to think that "walking buses" are a load of stuff you can't eat

[DreamingofSummer]

I saw some 5 and 6 year old kids on a nature walk from their school yesterday. About 8 of them with three adults. All adults wearing high viz jackets. One adult at the front of the kids had hold of a quoit attached to a nylon rope. The other adult at the other end of the rope was holding a similar quoit to keep it taut. Each of the kids had one hand on their own quoit positioned along the lenght of the rope. One adult was riding shotgun.

All of this along the quietest of quiet roads between a field and the school.

Do we really have to treat kids in this way? Is it the right message that the only way kids can walk along the road is in groups holding onto a rope. I've always hated "walking buses" for being over-protective in most places (I can see some sense in a busy urban area) but this rope thing was the daftest I've ever seen

AIBU?

Better safe than sorry imo.

eat what?

What, a load of shit??

Sounds a bit extreme, our walking bus was never like that. we just had a ratio of kid per adult, everyone wore a bright jacket but that was it......never seen the rope thing.

A load of stuff you can't eat? What?

Sounds more like a chain gang!

My school have a walking cup. So did pre school but they were never tethered together! I remember them using a thing for the kids to hold onto at nursery so 2 to 3 years old which is appropriate but not for 6 year olds.

DS's school had this for getting the nursery children into lunch and back, but subsequent years have been on visits to local places on foot without such aids - they go in a crocodile in pairs in high vis jackets (I think that the high vis jackets when you're out in an urban area with small children is a good idea).

You cant eat children. they are too chewy, babies are lovely and tender.

Whats wrong with pairing up and holding hands...

preschool have one of those... school do not.
School manage to walk 30 YR children a mile each way on country lanes ( with out pavement) to the nearest NT place for visits. Yep, lots of adults, yep Hi-vis vests.

It's the attitude of "take no risk of any kind, any how, any where" that makes me cringe.

I have mixed feelings. I am in my 40's and can remember quite a lot of children's deaths, including a few of my friends, in accidents, which don't seem to happen now.

There are probably more teens dying than small children, but that is because of reckless behaviour.

I can remeber a few accidents in the news that no-one was charged for, even though it was negligence on the part of staff, so if these things keep younger children safe, then i wouldn't put a stop to them.

I am wondering if these are being introduced now schools have to be inclusive, as there would be problems getting some SN children to hold hands etc.

Basically schools can't win. Parents complain about absolutely everything, so a lot of schools just go to extreme lengths to ensure that no accusation can be made against them. It's easier than trying to treat children normally and to then have a parent storming up to school saying her Johnny got lost for a microsecond or was upset because Billy cut in line ahead of him. You only have to be on Mumsnet a few days to realise that a lot parents have absolutely ludicrous expectations of schools and measures like this are taken to appease them. But of course when you take these measures you will then have parents saying how silly and pointless they are. Like I said, can't win.

My DS uses a walking bus and they are fab. Recently, they've bought new high-vis jackets with the school logo, and insist the children walk in pairs. Apparently they've been told that they cross too many roads though, and the bus may get cancelled because of it. All the roads they cross are little side streets with next to no traffic. One teacher stands in the road and lets everyone cross behind her, then follows on. I don't see the problem myself!