 50 percent who did so in 1969.

"These concerns are strongly linked to the kind of physical environment children navigate between home and school," said Byoung-Suk Kweon, an environmental and landscape architecture researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR).

snip

Using Geographic Information System (GIS) data combined with a survey of 186 parents of 5th through 8th grade students, Kweon found that parents were most concerned about the speed and volume of traffic students would encounter en route to school; the possibility of crime; and the weather.

Complete article at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326161643.htm

[Kutjara]

1. Neurotic overprotective parents who believe everything...

...they see on TV and lack the basic reasoning skills to assess relative risk? Just a guess.

[Breeze54]

3. Yeah, like you'd know. Most kids do walk now, as now they have to pay

for bus service, due to budget cuts and that is putting children at risk.

Well, it's putting the poor kids at risk. :grr:

[Kutjara]

7. Risk of what? A little exercise? There's a reason why...

...childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes are out of control in this country, and it may just have something to do with the fact our kids are brought up like milk-fed veal.

[Firespirit]

10. If kids were the only people who were obese, you might have a point.

However, it's adults, kids, and even pets who are obese, so why don't you check your child-bashing at the door? It's a cultural problem and a problem with the utter CRAP that we put into our digestive tracts.

[Kutjara]

15. Child-bashing? Where'd you get that from?

Parent bashing? Sure. Society bashing? Definitely. Child-bashing? Only in your own head.

It's easy to blame diet alone, but diet is only one part of overall lifestyle. You can eat junk food three times a day, and if you're running it off in the playground or on the ballfield, you won't be overweight. However, if the most exercise you get is from a rigorous text-messaging session, you'll be fat. As for adults being fat, too, well when did they learn their behavior? During childhood. Fat pets? Yes, overfed and underexercised (hint: if the owners aren't getting off their asses, neither will the pets).

The risk of a child being attacked by a predator is relatively small. The risk of a child's life being prematurely shortened by lifestyle-related diseases is large and growing by the day.

[Breeze54]

18. Due to LNCB, many schools have nixed playground time and gym.

There is NO MONEY, thanks to Bush! :grr:

[Kutjara]

22. I'm sure they have. In which case...

...the school authorities share the blame. A large part of it is no doubt due to Shrub-related cutbacks, but another large part is due to schools being terrified of litigation if someone's little angel comes home with a scraped knee. People have posted here on DU about how tag, dodgeball, kickball, and other traditional childhood pastimes are being legislated out of existence. Can't do it at school, can't do it in the park, damned sure can't do it in the street. Better just play Dodgeball 3000 on the Wii, I guess.

Nobody can escape blame for the public health crisis that's looming. It will be huge, and will make a mockery of anything we try to do to create universal healthcare in this country.

[susanna]

99. I find your summary very thought-provoking.

I try very hard not to disrespect parents trying to raise children, as I have none. But I do see what you're saying in this post; scraped knee? Lawsuit. Adversarial games? Bullying. Lawsuit.

The most chilling line in your post is Dodgeball 3000 for the Wii. Shoot, I played some really intense games as a kid - sometimes taking on kids 2, 3 years older than me. IMHO, it's the only time in your life you have that kind of energy, and I think you need to use it. Our culture doesn't anymore.

All in all I agree with your entire post, and I think it's going to get uglier yet. :-(

On edit: apostrophes are not MY friends

[Book Lover]

112. How interesting

You say that incidents of abduction are blown up out of proportion by the media, but you assume the media isn't similarly blowing up stories about school districts being sued for a scraped knee.

And is anyone else amused by the fact that the fella from LA is haranguing people about kids not walking to school? I wonder how close your kids' school is to your home.

[Firespirit]

23. The reason people are obese is because they don't know their limits

Myself, I can eat whatever I want, however much of it I want, and I don't gain weight. My "exercise" is incidental, maybe half an hour of steady walking per week. My BMI is not quite 17. I'm sure I have a metabolic limit, but hell if I know what it is -- I have to struggle to not LOSE weight.

Ultimately, it DOES come down to diet alone. People eat more than they burn, and so they put on weight. In a society where you're at risk of losing your job if you deviate from routine, where your kid can be manacled and arrested for a peashooter, where kids often have no recess and four hours of homework thanks to No Circle (on the test booklet) Left Blank, it's a lot easier to control your diet than to alter your activity levels.

And yeah, when you blame obesity on childhood habits, you are bashing children. Kids didn't magically change. If anything, the root of the problem is corporate culture, where people HAVE no time to exercise because they hold down two jobs or do constant overtime.

[Kutjara]

27. No, I am not bashing children.

Children are not responsible for their actions. The require guidance and education, both from parents and educators. The problem is that too many in both camps have abrogated their responsibilities and left it up to the children to make their own decisions. The results are plain to see. It is not the children's fault, it is the fault of the adults who are responsible for them.

