To think if you live within walking distance of a school you should walk!!

[AlphaBeta82]

We live in a small village with a local village school. Most the local children go to this school which is on a rural road. nowhere in the village is more than a 10 min walk from the school, yet still half the parents drive their children to the school, cause huge congestion problems, turn around and drive home! Then have the gaul to complain about the traffic problems around school time. the irony skips them completely that they are the problem and therefore the solution. There is a walking bus scheme etc but these are the parents who just refuse to take part in such things.
Now don't get me wrong I get drivng to school if you live outside the village, have a disability or some circumstance (i.e. dropping off before going to work etc) but driving for no good reason, when you could walk is lazy and causes unnecessary traffic problems and road risks. AIBU?

[ReallyTired]

What is your definition of walking distance. I suppose that some of the parents have to get to work quickly or prehaps there are reasons you don't know about.

Personally I think think that children should walk to school by themselves once they are in juniors provided that they live within a mile of the school.

[WorraLiberty]

YANBU it's the same around here

Obviously some people drive because they're going off to work, but plenty others are just bloody lazy...and as such they've made their kids lazy too.

I took my 10yr old and his friend to McDonalds the other week and when he found out we'd be walking the 20 minute walk, his eyes nearly flew out of his head and he actually said, "I can ask my Mum to drive us if you like?"

[AlphaBeta82]

I suppose our neighbours are a prime example. Mother doesn't work but every day bundles 2 children into the car to drive them to school. It takes me 7 mins to walk to the school. Neighbour then complains constantly how the school need to sort the traffic problem out as she always has to drive to the end of the road to turn round. Just irks me!

[Justforlaughs]

YANBU, when I read the title I thought of several good reasons for driving when you didn't live far away, but you've listed them and excluded them from the equation so YANBU. The only other reason is for those mornings when everything has gone tits up and you've got all of 2 minutes before the bell rings

[2cats2many]

I agree. We live 10mins away from the school and I walk my DD to school in all weathers. We have waterproofs and snow boots and get along just fine all throug the year.

Trying to find a parking space would be more stressful than its worth and its nice to have a strech of the legs before and after school.

[Sirzy]

In general yanbu, of course there will be exceptions but on the whole if it's less than a 20 minute walk each way you should try to walk.

I was shocked when taking my nephew to school when I passed a car leaving for what will be less than a 30 car trip to the school. They were getting home as I walked past on my way home so they werent rushing out somewhere either.

[ChaosTrulyReigns]

But your definition of walking distant will be diffreent to the next parent's.

Why do you get to classify someone as lazy when you can't know the full circs?

In an ideal world, yes, you're right, more people would wlk.

But, it isn't.

[lookingfoxy]

Same where I stay as well, I live 5 mins from the school, people in my street and people who live on the route to the school (so even nearer) drive!! They are not rushing to work afterwards, they just turn around and go home.
It would need to be torrential rain for me to take the car and by the time you walk from the car parking to the school your soaked anyway, so I stopped that as well.

[flowery]

YANBU. I feel bad because although we are only 10 minutes slow walk from the school, when I'm doing the school run we drive, purely because I then have to drop DS2 to nursery which is a drive away and it makes no sense to walk home with him first. I do feel embarrassed and wish I could have a sign round my neck saying 'I'm not lazy I'm on my way to nursery then the office'

[Dillydollydaydream]

It's the same where I live, the rd by the school is majorly congested, cars parking on the grass/pavement in front of residents driveways. Most people live within a 5-10 min walk, it actually takes longer to drive by the time you've battled with traffic and bagged a parking space.
My next door neighbour drives and I get home on foot before she does.

[GrimmaTheNome]

OP, have you told your neighbour that it doesn't take long to walk and is less stressful?

[frootshoots]

We live around a mile away, takes 10-15 minutes for me to walk there at a normal speed, takes around 25 minutes to walk there with DD (3). I drive but we walk unless the weather is really really bad, I have no problem with us wearing our wellies and getting wrapped up to walk there. I'd be the size of a house if I didn't stick to walking short distances whenever I can!

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

I think it's largely habit.

Frankly, if it's less than a mile & a half, I think it's more bloody hassle to get in & out of the car than it is to walk, but many people really don't think about it, they just go in the car.

As the OP said, there are lots of good reasons for people to drive and not all of them will be obvious, so it's not something I 'judge' about unless I know the person, even then, really it's up to them... unless they are bleating on about the traffic etc at which point I'd probably point out the bleedin obvious!

[nokidshere]

I drive to school which is less than 5 mins walk. Soemtimes I have to go on somewhere straight after but sometimes I just come home again. The children I take are too young to walk alone. But I physically cannot manage to walk there and back. I can manage to walk one way - just not both! But I look fit and healthy so who knows what people think of me

[Iggly]

YANBU

This is one reason why we are a fat nation.

It's harder to bundle kids in a car than walk. Our family didnt have a car when growing up so using a car for anything other than among journey or heavy shopping is madness.

