Why do people drive their kids to school??

[brightonbaker]

Every day My oldest DD 11 walks to school, she is at secondary school and it is about 8minutes walk away. There is one road to cross. I walk my younger DD 8 to school, her school is the same distance. I then get home and go to work, I'm lucky I can start at 9:30.
I think it is good for them to walk to school as it is a good start to the day, exercise, fresh air etc.
I have two neighbours with older DDs about 13 and 14 who I am quite sure have never walked to school, ever. So they leave about the same time as us and get back about the same time as its only 8 minutes walk and by the time they have found somewhere to park** illegally it takes the same amount of time. So why? Why are they doing this? one of the parents does not work so no need to rush and I'm not sure what the other one does.
Really gets on my nerves so thought I'd see if there are some legitimate reasons why people drive to a very local school ?

It isn't a case of making the right political decisions, or building the right infrastructure, or planning the right vehicles.

the energy to power them is not available to us, it does not exist within our country, we cannot make it exist.it isn't here. It doesn't exist, I cannot make it any clearer.

So how about for starters we make towns and cities with enough public transport infrastructure car free?

That seems a happy medium

then walk the first bit?

I have never, and would never own a car, and where ever I am in the country, have managed without. I get up early. I walk. I carry stuff. I am middle aged with arthritis, but I manage, because i have never been spoilt or accustomed to driving, and it is normal for me to cope without.

it is simply habit, forward planning and prioritising.

So how about for starters we make towns and cities with enough public transport infrastructure car free?

I agree, it should be, and there should be more public transport too, even in places where you think there is plenty, there isn't enough capacity. The evening buses are often too full to stop at most bus stops in parts of London, you can live on a bus route and never be able to get home by bus.

Morning buses are better, but even at 5am may be too full to stop at times.

And childcare? Where's that before the after school clubs start? There's no childminders that serve my daughter's school.

For tomorrow's meeting I am taking a CPU and monitor. I'll just walk with them.

You are wilfully ignoring that not everyone has the same needs.

But maybe my having less children offsets you not having a car

Our school has a really large catchment area. It would take us over an hour to walk to school and getting a bus would involve two buses and a journey time of nearly an hour too, journey time is 10 mins in car. If I lived closer I would definitely walk though. I can't understand why people put themselves through school run traffic and the hell that is trying to find a parking space when they don't have to.

of curse some people have to drive, but a lot of people don't . i carry whatever I need to carry, even if we are going camping, or similar. There are some things I can't carry, and we had to stop those activities, such as canooing.

I have planned around not having a car, including which schools have breakfast clubs, etc, on the way to the station/bus stop

it is often perfectly possible to manage.

But there are people on here winging about a 40 minute walk, or 4 miles, etc

they don't seem to have any conception of how hugely over privileged they are , and the impact their pollution is having on others.

That is just morally corrupt.

My son's school is 35 miles away and so walking or public transport aren't a possibility.

I have planned around not having a car, including which schools have breakfast clubs, etc, on the way to the station/bus stop

I don't know how many time she I have said this on this thread. We didn't get into catchment school. Or the next nearest 7. So I could have planned until kingdom come but it actually made NO difference.

And yes. You can stop canoeing. Which is a hobby. Not really a valid comparison. What do you think would happen if I told my client "sorry, can't do the job you need as I'm walking to the meeting".

And again I think that's your London-centric opinion talking. There are a great many places - one I am going to tomorrow that don't have stations!

winging about... 4 miles
4 miles is a very long way along Shropshire's sunken lanes, in heavy rain or fog or snow, at 7.30am or 4.30pm in the dark. Not everyone lives in cities where there are streetlights and pavements.

I lived in London until I was 30 and never owned a car. It's a piece of piss not to have one in a city like London. Not particularly impressed with silver. If you didn't have a car down here and I passed you manfully plodding along country lanes with no pavements, thick with mud, with two small children carrying all their kit, I'd offer you a lift

• so you feel the shit you have to do takes precedence over the rest of humanity having breathable air?

You do realise that the pollution coming out of your car is killing people, right?*

You do realise that the shit I have to do includes going to work to earn money? You know, without money I can't afford to feed or clothe my kids, I can't afford to keep them warm in the winter or put a roof over their heads.
If I was posting something on here saying my boss was threatening to fire me because I'm consistently late courtesy of my kids twig fascination, do you really think that my boss was being unreasonable?
Oh and, I have an eco friendly car. Not as good as not using it but it's the best compromise I can come up with.... unless the lives of my kids don't mean anything to you.

but do you really think your neighbour walking is going to change that?