The rest of your argument is precisely the kind of fear-based thinking that is at the root of the problem. Everyone's afraid to step out of line because they'll lose their job. Any kid with a 'peashooter' will be locked up. Predators are hiding in every tree, waiting to gobble up my child. Fear, fear, fear. Yet gym memberships are at record levels, the cases where children are manhandled by police for minor infractions are statistically small, and a lot of companies are starting to realize that a healthy workforce is a happy one, so they're including gym memberships in employee benefits and changing cafeteria menus to include healthier options.

The principle way the Bushes of this world win is by creating and maintaining a state of fear. Believe the hype and you keep them in power.

[Firespirit]

38. I'm glad that you are well enough off that losing a job isn't a big deal

For the rest of us, it's pragmatic risk/reward assessment. The reward for stepping out of line at work may be something like feeling better about oneself, personal honor, what have you. The risk is unemployment, foreclosure, possible marriage failure, and bankruptcy. The reward is not worth the risk for most of us. That's not about "Bush"; it's about pragmatism. Ideals are great and all, but for many people they're not more important than everything else. I can't fault that. They just want to stay afloat.

[Kutjara]

41. Just keep jumping to those unfounded conclusions.

Frankly, you know nothing about me or my employment status. so your comments are utterly irrelevant.

Somehow, I don't see going for a run at lunchtime or playing with the kids in the park on a Saturday is going to cost many people their jobs. But hey, if an artificial climate of all-encompassing fear helps you feel better about the choices you've made, you're welcome to it.

[Breeze54]

42. She wasn't talking about lunchtime...people are talking about getting TO work on time!!

That's the difference. If you can't let your kid walk, due to safety issues and you can't drop them
at school before a certain time (many schools have rules against it) then as a parent you are in a
VERY tight time constraint. Especially if you work for hourly wages, which most people do.

[seabeyond]

45. hadnt even thought about that. want kids safe in school, going off to work

would require more people dropping kids off instead of walking to school. two working parent home would about require a drop off. make it easy for a kid to cut or worse, i would be worried until i knew the kid was in school

[Breeze54]

49. Yeah, I worried about that too and I actually took time off when

he was in 7th grade (end of) and 8th, to make sure no shenanigans were going on.
But I didn't drop him off when he could walk to school and in high school, I knew
if he left on the bus, he had no way to skip school or come back home after I left. ;)
He was worse when he was in junior high than in high school!. Go figure! :P

[seabeyond]

51. be worried until i knew the kid was in school... damn that neurotic overprotective

parent. poster was right. then again i am thinking elementary k-4th. meaning 5-10.

and ya... once in middle school, you think i would rust the kid. not a chance. i did lots of cutting, lol.

[Breeze54]

53. LOL! They get devious in junior high, for sure!

I cut most in 10th and 1th grades. ;)

I was a bad girl! :P

But all kids do it, at some point but I was actually worried about his "friends".

They weren't "his friends" at all. They were users. :grr: I put a stop to that! ;)

[Firespirit]

43. I don't know where you're living right now

but actually, going for a run COULD cause problems. You come back to the office sweaty and disheveled, and you think that won't be an issue to anyone? Maybe in some offices... lucky employees if true.

And going to the park on Saturday... yeah... everyone has Saturday free, no holding down a second job to keep from losing the house, no sir.

You are ignoring a FACT, and that is that people don't exercise because they do not have the time. The middle class is being destroyed, and people are working nonstop to stay above ground.

It's not an artificial climate of fear. It's reality.

[Kutjara]

55. Well, around these parts, most of the downtrodden masses...

...seem to be delivering their kids in Land Rovers, Lexuses, MBs, and Beemers, so I don't imagine many of them are hourly workers. Yet the same dynamic exists. Regardless of demographic, people are increasingly cosseting their kids. To the long-term detriment of the children.

[treestar]

101. If your current job is your only option for survival, that would be true

You're simply limiting yourself to that means of support by choice.

[Breeze54]

40. Bush = Fear in some psyche's BUT

"The problem is that too many in both camps have abrogated their responsibilities
and left it up to the children to make their own decisions."

I think representatives have given up, thrown their collective hands in the air.
Child safety isn't a 'high' priority' to them and also they don't know how to solve it.

I don't blame all of the parents at all and never the kids.

I think you seem to believe the hype YOU heard on TV and are now applying it as FACT; BUT parents
are replying in this thread telling you the problems they have with their kids walking and the hurdles
they encounter but YOU keep going back to the Right Wing FEAR MEME!! LISTEN to the parents here!!

I don't think anyone of US are lying!!

[Kutjara]

46. The posts here are from a handful of self-selected people with a specific interest in the topic.

It's hardly representative of public opinion as a whole (on either side). Sure, there are cases where it makes perfect sense to drive the kids to school, just like it makes perfect sense to drive to the corner store when it's raining. But I live in a place where inclement weather is rarely a factor, where there are four schools within walking distance, and where I still see the majority of local parents driving their kids. I'm sure that my community isn't the only one in America that's doing this.

For every parent who has a rational reason for protecting their children, I'm willing to bet there's another one who is operating out of...well let's just say motives that do not best represent the welfare of the child.