[freddiefrog]

It's the same here too.

It takes us 5 minutes to walk to school (we cut through a housing estate) or 20 to drive (road-wise it's quite a distance through windy back lanes). We walk 99.99999% of the time.

I can leave the house, drop the kids off, sort out book bags, find PE kits and be back home in 15 minutes. My fit and healthy SAHM neighbour drives it every day and moans constantly about the hour round trip (parking is a nightmare at school), how bad the traffic is and that there's never anywhere to park.

[AlphaBeta82]

I have suggested it, no avail. Don't get me wrong it is not the biggest crime of the century just one of those little things that annoys me, especially when it is those very same mothers who complain about the problem on a constant basis! I just believe that each person should take individual responsibility in a community. We all know the traffic, congestion and parking is a problem at school time so we should all try to help to solve it. Of course as I said before there are always exceptional circumstances and these are down to individuals etc but often there are not!

[AmberSocks]

YABU

We live within walking distance of a school but my dh drives them in every day,i have 3 children aged 4,3 and 2 and a baby who is a few weeks old so the half a mile from my house to school takes about half an hour with,its like herding cats!

[Longtalljosie]

Actually I was embarrassed this morning because it looked like I did precisely this

My neighbour saw me bundle my two children into the car (a 4WD no less )

My plan was to take DD to preschool, and then go on from there to the nearest town (certainly not walking distance!) to pick up a delivery, go to the post office and from there to Boots to get some other baby stuff.

But after dropping DD, I had a text from the courier company saying an Amazon parcel I'd ordered would be delivered between 0930 and 1030. So I had to come straight home to wait for it.

My neighbour, who had walked to school, was back around the same time as me, putting her buggy away, as I pulled back into the road. I felt like a right twat.

[sparklingwine]

It's easy to say "if you live less than a mile away you should walk" but it can be more complicated than distance- I live 0.7 miles from my kids school- down a very steep hill, up a very steep hill & then down a steep hill. There are no pavements (rural) and all the lanes are narrow. I have walked it with the kids- it takes about 35 minutes due to the hills/ having to squeeze into the hedge every time a stupidly fast driver goes by. My DD (4) would really struggle with exhaustion in the school day if I made her walk. Yes it's possible, and I'm sure that in the summer when she is older/stronger we will walk more often.

It will still be dangerous/ Tiring due to our local roads.

Yes more people should walk, but let's not start making sweeping statements about how far people should walk.

[DesperatelySeekingSedatives]

Well DD (5) and I walk 1.5 miles each way to school. It's doable, we manage it, but at times I wish I could drive so she doesn't have to walk it everyday.

I couldnt give a stuff really how everyone else gets to school. But at the same time if I see the stupid bint in the 4x4 who mounted the kerb and nearly took out my little girl the other day coz she was simply doing so too fast I'll lamp her. The seriously dodgy parking round near the school does get on my tits no end.

[Scholes34]

Can you not buy Buggy Boards any more? I used to walk my DCs to school with DS2 in the pram and DD and DS1 on the board - hopping on and off when they chose to walk instead or we particularly needed to speed things up. Much easier than strapping a load of children into a car.

[GrimmaTheNome]

Too many cars clustering around schools are dangerous too.

Those who can should walk to allow those who can't (which IMO would include sparkling, amber etc) to drive and park without causing problems. The OPs neighbour clearly could since the OP can (I'm assuming the OP knows her well enough that she'd be aware if there was any disability issue). FreddieFrog's neighbour is being simply idiotic.

[SooticaTheWitchesCat]

YANBU it is the same where we are. We walk 99% of the time, the only time I will take the car is if I am driving into work after, which doesn't happen often as I normally walk there too.

It is always chaos in the mornings with people trying to park or just drop their children outside the school. I know some mums are going to work after or have other reasons but many are just too lazy to walk.

[BlueberryHill]

YANBU, given the exemptions and depending on the actual roads that you need to walk along. I walk my DS1 in and take the twins in a pushchair, its about 15 / 20 mins depending on whether we are late on not.

I sometimes take the car if I've been out or need to go somewhere straight from dropping him off / picking him up. When I do I park away from the school, I'd never try to get a space on the road its on, put the twins in the pushchair and go and pick him up. To do so, I have to go along a road that doesn't have a pavement all the way along that I can fit my pushchair down without scraping all the cars so I end up leap frogging down the road when its clear.

I hate some of the parking close to the school especially the twats who park just by the school gate, the zigzag lines have stopped but the PCSO and the school ask people not to park there. To do so, these people park on the pavement and make it very dangerous for children coming out. PCSO puts cones out every so often, it works and then people go straight back to parking there. But hey, they are fine, fuck everyone elses kids. There is no need to park there, parking isn't bad around the school if you are prepared to walk 2 / 3 mins, and I mean only 2 / 3 mins. Its usually the same people.