walking to school

It’s four miles to DD’s school. I take her every morning as I don’t want her on the bus. On an evening she walks halfway home and I pick her up from there. I think anything up to an hour is reasonable on a regular basis. Plus it’s enjoyable walking with friends.

I remember you had to live over a mile to cycle to school when I was young. That school is no longer a school and the cathment one is 2 or 3 miles from my hoome. I think a lot of kids walk.

Although high school kids are CAPABLE of walking a couple of miles carrying school bags in peeing rain, snow etc, I personally wouldn't want to DO it. It's pretty miserabl
Yup!

DS12 I drive to and from school as it would probably take an hour or more to walk.
DS10 walks to school. (10 mins but no roads to cross). Obviously it totally depends on roads/area etc but I wouldn't be happy with them walking more than 20 mins in a not-dodgy area.

My DD’s school is 2 miles from our home. She walks home every day and gets a lift to school about 50% of the time, depending on where I am working that day. This is regardless of weather or what lessons she has that day (she does GCSE Art and Music so often has a portfolio or instrument to carry) She does have lace up shoes and wears a coat when needed (usually!) but I honestly think this is not in any way unreasonable! It is all urban so pavements and lighting all the way and we live in a small(ish) city.

3.2 miles my dd new school. She starts in sept. No chance will she be walking as it isnt a nice walk or simple. However there is a school bus. I'll take her daily and school bus home

My DD walks 1.5 miles to school. I think it's the perfect distance actually, what with the Covid timetable & closure of extra curricular activities, she wouldn't get much physical exercise without her 3 miles of school commuting each day.

Most students at DC's school live within 3 miles and the majority walk or cycle.

I do however wonder if there is a link this year with "unhappy with DC walking" and Covid. The number of Year 7 parents that are driving their children to and from school is substantially higher than in other years. And I can't imagine that they live in a significantly different range of places to any other students.

3miles or cycle

It’s quite sad (and a bit nuts) that school appeal panelists think it’s normal for a child to walk just under an hour to school every day back and forth in all weathers carrying backpacks etc. Maybe they should try doing that commute themselves before inflicting it on a child

I think time rather than distance. Also, I would not be happy with my teens (or younger) walking on dark roads loaded down with heavy bookbag and sports kit in winter in a school uniform. Plus with the amount of homework any more than half an hour and it would be: 'I know you've just spent 8 hours at school then long walk home but get your books out for homework'.
30 minutes journey tops, whether walking, cycling or public transport.

I dont think it's as simple as just distance, a walk across a safe town - loads of us used to walk 50ish minutes or cycle it. No footpaths or walking across fields to get to school, more than a mile seems a bit horrible in winter

He gets a lift to school.

I think it depends on the route and the rules at school. My school made it really awkward to bring a coat for some reason.

1-2 miles, 30 mins maximum.

I would say 30 mins but depends on safety of route and what its like, mine have a 5-10 minute walk to school but to get to another secondary they've have to walk down country roads with no pavements and cars going 60mph. In some areas there's a lot of crime, if it was a route there'ld be incidents of kids being stabbed etc, mine would not be walking it.

I would happily walk 30-40 mins to work. Longer than that and I find it a bit of a drag and try to get a bus. I wouldn't therefore expect more of a young teenager!

Less than 30 mins

I have just checked, my kids’ school is 2.8 miles walk away. They use buses. It is up a steep hill, as well. It would be great exercise, but also tiring.
Perhaps people thinking we mollycoddle our teens these days maybe don’t consider certain changes that have taken place in education over the last decade or so. Everything is so results focussed, that education is now much more competitive. Kids are drilled by schools from primary onwards to pass the tests, and getting mediocre marks if you are able is something that pupils are trained to think is failure. They are measured and tested so frequently that they know that the marks is all that matters. You can tell them otherwise, but they know the system, and the system only values marks.

Therefore I would rather my kids didn’t come home physically tired and late from having walked such a distance. They have so much homework and revision to do, not to mention their outside interests.

This does also mean that I don’t require a huge amount off them in terms of housework either, but I make up for that in the school holidays, so they do know it has to be done and how to do it.

I wish we could give our kids a more rounded upbringing. I feel like it’s academic achievement first and the other stuff just has to slide until they are older.

I'd say two miles is reasonable. I know the entitlement is free transport if more than 3, but honestly would you want to walk an hour to work wearing a rucksack and carrying up to three other bags (cooking stuff, PE kit, maybe an instrument, school shoes) then the same home, day in day out, in the depths of winter or howling gales. Miserable.

It depends on the location, I've lived in some areas where there is no lighting or pavement. Or the only route to the school has been via a motorway.
It also depends on the individuals health.

Over the years, the main complaints have been due to crap girls school shoes that aren't designed for anything other than light walking on dry days. A lot of teens won't wear coats so of course they get wet. And fashion backpacks instead something that is designed to hold and support.

I think it does depend on whether the school allows them to leave coat and books / PE kit / instruments etc there in a locker or whether they’re carrying heavy loads back and forth every day and being forced to choose between no coat and lugging it to every lesson. If my child was walking an hour, I’d want them to have somewhere to dry out a wet coat, and no need to carry all their books for that day in and back every day.

It's a tricky one - the home to school transport rules say you are entitled to transport for more than 3 miles once you get to junior primary age, but realistically 6 miles a day is a LOT and I don't think you'd get many children walking it. So in practice children get driven to school.

We live rurally and are just over 3 miles from my kids school so they get transport (no public transport here). In theory my older child could/should walk to College which is the same distance, but in practice it's not possible except in high summer because the roads and footpaths (no pavements available) are too muddy and impassable.

Dd1 would be walking/cycling to school 2.7 miles, however due to the lack of footpaths and being on rural, unsafe for young cyclists, roads, the LA puts on a bus for students from our village - as pp says, recommendation is transport for 3 miles or more.

I personally think we mollycoddle our older children far too much. At my secondary school place of work, there are large numbers of parents who drive their children to school. I don't remover this being the case 25 ish years ago when I attended the same school. There are large numbers who catch the town bus which I guess gives them an element of independence. But I walked or cycled 2.5 miles. It was a lovely walk chatting with my friends on the way home.

The only caveats I put on secondary age getting home under their own steam would be disability and safety of the route. Rural twisty turning roads with drivers who have little awareness of other cars let alone smaller road users are not likely to be safe for teen cyclists and certainly not pedestrians, unless there are wide footpaths. Which generally doesn't happen.