As a point of comparison, the same phenomenon exists throughout the Western world. When I lived in London, the roads were brought to a daily standstill by parents driving children to school. And this in a city with arguably the best public transportation system in the world. Unsurprisingly, childhood obesity and its related diseases are on the increase there, too (at almost the rate we're seeing here).

[seabeyond]

47. but neurotic overprotective parent is a good blanket statement for the reason.

i dont think so

[Firespirit]

50. You were the first one to respond

and immediately went negative, saying "neurotic overprotective parents." You've said kids don't walk because their parents are MENTALLY ILL and consumed with fear, which feeds the Bush agenda.

What's YOUR specific interest in the topic? Clearly you have one. Why is it so dear to you that you immediately leap into a thread and attack people with your broad brush?

[Breeze54]

52. You're talking apples and oranges. Most of us, in this thread,

are talking about child safety. You are talking about childhood obesity.

Have you bothered to ask any of the parents in this thread if their kids are overweight? :shrug:

I will be the first to tell you that none of my three sons are over weight.

They all wore size - slim all through grammar school and they are all very healthy,
very tall and very slim or well built/tall/muscular now, as young adults. They aren't fat at all.

[Kutjara]

56. I'm talking about relative risk.

Specifically, people's ability to assess it correctly. The risks of a sedentary lifestyle vastly outweigh the dangers children face pursuing a more active lifestyle (and that includes walking to school). The reason a child being hit by a car or abducted by a predator makes it onto the news is because it is NEWS. It is a relatively rare occurrence, and therefore newsworthy. The fact that our whole nation is unfit doesn't get reported in the headlines is because it isn't news.

[Breeze54]

58. You are excluding that many parents live in high risk area's... (in this thread)

I don't think a kid being run over is rare at all! We've had parents and kids killed in my town
and neighboring towns just for walking or riding bikes on a Sunday morning, let alone, on a Monday!
One father had his child in tow ON THE SIDEWALK in one of those tandem bike hitches and a truck drove
up on the 'non-existent' side walk and killed them both!!

[Breeze54]

12. Of getting RUN OVER BY YOU!

Give me a break. I see many kids walking to school, in my area.

But little kids walking on the street when it's still dark outside (daylight savings) is RISKY!!!

It has nothing to do with being spoiled but does have a lot to do with the economy.

[Kutjara]

21. Excuse me? I've never run over anyone in my life...

...so spare me the hysterics. In school zones, particularly, I drive below the speed limit and actually choose my route to work to avoid the two schools I would otherwise pass (both to reduce the traffic hazard to the kids and to avoid the colossal SUVs that clog the roads in every direction while they each drop one little pampered prince or princess off).

Sure there are traffic hazards, in some areas. There are also situations where it's simply too far for a child to walk. But there are a lot of places where it's perfectly safe to walk to school (like my neighborhood), yet I still see parents driving through what would otherwise be quiet suburban streets, taking children to schools that are (in a few instances I've directly witnessed) actually visible from their homes.

And how much of all that dangerous traffic is caused by other parents, I wonder?

[Breeze54]

30. Pampered or protected?

:shrug:

I hate SUV's too and have never owned one and won't but if one was stupid enough to buy one, you can't unload it now and to pay the exorbitant bus fee's might mean you can't afford your car payment now, so the parents drive them to school instead. I'm not saying I agree with their choices but Bush DID offer a huge tax break to people who bought SUV's, remember? Yup, they were dumb and grabbed for the gold ring but they're getting screwed up the *ss now, aren't they?

[seabeyond]

13. post # 9 or overprotective..... n/t

[HughMoran]

103. This tics you off a little huh?

I think my kids are just lazy since they could walk to their middle school easily (the other schools were many miles away and not an alternative here in the cold and snow of NE.)

[Breeze54]

2. I'd say safety and liability are the reasons.

My town didn't have sidewalks on one side of the main drag, until 2 years ago and they didn't have
a sidewalk plow, which caused kids to have to walk in the street at rush hour. Not a safe situation.
But my youngest kid did walk to school from 3rd - 8th grade and then was bussed, as his high school
was 7 miles out of town. My oldest kids ALWAYS walked to school. We lived within walking distance.

[TahitiNut]

69. I think it's because of the cell phone users ...

...driving SUVs 5mph over the limit while breast-feeding on their way to Olive Garden to have a cigarette.

:smoke:

[Breeze54]

72. You forgot eating bonbons while driving.

:P

LMAO!

[seabeyond]

80. lol lol.... n/t

[HughBeaumont]

4. Predators more than anything.

I remember when I was a kid I used to pedal my bike up to the park or the store and never even gave a second thought about being snatched and assaulted/murdered. I look back on that and think that most likely I wouldn't even be able to do the same thing today. My kid doesn't go anywhere without me knowing where he is. I see myself as caring, not overprotective. You don't think it's going to happen to your kid until it happens to your kid. And it happens in supposedly safe hamlets like ours just as much as it does crime-ridden areas.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

14. When I walked home from school in the 70s and 80s, grown men regularly harassed me.

And I'm talking starting in 4th grade. Predators are nothing new.

