To think that not ALL these parents need to drive their kids to school?

[SecretSquirrell]

"http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2034420/Chaotic-scenes-Birmingham-junior-school-caused-dozens-parents-collecting-children.html"

I understand that but cocooning them in cars all the time is not the best way to teach them the road skills they are going to need.

that pic doesn't seem that much out of the ordinary to most schools, it's just shot to make it look bad.

loads of people drive as they deem the local primary 'not perfect enough' or 'not religious enough' it's totally mad now, imo anyway.

we walk when we can but i have to drive to pick up as i come straight from work, think the days when mommy did nowt when kids were at school is long gone.

it's not going to get better and schools need to think up other ideas maybe stagger start/finish times?

Kids from our school were getting mugged for phones when they walked through the local park or high street. End of walking.

oh and our school (which is near the local secondary) has no safe crossings and it basically a rat run into town. road planning to keep kids safe is low on traffic planning priorities

I agree it isn't the answer SecretSquirrel, and like I said I walk with mine but I think the traffic needs to be better policed (which I know won't happen in time of cuts) and that higher traffic levels and inconsiderate twatty drivers is a general problem in society not just around schools. This needs to be addressed, we need less people on the roads in general for the sake of the planet above all else. I don't know how this could happen through as public transport is dire in many towns.

In my daughters class there are not many working mothers (maybe 5 out of 20 thta i know of 10 not sure as have never spoken to them) so most do not go straight from school to work. It is also a very built u crowded area meaning that almost all of the children at the school live within a small area. of the families i know the homes of (only about 10 i admit) we live the furthest away from the school at around a mile away. Last year dd did a school assembly about transport which included showing a graph of how children get to school which showed that out of a class of 30 3 walked, 1 got a bus and the rest came to school in a car. I dont get why - not all of those people can need to, some yes but not all!

We live in a very poor area, apart from anything i dont get how they afford it and also i think it is telling that alot of children in my dds class are overweight and that the school had to run their own classes teaching children how to ride bikes without stabilizers etc.

I have nothing against people driving each day when they need to or even just when the weathers bad but sometimes its just lazy.

Woman near me, literally a 4 minute walk to school and she drives every day and squeezes in as close to the gate as she can get. She's fat, her kids are fat

Funny how nobody ever comments on the skinny lazy bestids of the world isn't it, its only particulary noteworthy if they are fatties yawn

DS has been cycling himself to school with 4 other friends since year 7. Half the journey on quiet rodas half on a cycle path. It's done wonders for his independence.

I turned the corner in my car near a school and found that a child seat on the road was blocking my way. The driver of the car had got the baby out of the car and placed in the road with the baby inside, this was so she could then get the other child out of the car onto the road. There was a pavement on the other side of the car but she appeared to not want to use the pavement. I got tooted at and glared at as I caused the whole area to come to a stop as I refused to drive over the baby. The woman then glared at me and walked of - had I tooted I may have understood the glare but as I had sat patiently waiting for her to sort all this out in the middle of the road It isn't just parking in silly places

I also have seen a mother drive around a parked car, she managed to get around the parked car by driving up onto the pavement near a junction - There were not any dc on the pavement and at that point I understood why dc don't walk to school, it is to f*cking dangerous

There are often reasons that people drive that you wouldnt know about though, we live a ten minute walk from school but I sometimes have the car if I have just dropped ds at nursery and didnt have time to drop the car home without making dd late for school or if I need to be somewhere asap after drop off and will be driving there.

I wish I didnt have to but dd's school has no breakfast club and mornings are oftern very complicated and I end up doing a journey worthy of 'Challenge Anneka.' Some days I have to drop dd at school, drop ds at nursery, leave car at nursery, run down road, catch bus, catch train then change and get on the tube. Obviously no parents at the school gate know that though.

We were in walking distance. But I had to pull DS1 out of the local school so now I am a driving parent. It's too far to walk. I drop dd to high school in the morning as I then drop ds1 on the way back. She may get the bus to as well as from once she settles in.
I park sensibly though. I am seeing some hidious parking.
At the old primary there were constant complants to the HM as the school was in the middle of houses & some people were utter idiots when parking. Many of those could have walked as weren't going on to work.
There is laziness around nowadays, more than there used to be.

Bimbo, there are plenty of skinny lazy gits too, yes.

But if you drive everywhere and you are fat, it's just stating the bleeding obvious that perhaps you shouldn't, no?

Thankfully, our kids' school is smaller, but it's in the opening of a large cul de sac and gets just as bad with the slightest drop of rain. I know of one parent, who lives at the end of the school field who drives around the corner and drops her kid off right outside the door - parking on the zigzags to do so. I've banged on a few windows of parents who park on the pavement (often blocking the path for buggies) instead of parking just around the corner where there is actually a small car parking area, which hardly gets used. It has the lollipop lady tearing he hair out because it's just nuts, sometimes and is simply dangerous.

I shouldn't have started reading the comments.

Women want unlimited kids & they want jobs. They then moan about child minding costs. However it is not all possible without inconveniencing others & needing to be subsidised.

What a cunt.

That's ridiculous.

Mind you it doesn't surprise me. One of my neighbours has a young child (maybe5-6) who goes to a local primary school. It is literally a 5 minute walk from the front door of her house. Perhaps less than 5 minutes. I can't help but noitce that she drives DRIVES the child to school in the morning and drives back to the house. What is wrong with these people who do that. She isn't driving her and going on somewhere else, she drives back to the house within minutes of leaving with her.

Just to add that almost all the kids live in the village - I have one of the longest journeys to school (we walk - DS2 in his SN buggy if needs be, but that's another, ongoing thread) and only a small proportion drop off or pick up immediately before or after work.

Yup, that is what the road looks like on my school run too - and I know for a fact that people who live within walking distance to the school drive as well. I live 5 miles away, so need to drive, but I always park on side street quite a way away, and walk the rest, so don't actually drive into the gridlock

The number of parents who seem to have to get with 10 feet of the school or park on the yellow zig zags amazes me.

We dont have a car because we just can't afford it so we walk pretty much everywhere. It's given ds a right good set of legs & he loves a good walk. I've seen a woman at the bottom of our road waiting for a bus with her kids & she then gets off by the school pretty much just as ds and I are walking up.

To be honest if you're in the catchment area I dont see why the large majority can't walk. (sweeping statement alert)

Madness! But it's not just school runs - you should see it outside my house when the WI are meeting in the hall over the road on a Wednesday night!

I made enquiries about a walking bus for our rural primary school. However I was told by the council that this wasn't feasible as the road on which the school is situated has no pavement. I told them that I knew that and I was trying to cut down on the parking which effectively makes the road single track but the council weren't interested.

I now drive to school in the morning as I have to be at work by 9am but I walk in the afternoon as often as I can barring after school activities that need to be driven to.

Sandstorm maybe it would be better to lobby for a safer road to walk along?

Maybe the person has an injury/health problem that is aggravated by walking? You sound a real judgemental sticky beak Squirrel, do people need to run their reasons for driving by you for your royal approval?

belgo we're campaigning for a new school at the moment and already have a site earmarked and a provisional date of 2013 so I don't think the council will give us any road improvements. On the plus side the plans for the new school include a large carpark and better walking access :)

Good for you sandstorm

Birmingham is a big city, I would have thought that there would be enough schools to ensure that most people lived within walking distance of a primary school.

Looking at that photograph I agree with the OP - there cannot be that many parents who live far enough away to justify a car journey even if they have to work.

Don't city dwellers ever use their legs?