My 12 year old wants to walk 2.5 miles home from her secondary school. She usually uses the public bus as I don't drive but she has to wait 25 minutes for it and it's often late.
She's a little overweight (not massively but could do with exercise). At the moment she currently does no regular exercise and I can't afford dance lessons and other things (which she would do). She refuses to cycle, her bike has hardly been used and she's outgrown it now. I'd buy her a new one but only if she would use it!
She's absolutely fine crossing roads etc. My fear is that she walks along a stretch of main road where there are no houses for some of the journey. I'm probably a bit paranoid but I worry about someone stopping and forcing her into a car!
Is that a realistic fear? Or should I give her this independence? She's happy to walk, wants to do it. She doesn't have a friend who walks home or lives in our village (unfortunately).
She's walked home once and will do so again today. I just need a bit of reassurance I'm not irresponsible? She will be 13 in September, she's year 7. Thanks