[Lorien]

32. Yep. I walked to the bus stop ( about 1.5 miles) every day from

about 1974-1983 and got harassed frequently-often by guys in their 40s. There are more people in America now, but I think the percentage of predators is about the same.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

48. They're probably a bit less brazen now, with all the focus on it the past 20 years.

Back when we were growing up it was a dirty little secret that there were creepy men who liked to touch kids.

[alarimer]

31. An overblown threat

Made much of in the media of course but kids are more likely to be injured by people they know, as are all of us. Statistically speaking of course.

[malaise]

39. It's that simple n/t

[napi21]

5. My kids didn't walki or bike to achool because the township had

consolidated the small schools into large ones that were way too far for a daily walk! The grade school was 13 miles away and the HS was 17 mi away.

There was a Catholic school less than 1 mile from us, but the tuition was $5,000 oer child per year, and our total household income was $18,000. I just couldn't afford THAT!

[goddess40]

6. No sidewalks and nasty drivers

I never wanted my kids walking in the road with drivers whizzing by at 40-50 MPH (in a 25 zone), especially in the winter when they can't even get up on peoples lawns. I tried to have them walk on the lawns but all it took was one person to gripe and that was the end of that.

A few years ago the city wanted to put in a sidewalk on a hilly portion of road, that serves the high school and middle school which is about 1300 students, and the neighborhood shot it down. Part of the road is very steep and comes to a T, with a stop sign, sometimes it's almost impossible to keep from sliding through it in the winter. I'm terrified some kid will get run over there and I wonder if the neighbors that fought the sidewalks will have some of the liability.

[Firespirit]

8. Who lives close enough to school to walk to it?

:shrug:

Maybe in cities.... But I had a 30-minute ride to school on the bus, and some kids had a 50-minute ride. Rural area, yes, but school consolidation means that kids HAVE to ride.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

19. Consolidation has led to ONE high school in a county leading to in excess of an hour,...

,...bus ride each way. It sucks!!!

[Breeze54]

34. Most towns around me have schools in walking distance.

But I live in New England. That's the way it is here but not for all.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

66. My sister lives in a similar area. Honest to God, she's scared to let her kids,...

,...play beyond their backyard, privacy fence.

I can't imagine living like that. Then, again, they live in the D.C. area. :shrug: Hell, I've lived in metro areas and not felt that scared. But, she is sincerely afraid 24/7!

[seabeyond]

76. i live in nice neighborhood, park across from us. apartment building houses

3 pedophile, one up street and hottest area of pedophiles is the neighborhood across the main street up the block. per the registry

i understand

i am just now letting kids run neighborhood without me and they are 12 and 10. for 10 yr old, brother has to stick with him. friend has two boys about same age and she is same way.

doesnt help i live at bottom of a hill so cars come down fast, BOTH ways. lol.

[seabeyond]

9. about three miles, no sidewalks, snows and has been 30 and below and heavy traffic

and would have to cross a major street with inadaquit crossings, kids are little and dark in the morning, drivers cant see them and drivers seem to have issue having to be bothered by pedestrians and bicyclers anymore.....

otherwise i would

[Breeze54]

17. Exactly! My teen son was at risk

EVERY morning trying to cross the street to the HS bus stop and even though it's a law to stop for pedestrians in my state, drivers would actually SPEED UP instead of stopping to let him cross. Many days the bus sat and waited for the traffic to stop, so he could
run across the street to catch the bus, while my heart was in my throat. :grr: It was like a game of Frogger every morning!

[seabeyond]

26. yes... what is that. here they dont stop at crosswalks. i thought it law.

i would stop on the few crosswalks we have in texas and all the other cars would go around me. i am from calif. suppose to stop. finally i asked a cop, arent you supose to stop on cross walks and let the people cross. no she said, gotta stop if they are IN the crosswalks

what.... not allowed to hit them IN the crosswalk, well fuck

ya.... i hear you

[Breeze54]

36. There's an old joke about MA drivers... it goes like this...

:P

If the light is red, it means Speed Up!!

If the light is Green, it means Stop and Wait!!!

If the light is yellow? Do whatever the f**k you want!!

Of course, that is said with dripping :sarcasm: ;)

People don't give a shit and there aren't enough cops to police all

the traffic violations... DUE TO BUDGET CUTS AND TAX BREAKS BY BUSH!!!! :grr:

[walldude]

11. They do...

it just depends on the school... try driving in my neighborhood at 3pm. Kids everywhere...

[lpbk2713]

16. Many rethuglican sex offeneders haven't been caught yet.

There are more on the loose than there are in the pokey. :eyes:

So let's be careful out there.




Link: http://www.republicansexoffenders.com/

[juno jones]

20. I'm happy my son has public transit to take him to school.

[gollygee]

24. In the district where I grew up, it would be partially because of desegregation

in 1969, most kids where I grew up went to neighborhood schools, but starting in 1971, the majority of kids traveled a fair distance. There's a greater value to desegregation than to walking. I wish they'd used a more recent year than 1969 for the comparison. I'm sure more walk than did in, say, 1979 (which would be a better year to compare), and I'd like to see numbers that account only for the concerns in the article rather than those concerns plus desegregation.

