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Original poster

Year 7 parent nervous about son commuting to school alone.

31 replies

caramelchic · 01/06/2026 01:51

My son will be starting Year 7 in September and, if I'm honest, I'm feeling quite nervous about him travelling to school on his own. He is my only child and I don’t drive.

The school is an all-boys secondary school. The journey is relatively short: either about four bus stops or one train stop followed by a 9-minute walk. On paper it doesn't sound far, but he's only 11 and the thought of him commuting independently every day feels like a big step.

He's a sensible and fairly mature child, but I'm still worried about things like getting lost, missing his stop, dealing with strangers, or just managing the journey confidently when things don't go to plan.

For those whose children started secondary school and travelled independently, how did it go? Did you do practice runs over the summer? At what point did you feel comfortable letting them travel alone?

Am I overthinking this, or is this a normal Year 7 parent worry?

OP posts:
Laterfate · 01/06/2026 02:35

Friendlygingercat · 01/06/2026 02:13

Good heavens! I was getting the tram across Liverpool to visit my grandmother from the age of 10 and travelling to school alone (3bus stops) from age 11. I also regularly went to the local shopping centre alone and into the centre of Liverpool with my friends. There were no mobiles then. As for buying things in shops and speaking to strangers I was doing that from age 6/7 as I was regularly sent to the corner shop by my mother.

When I see these accounts of kids of 11 plus never having used public transport or purchased anything independently in a shop I am not surprised that so any young people lack basic social skills. Handling money, asking for and following directions, and getting themselves from A to B are things any 11 year old should be able to do unless they have special needs.

There’s no public transport available for young people to use where I live. They’ll have to wait until they’re older and move to the city to learn the ropes.

You don’t have to have special needs to not be accustomed to travelling to school or to meet friends on buses or trains. It may not be relevant to the OP, but I often wonder at posters who don’t seem to be aware that people live different lives and have different public resources available to them.

amylou8 · 01/06/2026 02:25

Eleven is plenty old enough for this level of independence. Do a couple of practice runs. Make sure he has a phone, get him a dumb phone if school policy is that he can't have a smart phone. I'm sure they'll be plenty of other kids doing the same that he'll buddy up with pretty quickly.

Friendlygingercat · 01/06/2026 02:13

Good heavens! I was getting the tram across Liverpool to visit my grandmother from the age of 10 and travelling to school alone (3bus stops) from age 11. I also regularly went to the local shopping centre alone and into the centre of Liverpool with my friends. There were no mobiles then. As for buying things in shops and speaking to strangers I was doing that from age 6/7 as I was regularly sent to the corner shop by my mother.

When I see these accounts of kids of 11 plus never having used public transport or purchased anything independently in a shop I am not surprised that so any young people lack basic social skills. Handling money, asking for and following directions, and getting themselves from A to B are things any 11 year old should be able to do unless they have special needs.

AllDreamsLost · 01/06/2026 02:03

Also, there will be other kids going to the same school, he will be able to recognise them from the uniform and just go the same way!

AllDreamsLost · 01/06/2026 01:58

It's a normal worry and yes we did some practice runs.

Depends on the kid, one of mine also let me travel with her the first few times, but that requires confidence of the child. Other child wouldn't want to be seen with parent, but was happy to do a practice run.

Will he have a phone? You can always help him navigate if he has location turned on.

MyNameIsTina · 01/06/2026 01:57

Yes, do practice runs. 4 stops on the bus is fine!

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