Well, yes, a little bit, since petrol cars are one of the causes of pollution. If everyone's neighbours also walk a few more times rather than drive, then that helps, too. And if your neighbour drives a diesel vehicle, then it's even more important that they don't drive it when it's not absolutely necessary, as they are absolutely terrible for air quality.

Pollution isn't caused by elves.

I actually applaud the honesty of (the few) people who have admitted they live a stone's throw from a school and drive because they can't be arsed to walk.

No applause for the hundreds who have added nothing to the debate by saying they live 200 miles from the school etc etc. This does not refer to you!!!! It's about those people who drive when they live close to the school - especially secondary school.

We live in the suburbs. Plenty of pavements/cycleways. The catchment for local schools is very small indeed, less than half a mile, and even that is no guarantee some years. So apart from pupils with extra needs, what are all the cars doing round the school? The vast majority of pupils at the secondary school walk, but still you see some mothers parking at the very edge of the no-parking zone (itself about quarter of a mile away) about an hour before end of school to pick up kids. Permission is given to drive onto school site if pupils have extra needs/leg in plaster/euphonium so clearly these kids are not in any of these categories.

There are hundreds of responses on here about people who live miles away from school, it's NOT what I was asking about. I was asking why people who are very local to school decide to drive. There have been only a handful of responses from these people who don't have health issues and I hope it is because they are embarrassed that they don't own up to being lazy and selfish. None of those cars outside my DDs school live miles away unless they have moved away or stay with another parent as catchment area is less than a mile. They can't all possibly have health issues and as I said before it is not the case for my neighbour.
Those who go straight to work I do understand but so many park so dangerously, making it difficult for those children who want to walk and cross roads safely, could they not leave 5 mins earlier and park 100m away?

What annoys me personally is that I live in a street nearby the primary school. My DS at high school do an assymetric week and have to be driven due to distance/lack of public transport etc. When I arrive back in my street on the days that my DC finish early and therefore just as primary school is kicking out, all the people who have driven to school and parked in my street are leaving. They drive too fast and think they have priority to come through the traffic calming bits regardless of who should have priority and then glare at me for daring to be coming the "wrong" way

I don't know how many time she I have said this on this thread. We didn't get into catchment school. Or the next nearest 7. So I could have planned until kingdom come but it actually made NO difference.

We couldn't either JacquesHammer

I drive a relatively shortish distance to our school. This thread has given me a lot to think about.

I’m obese and feel very self conscious with people judging me as I pass. I have been called names by passing motorists and really don’t want my kids to have to experience this.

I’m sure I’ll now get plenty of abuse on here too. But that’s the reason OP.

It’s awful that you have experienced abuse but looking at t from the other side surely that could be a motivator to make sure your children are as active as possible and don’t grow up thinking it’s normal to jump in the car for a walkable distance to help stop them encountering the same problems as adults?

Sirzy thankfully they seem athletic like their father and do many sporty activities.* But it’s a good point.*

Every single parent on Mumsnet has children who walk many miles in all weathers yet somehow our country is jammed with parents driving children to school. How puzzling 🤔

GeeGee4 I really do sympathise about not wanting to expose yourself to name-calling - it can be really upsetting.

However, although your kids may be sporty now, what will really set them up in the long term is that they get into the habit of normal everyday exercise, in that they get exercise as part of their normal workaday life, not drive to the gym, or whatever. As they get older and their priorities change, they may not always do organised sports, but if they are in the habit of, eg, walking to the shops, or walking to work, or walking back from the pub, then it will serve them well.

I don't think the two sides of this debate are going to agree any time soon, but can I ask the drivers to do one thing:

Please switch your engines off the second you park. Please don't sit in your cars with the engine idling while you wait for the school gates to open or for your child to come out of dancing, Scouts or whatever.

I can guarantee that any school I walk past at 3pm-ish will have plenty of cars outside with the engines idling - I counted 19 outside my local school one afternoon. I get that it's hard to reorganise your lives and walk everywhere, but nobody needs to run their engines when they are parked - if it's too hot or too cold, take an extra jumper or open the window.

Absolutely, purplegreen99. Will any MNetters admit to doing this?!