to be annoyed at parents driving their kids to school

[griffalo2]

When they live no more than 300 yrds from school gate!

[fuzzpig]

When they live that close, and there's no other reason (disability etc) then no YANBU!

[IroningBoardForSurfBoard]

have you measured the distance then?

[MassagesDeclinedByNetmums]

I know someone who does this. She then drives 300 yards in the other direction to work. The child is morbidly obese (:() and her mum saying how she is going to buy her a wii to help her lose weight...

[fernier]

There is a mother In my daughter class who drives to the school from a house on the same street - it's about a 2 minute walk. I assumed there was a reason but I dont know maybe not!

[TrillianAstra]

Why does it annoy you? Are they harming or inconveniencing you or is it just judgeypants?

[minipie]

YANBU

Trillian in my case, yes it is harming and inconveniencing me - you should see the traffic jams near me round school dropping off time! Not to mention the pollution.

[Malcontentinthemiddle]

If they live that close, no.

[MamBombadil]

YABU - we live about a 10 minute walk from the school - i drop them off in the car on the days i drive onto meet clients. Even on the rare occasions i might have the time to walk there and back again and pick up the car - i may not be presentable if it's been raining or damp or windy etc. - or even too hot.

Maybe i'm being judged for it - but i don't really care. It's mostly only feasible to walk your children to school everyday if you are a SAHM.

Who cares what other folk do?

[AMumInScotland]

Well, if they then immediately drive back to their house and park, I agree it's unnecessary. But I'd guess they are all actually driving on somewhere else - to work, to the shops, to see older family members they support, etc.

[fernier]

I suppose it is normal if you then go somewhere else - the woman who does it here doesn't though because you can actually see her parking further uo the road straight from school I think that is odd.

[griffalo2]

It just really winds me up,they can see the school from their drive ffs.its not just one or two parents either.if it hammering down with rain I could probably understand.
Even parents of yr6 children are doin it.surely they can walk their selves by now?
None seem to have disabilitys,they seem fine any other time.

[AngryFeet]

I live a mile from the DCs school. Yes we could walk it and sometimes do (although at their pace it takes 20 mins) but I work and to walk to school, then back just to pick up my car would be a big waste of time. If I didn't work I would walk every day (except in the pouring rain - bugger that! )

[IroningBoardForSurfBoard]

i still don't get why it bugs other people so much if they drive to school or not.

ok, it's a bit more traffic, so avoid that area for the 10 mins in the morning/afternoon it affects.

[griffalo2]

About five of them I know work at the playschool on school site.surely shopping trips and meeting friends can wait 5 mins.waiting and stopping for lollypop lady probably takes longer.

[MamBombadil]

But nobody knows what goes on in other peoples lives, not really - they may have a hidden disability or have to rush off after working at playschool to visit someone, thus needing the car onsite - or maybe they just don't like the smiling and nodding and hellos they have to do 30 odd times when walking to school and back - either because they're painfully shy or just anti social. Maybe they live near another mum they can't stand and who pops out as they walk past Does it matter?

[griffalo2]

School is on a crossroad,one lollypop lady for four crossing places,can be very dangerous.
One of mums drops her reception child off at gate to go straight to work for 9 am.i can understand that.im not digging at working parents just the bone idle,fat ones showing off their range rover

[MooMooFarm]

Is it really 300 yards? How can it be worth the time it takes to strap the DC in, start the car, park and then get them out again? If you're not exaggerating then YANBU.

[Takver]

YANBU at all. We've just had a letter (which I absolutely support) asking parents not to bring their dogs to pick up/drop off for safety reasons in case a child is bitten. That's really sensible.

Why can't we apply the same common sense to cars? To be fair, our school is in a particularly difficult location (dead end street, no pavements, very narrow, nearly all walking children have to come out of school and cross the road - through the non-stop stream of traffic out of the school gates. Put bluntly, it is an accident waiting to happen, especially given the number of KS1 children on scooters.

I don't object to people bringing their children to school by car if they have to, but why not either

(a) ask them to park in the convenient public carpark 1 minute's walk up the road (not down the dead-end bit), issuing parking permits for the school carpark to staff and anyone with a particular need (not just SN, but eg. parent helpers who bring materials into school)

or (b) close the carpark exit until all walkers are out of the school gate and away (ie, make the drivers wait for 5 mins so that children can leave safely on foot).

(I am thinking of saying this to the governors, btw, but suspect I"ll be viewed as a nutter - unlike whoever asked about the dogs. Not sure if I am brave enough to, esp as my dd is now old enough to be reasonably car-aware.)

[fuzzpig]

DD's school (starts in September) has got a new contract thing about parking, which all parents have to sign. They also have a survey about travel to school. On neither of these is there a space to say "we will never drive" or "we don't have a car"! seems to be assumed that everyone drives, which pisses me off TBH. Its a rich area (we are poor but managed to get cheap rent) so to be fair most families I know drive everywhere. But I actually feel like being petulant and refusing to sign the parking contract as we don't drive! I will sign though as I'm a wimp. Should I gently point out their omission though?

[NeatFreak]

I live fairly close to school, about a ten minute walk. I walk or drive depending on several factors; I often have to drive on to work and/or nursery with ds, I have had operations on my leg recently, meaning some mornings I can't walk very far and sometimes ds is so tired and grumpy he moans and cries until I carry him- which I can't do due to my leg injury. If my leg is Ok, ds is in a good mood and I don't have to drive on somewhere i will walk. So on the face of it I probably look lazy. My point is that most people at school won't be aware of these reasons as they are personal but valid.
FWIW, I always leave early so I can park safely away from where the children cross the road!

[griffalo2]

Im not exaggerating,this is my point im trying to put across.for example woman that lives 2 houses from me (ive got nothing against her)leaves at same time as me but in car and shes coming out through school as im goin in,bout 30 second difference.she doesnt work and shes stood around outside talking till everyone dwinddles off.
It takes me roughly 10 minutes to walk

[MadYoungCatLady]

One thing I will say OP is that sometimes it doesnt appear as though the child has a disability. My DS was born without ligaments in his knees - you wouldn't know it to look at him! He's always on the go! However if he walks too far he will start saying his knees hurt (he's not aware of the problem so its not something he can 'play' on).

However, he still walks to pre-school!

[gallifrey]

I live right near my daughters school, it literally takes 5 mins to walk. There is a woman who lives nearer than me who drives her child to school every day!!
The other day I heard her saying she drops her older daughter off at secondary school then drops the other one off after, which is fair enough I suppose!

[MamBombadil]

But why do you actually care? Is your "fat ones showing off their range rover" comment telling i wonder?