My daughter rides the bus and we're easily close enough to walk, but there's no sidewalk on the main street, and it's a very busy street. Plus, parents are definitely paranoid. I know a mom who walks with her 12-year-old to the bus stop only one block away because she's afraid to leave her at the bus stop - not alone but with other kids. I walked several blocks to my bus stop and waited with other kids at a much much younger age than that. I really think it's safe for a group of kids to hang out for a few minutes waiting for the bus without adults watching.

[Breeze54]

74. lol...trust me...the parents are watching... from a distance but they're watching.

;)

(I was!) :P

[OwnedByFerrets]

25. The kids in my neighborhood do walk to school......

and I just this school year have stopped and chided them for walking down the middle of the road. They seem to either have no sense of danger (likely) or a overly large sense of entitlement.

[seabeyond]

28. ya, well kids in school neighborhood, i have to about get out the car and walk them across

cause NO ONE lets them cross the street and they are afraid to cross. it is SAD

[Breeze54]

37. Kids have NO sense of danger! PERIOD. End of story. n/t

[OwnedByFerrets]

78. But, when I was their age,......

I had sense enough NOT to walk down the middle of a street....and so did the others my age.

[Breeze54]

79. But you're exceptional Mensa meat? Maybe?

:P

[OwnedByFerrets]

85. LOLOL

ty

[blues90]

29. Many reasons

I used to walk or bike no more than a mile one way but this was in the 50's . We moved a lot . We had school bus service when schools were to far to walk or bike to . This was also in the 50's and no later than 1966 when I was out of high school .

I see some walk here and some drooped off and others driving to high school that is near me and many still do walk to middle schools if they are close or they take the city buses .

I don't have kids but this is what i do see .

[El Pinko]

33. Another reason is "school choice"

When we lived in San Francisco, you could pick any school in the district, so of course, most people tried to get into the high-performing schools.

You would apply for your 3 favorites and if you were lucky you got the top one. We applied first for a high-performing Japanese bilingual school (my kids are half Japanese), then a couple nice schools right in the neighborhood.

They ended up getting into the bilingual school (which was very hard to do) and it would have taken an hour or more to walk to, so we drove them.

A lot of people who live in rougher neighborhoods also pick the distant "better" schools for safety/crime/academic reasons. They have to drive them or let them take a city bus (it's unusual if the city's bare-bones school bus system will work for most people.)

[seabeyond]

35. we are out of district too.... why i have to drive. BUT i make elementary school son walk across

park to middle school and meet up with us for a pick up.... lol wink

[cynatnite]

44. And the number one answer to such an idiotic question...

[Breeze54]

57. Sorry, cynatnite, but your response assumes the OP is right. The OP is wrong.

Bus service costs big $$ now. Parents have to PAY to use school buses, so instead
they drive their kids, if it's to far to walk. That's the way it is now unless they live
near the school or are afraid the kid will skip. Many reasons cause parents to drive them
to school. Read all the reasons above. ;)

[cynatnite]

59. I wasn't discounting the other reasons...

buses became available and parents saw no reason to make their kids walk five miles to school.

I thought it was a stupid study and a waste of time. I couldn't see the benefit of doing it.

Bus service is still far better than the alternatives, IMO.

:)

[Breeze54]

62. I agree but it costs $280.00 last time i checked for my local schools.

and it very well is a lot more now, with rising gas prices. ]

That's a lot more $$ than I could have ever afforded, ya know?

I suspect many parents feel the same way too and you can't make

payments either, as the bus companies are independent. It sucks. :(

[cynatnite]

63. Totally agree n/t

[pitohui]

54. because you can be prosecuted for child neglect if you are not walking with the child

if you remember back in the day, i walked to school by myself or with other kids -- and i'm talking about FIRST grade

today a parent who allowed this -- and ALL of the parents in our neighborhood back then allowed it -- but today's parent would be jailed for child neglect

the law has changed and what parents can allow their children to do has changed with it


also mothers today have to work, double incomes are required, they don't have the luxury of WALKING around at a child's pace, they have to drive the child in and get on with things or lose their job

[cynatnite]

61. My 9 year old walks to and from the bus stop by himself...

It's five blocks away. On those days the weather is bad, I'll take him or pick him up...unless one of my neighbors offers.

I've never heard of a parent being charged for neglect or abuse for not walking with their kid to and from a bus stop. Got evidence for that?

[pitohui]

65. yes i know someone it happened to

well to be precise, the sheriff's office did not follow thru on the prosecution but it's because she had to stop allowing the child, a 5th grader, walk alone

this was in jefferson parish, louisiana, and there's probably a decent chance that a kid that age walking alone would be offered drugs at the least, for that matter, walking alone in that area as a full grown adult i encountered some hassles

your mileage may vary but their crack is not our pot, and letting your child walk to a bus stop virtually in front of your home is not the same as walking a mile or more all the way over to the school

i think we all agree that kids today are not walking, 5 blocks is not walking to the school, presumably you can glance out the window and still see your child at the bus stop!

and if you can't, yeah, you're certainly at risk of being charged with child neglect here if anything ever did happen to your kid -- and nobody on the jury would sympathize with you, it would be "don't they watch the news? don't they understand that a predator can have your kid in a minute? or a drug dealer can sell to your child in a minute?"

