School parking

[Tameonefirst]

Received a text from dcs school tonight asking parents not to park on the roads around the school as neighbours are complaining that they can't park on the road outside their houses. AIBU to think that A: they don't own the road and as long as people are parked properly not blocking drives there's nothing to complain about, B: they bought a house next to a school, surely they knew this was going to happen, and C: the school should have explained point A to the complainer? Thank you

You obviously would if you left a bit earlier.

what a nonsense. It doesn't matter what time I leave home. If I leave early, I am just standing in front of the locked school gate, I cannot just dump the kids there and walk home. So it doesn't help a parent with little time to get to work at all.

If parents would just be a bit more considerate, then everything would be fine. But round my way, they park on pavements, across drives (and IN drives), stop without signalling, pull out without looking or signalling, block the roads on both sides etc. etc. If you say anything, you get abuse back or 'I'll only be a minute' - I wish!

I avoid all the roads near schools I can, and really look forward to school holidays.

Over the last few decades people have had to go out to work and by school age most children have two working parents

Not in my area. Working mums average around the 50% at best, we have significant numbers of SAHM. And when my DCs were in primary school, it was mainly the SAHMs that drove. I lived nearby and walked the DCs home (they went to breakfast club due to working commitments), and frequently had my drive blocked by numpties.

Thank goodness the DCs make their own way to school/college now.

Why can't we do school transport like most other countries? Kids are on the bus from 5/6 years old its just a way of life. Parents in this country are probably too bloody precious though and like to drop their kids off with a kiss from mummy when they're in sixth form. Ridiculous.

Most people - if they are honest - do not need access to their driveways for the 10/15 mins each time of school runs and should be mature and responsible enough to recognise that parents absolutely need to park and drop their children off and could make reasonable adjustments

Seriously? So if I come and park in your drive, that's ok, as long as it's only for 15 minutes twice a day, every day?

"The school run" is one of the major causes of congestion and air pollution where I live. Driving children to and from school should be be banned outright. Yes, there's always an excuse: "I don't have time! I live too far away! It's not safe to walk!" Absolute poppycock.

Just remember that it's children who are going to be most affected by all this air pollution.

Why can't we do school transport like most other countries? Kids are on the bus from 5/6 years old its just a way of life. Parents in this country are probably too bloody precious though and like to drop their kids off with a kiss from mummy when they're in sixth form. Ridiculous.

This ^

Most people - if they are honest - do not need access to their driveways for the 10/15 mins each time of school runs and should be mature and responsible enough to recognise that parents absolutely need to park and drop their children off and could make reasonable adjustments

What utter nonsense. Why should other people be late for work because parents can't be bothered to park considerately? What reasonable adjustments should someone make when they desperately need their car for an emergency and some entitled lazy parent is blocking their exit?

It doesn't matter what time I leave home. If I leave early, I am just standing in front of the locked school gate, I cannot just dump the kids there and walk home. So it doesn't help a parent with little time to get to work at all

Few parents are on such tight margins that taking 10 minutes to walk 800m home will make all the difference between getting to work on time or not. Given the unpredictability of traffic, it would be far too risky. If that were my situation, I would put my children into a before-school club or make alternative arrangements with other parents or a childminder.

A - they may not own the road but if there is literally no space in the road to leave their car when they get home what are they supposed to do, drive round the block for half an hour?

B - When children walked, cycled or were driven in small cars to school none of this was a problem. What has changed is the number of oversized vehicles now in use. It doesn’t take many of these monsters to completely clog up a small side street.

Just do what your kids school asks. It’s not difficult. No they do not own the road but it must be pretty damn annoying when you come home and cannot park where you live because of selfish lazy a** wipes like you.
There’s just no excuse. I read your lame excuse about how you would love to walk! Why don’t you? Too lazy that’s the only reason!
I see this everyday near my children’s school and people claiming they can’t walk to school because it’s 10 minutes walk or more! It’s just lazy! Simple as! The same annoying fu** wits are parents walking around with these daft fit bits going on ‘strolls’ in a park somewhere.
Strolling will never get anyone fit anyway and especially if 99% of the time you have to use your bloody car to get you from A-B unless a place is literally on your door step.
Even if you do have to drive to school because it really is too far you should set off early. Another reason why you cause bother to residents because of your laziness and leaving inadequate time to find a more suitable place to park.
There must be car park somewhere in the vicinity and a short walk away.
I also have a massive double drive and once my husband goes to work we have enough space for people to park on my drive. I have offered this to do many other parents but because they’d have to walk all of 5 minutes to the school they can’t be bothered! They want to park outside the school. No consideration for anyone! The residents or even pedestrians ( esp those with very small children and proms) trying to cross over between their sandwiched parked cars! And they want the world to bend for them.
The school have better things to do than text stupid parents who haven’t the common sense nor courtesy to think about other people’s needs and do you really ought to realise it’s you not them. Not anybody else. Take responsibility for your actions. Get out early if you must drive to school. Find a place to park that is not causing bother or restrictions to people’s view so they can be safe. Or walk . It is that simple.

ZOMBIE!!!!

OP In this case, YANBU.

I wonder if it's partly down to "parental choice" and various other newer entrance criteria with the consequence of not going to your nearest school? We live opposite a primary school and I would have been bloody livid if our children couldn't have got in as distance from school seems to be one of the lower-down criteria for acceptance (we don't actually have children but when we thought we would....).

Strangely, traffic and school parking are not a problem in our road as we are at the back of the school and, whilst there is a vehicular entrance, it's not used at drop off and pick up times so fortunately that school doesn't affect me.

There is another school though on my commute which is a nightmare because it's a right turn off a main road very close to a busy junction. I get stuck for ages there as parents are queueing. Every new school year it seems to get a bit busier. The school itself operates a very efficient "stop and drop" policy, whereby parents pull up, school staff open door, whisk out child/ren, close door, NEXT! The school has done what it can but, again, when the school was built, most people would have walked and there would have been less traffic as well.

Mulberry72

Oops!