[cynatnite]

70. Good points...

I hadn't considered a lot of this. We live in a pretty good neighborhood and we've known our neighbors for years. Everyone keeps an eye on everything around here.

[stray cat]

60. Roads without sidewalks are an extreme hazard for walkers

Even as a kid walking on the sidewalk a car lost control and would have hit me if I hadn't been able to run up some steps for an adjacent building while the car crashed into the steps. I've had some scares driving when people in dark clothes were walking in the street at night.

[liskddksil]

64. The sprawl model of development that has been adopted

over the last 50 years, has placed many schools at too great a distance from residential areas. In addition, wide roads, designed exclusively for the automobile, are not pedestrian friendly in terms of crossing. Thus many of them do not even have sidewalks.

[LWolf]

67. Some of my students walk to school:

those within a reasonable walking distance in wintry weather. It's a tiny little rural community, though, and most don't live within a reasonable walking distance.

There is also a major highway half a block down the road that has no stop signs or stop lights, cutting a large portion of the student body that lives "in town" off for safety reasons.

There is a flashing yellow light on the highway before and after school, but no crosswalk and no crossing guard.

Some of the older students do walk across the highway; most don't.

[Breeze54]

68. I have 'chills' just picturing it... yikes!

That would be my worst nightmare, if my kids were still school age. :scared:

[LWolf]

75. That's why most of them don't walk.

On "our" side of the highway, there is a small, quiet neighborhood. No sidewalks; not all the roads are paved. But people drive slowly, and kids walk.

It's the same on the other side of the highway, but most kids from that side ride the bus; bus service is offered to all no matter how close they are. Those that walk COULD take the bus.

The majority of our students come from 10 - 20 miles of farms, ranches, and open land away.

[Breeze54]

77. Makes sense to me! We live in a small farm town but heavy traffic now,

since they widened the road and installed sidewalks and now

all the cars go 40 - 55 mph in our 30 mph zone. :(

It used to scare the sh*t out of me waiting to see that my

son got across the road to the bus stop.

People suck while behind the wheel. :grr: They don't care.

[LWolf]

100. There is a certain mentality behind the wheel

that separates the driver from the community.

When I lived in southern CA, it was a normal part of everyday life. When you can negotiate the L.A. freeway system without caution, you're not fit for the quieter roads of the nation without some re-training.

I moved out of CA several years ago, and immediately enjoyed the slower pace of life. The maximum speeds on most of our roads are 45mph. A big difference from the 70 - 80 that is business as usual in so cal, as long as traffic allows.

I can tell the recent CA transplants; they drive like they're still in CA. Meanwhile, I avoid the highway and take back roads to work; 4 stop signs. I drive a leisurely 35 mph the whole way there, and don't mind it a bit. It's a pleasant, stress-free drive, and the few extra minutes I could gain by racing past the ranches just isn't worth it.

There is heavy traffic out on the highway near school. Just like L.A. when I was growing up, the area is growing, and more people are moving further and further away from town to keep their rural lifestyle, and find affordable housing. That makes for longer commutes and more traffic.

[Kat45]

71. I live across the street from an elementary school and it seems that everyone drives their kids

Good luck to me if I have to go out around the time school lets out. The cars start coming about a half hour earlier because parents want to park as close to the school as possible. When the kids are let out, they all walk to the school to get them; sometimes parents will chat with each other for a while. It's not uncommon for someone to park right in front of my driveway, thereby blocking it such that I can't get my car out if I happen to have to go out then. There have been times I've had to go across to the schoolyard to try to locate the parent who is blocking my driveway. There have even been times that people have had the nerve to park IN my driveway.

There are sidewalks with curbs and crossing guards at every corner. Some kids may live too far away (or be too young) to walk to school, but I would think some live close enough and are old enough. I've seen very few kids actually walking. Shit, the parents want to park as close as possible to the school, which means most kids aren't even walking a block to the car.

[psychmommy]

73. perverts that snatch kids while they walk home from school.

it almost happened to me when i was a teen. i will do my best to protect my kid from such a tragedy.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

81. Perverts are nothing new

My mother was almost abducted in the 1930s, and by sheer luck, her father came down the street with the family dog at just the right moment, which spooked the would-be abductor and prompted him to speed off.

Nevertheless, we all walked to school through most of grade school, at least until we moved to a suburb that made walking difficult. Even so, we were within walking distance of the junior and senior high schools.

[seabeyond]

82. internet where it shows where they live is new.

makes it real hard to send little ones out to play without supervision when you know there are three that direction, one up the street and a neigborhood full half a mile away and live on a major thru way.

kinda like swimming in a lake and not seeing what is under there and having the murk clear away.

on edit though: i do agree and would tell myself that when i first started letting them go out and explore neighborhood by themselves.

[LeftyMom]

84. Somebody picked me up and threw me in the back of their truck in the Gemco parking lot

back when I was a kid- three or four. I was cute kid- small for my age- probably looked like a great target.

They didn't realize my Dad (a big biker guy, who worked out a lot back then) was a few steps behind me- I think there was a van blocking their view.

They found out. :rofl:

Thank goodness he was there. :scared:

That would have been '84 or '85, just before people really started flipping out about that kind of thing.

[Breeze54]

86. Damn....

and to think my Dad actually let me go out for ice cream ALONE at age 12 with
a guy he met on a boat! Hell; he had a Corvette!! What's to worry about?!? :sarcasm:

:hug:

[LeftyMom]

90. Eh. I was really little- I barely remember it.

It wasn't a big family drama or anything- my Dad didn't want to scare my Mom (she's rather excitable, and was pregnant with my sister, so I guess I would have been 3 1/2) so he promised me a trip for ice cream if I didn't tell her.

I think I was sixteen before she found out.

[Breeze54]

93. I know....

I was really little too.

:hug:

Strange things happen in our lives sometimes and we're to young to realize how strange they are.

[madmusic]

113. That's some scary stuff!

I would have thought it far, far more likely that someone was afraid you would get hit by a car, but your dad evidently read it right. Nowadays some people would be afraid to help a lost child in a parking lot.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

116. One day, when I was in JHS, walking to school, a man in a car stopped me and asked me if I ever

thought of modeling? I laughed at him, knowing full well what he was up to (especially since I was a size 13 % 5'4" at the time) and I walked on.

[LibDemAlways]

83. My kid has never walked to school mostly because I'm

concerned about her safety. People drive like maniacs, even on quiet residential streets, and I've almost been mowed down numerous times trying to cross the streets she would have needed to cross to get to the elementary school. The middle and high schools are too far to walk. There is no public transportation and no school bus. So, since my daughter is my responsibility, I take it upon myself to drive her to school and to pick her up in the afternoon.

[seabeyond]

87. back in the old days they had crosswalks AND cars STOPPED

at the cross walks and let people cross.

i dont get it.

[Breeze54]

88. DING! DING! DING! We have a winner here!

Well said and total common sense and reasoning. ;)

I don't blame you one bit for protecting your child.

I think that's what parents are supposed to be doing.

Thank You! :D

[seabeyond]

89. you know the funny. it is just as likely all us parents will get ass chewed out for NOT parenting

our kids and protecting them and being responsible for them here on good ole du.... by all those that have yet to expereince the joy of parenting.

[Breeze54]

92. I know! We can't win.! EVER!!

We're damned if we do and we're damned if we don't!

It totally sucks, doesn't it? :(

:hug:

[seabeyond]

94. between you and i

doesnt bother me at all, just like i am sure not you either. the thing about parenting, you know when you are doing it and there is no place to apologize. maybe that is from having kids. we learn to not take the I HATE YOU.... personally. jut keep doing our job

[Breeze54]

95. Yup...because... "This to shall pass...."

;)

It's just a waiting game.

That's all and it takes a lot of patience. ;)

:hug:

[LibDemAlways]

105. My daughter thinks I'm overprotective, and that's just fine

with me. It actually upsets me when I see small children on their way to school trying to cross busy streets alone. They are so vulnerable. One man, for whatever reason, actually passes by the elementary school every morning with his little girl - who has to be all of 6 - and lets her off four blocks away - with three streets to cross. I watch this routine every day. I suppose he's trying to teach her to be independent, but I think he's nuts. There is no such thing as "too safe" when it comes to kids.

[RB TexLa]

91. I see many of them walking to school in my neighborhood every day

I assume they are walking to school, could be going somewhere to sell drugs for all I know.

[K8-EEE]

96. Five miles in Los Angeles, that's not always walkable

My daughter's high school is five miles away, but it's not reachable by walking -- freeways, etc. She can take the subway and yes I drop her off there, sue me! She would have to walk by some super-creepy allies, bars that open at 6 a.m. and stuff by herself in her uniform very early in the morning when it's still dark so if it makes me "overprotective" then so be it.

My younger daughter's school is a mile away and we walk quite often, depending on my schedule.

I'm really pissed off at all the "overprotective parents" posts on this thread! Everyone does what makes sense for them. I agree that if communities were more "pedestrian friendly" people would walk more.

[seabeyond]

97. anymore? thinking. first, second school bus. 3rd school walked. 4th school bus

high school parents took us until old enough to drive ourselves or friends. the ONE school i went to for two years that i walked to was in the IMMEDIATE neighborhood that i lived in, no major streets and half a mile away. all other school parents drove OR a bus was provided.

that was THREE decades ago

so i call this bullshit about why dont kids walk ANYMORE> like we did before.

[Ms. Toad]

98. Why doesn't my daughter bike to school?

The school prohibits it.

As far as walking home, until she got her driver's license she often walked the 1+ mile home. She wanted to do things after school - no one home to pick her up mid afternoon - not much choice.

[taterguy]

102. Why does the school prohibit biking to school?

It wasn't done very often when I was in high school but there were no rules against it.

Sigh.

[proud2BlibKansan]

107. Probably a liability issue

Schools can and have been sued and held accountable for accidents involving kids on their way to and from school. Courts have repeatedly said schools are liable for whatever happens from the moment the children leave their house until they arrive at school.

I am not saying I agree, just stating the reality. Yes, I think it sucks.

[Ms. Toad]

111. I have never gotten a satisfactory answer.

My daughter was told that they were concerned that it might be stolen (but they allow/require kids to bring equally costly things - like $100 calculators), and safety concerns were mentioned once when I raised the issue (but they allow kids to walk on to school using the same roads without sidewalks).

[taterguy]

114. Maybe you should point out a bike ban is bad for college prep

When I was in college bikes were the preferred mode of transportation due to lack of parking places.

Please tell me that hasn't changed too.

I suspect a school administrator once fell off a bike, or has some equally stupid reason for banning them.

If I were you I'd demand that all Lance Armstrong books be removed from the school library, since they promote banned behavior. That probably won't change the policy but at least you could make a point.

[knitter4democracy]

104. I walk with my kids in good weather.

There aren't sidewalks here, so we have to walk in the street most of the time with crazy people cutting us too closely.

As for safety from strangers, we've worked out which neighbors we know and where to go that's safe in case anyone's bothering them. Of course, since they know one of the families on the way home, they like to stop there for cookies and tv and cuddles from the older couple, so then I have to track them down.

Most of the time, lately, it's just been too cold and dangerous walking conditions for my two asthmatics.

[proud2BlibKansan]

106. About 5 years ago, our district went back to neighborhood schools

and about half of our kids who had been riding a bus to school were going to have to walk. So the parents and staff at our school plus some community members walked the streets in our school neighborhood looking for hazards, etc.

We found two swimming pools that were not surrounded by fencing or any other security to keep kids out.

We found numerous cracked sidewalks that were impassable.

We found abandoned houses that were not boarded up.

We found too many dogs not on leashes or fenced in.

One of the adults tripped over a limb laying on the sidewalk and broke her arm.

We counted numerous cars that rolled or drove through stop signs without stopping, especially right in front of our school, where the intersection was clearly marked as a school crossing.

We notified the city about the hazards on the sidewalk, we called the police about the cars ignoring traffic signs and we asked neighbors to clean the hazards from in front of their property.

The city did nothing, the police never came to patrol the neighborhood and the hazards remained. We also found out there was no law requiring swimming pools to be behind fences.

This is just one more example of communities refusing to come to the aid of children and refusing to support local schools.

[Bettie]

108. My kids will walk to school

The oldest will be entering second grade next year and he'll walk to school. Right now, the school he and his younger brother attend is across busy railroad tracks and a very busy road, so I don't let them walk there.

Of course, we live in a small town in Iowa and I feel safe letting them walk.

If I lived in a larger city, I don't know that I would feel safe with traffic and less than adequate sidewalks.

[kenny blankenship]

109. Suburban sprawl also usually means school is farther away

than in the good ol' days. Walking to school would add HOURS to the school day. That would leave no time for television or Xbox!

Not to mention the high likelihood of no provisions for foot traffic along the route.

[SoCalDem]

110. In my hometown (Kansas small town)

we had small neighborhood schools (elementary k-6) in ALL neighborhoods.

The farthest any kid had to walk, was maybe 6 blocks.. All along the way, kids met up with other kids, and the walk to school was more of an informal daily "parade"..

The difference?

Most neighborhoods had stay-at-home Moms who watched out for the kids as the parade wound its way though the blocks.. any altercations were met by an angry mom in a robe, who probably knew the kids, and were not shy about picking up the phone and calling his/her Mom.

People driving along the streets were probably locals, and watched out for the kids..we never even had crossing guards..

Neighborhoods had wide sidewalks (ours were brick..tells you how old the neighborhood was)

The older kids watched out for the younger ones, and no one hesitated about letting a 5 yr old walk to school..

When it snowed A LOT, some Moms would drive the kids to school, but usually kids walked to school rain or snow..

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

115. My sons' elementary school was over a mile away and the roads have no sidewalks and

are twisty and turny. Their middle and high schools about 4 miles away and the same walking conditions. Totally unsafe.

I on the other hand, first went to school in Long Island, NY. There were sidewalks and the school was less than a mile. When we moved to Queens, a borough of NYC, I first had to take a bus to a school 3 miles away, until they built a new one where I lived. Then I had to take a bus to a JHS in Brooklyn (special program) that was 5 miles away.

When we moved from that location in the city, both my Junior High School and High School were in easy, safe walking distance.

[Hippo_Tron]

117. Speaking from personal experience...

I would've biked to school but the amount of books I had to haul back and forth was simply too heavy.

One of the things I like most about college is being able to walk everywhere.