to think that criticism of the school run is a form of sexism?

[Handay]

There seems to have long been a popular narrative that people taking their children to school by car are clogging up the roads with unnecessary journeys and delaying working commuters.

Most of these journeys are done by women.

It is a legal requirement for children to go to school, just as most people are contractually obliged to go to work. For many women, their obligation will fall across both aspects in that they will drop their children at school and then continue to work.

Why then are one set of people using a car in order to travel to somewhere they are obliged to be, criticised? There are, especially in cities, probably lots of car journeys that are "unnecessary" in the sense that the people making them could travel by alternative means. Why are women and children's journeys categorised as somehow less important than those of other road users and why are they repeatedly told that they should not be on the roads?

Just one recent example of this here on Jeremy Vine this week:

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00035rk

Randomlychosenname no I'm not you but I agree with so much of what you say! I can't imagine anyone ever having a discussion about how journeys primarily done by men should be undertaken on foot. And yy to lots of unnecessary journeys - to five a side games, to football matches, to stag weekends, to gigs, to the bloody gym fgs. None of these are either economically productive or legally mandated activities.

Problems come with having it all at a certain time of the day - morning and afternoon drop off. Football is often late in evening so roads not so congested?
I grew up outside UK and we had school buses like a pp fro US. Would people be willing to pay for this?

Re not leaving on time is what makes you late, not walking. Dh (thankfully!) does our drop offs, to a childminder who walks dc to school. If he walked them to the childminder he would then not have a car for his 15 mile commute. So he would need to retrace his steps for 20 minutes to pick up the car. Only he can’t do that because the CM opens at 8 and he needs to be at work at 8.45. Flex start time isn’t possible. No matter how early he was willing to get up he cannot walk the children where they need to go and get to work.

Ah, thank you, AornisHades, for clearing that up! I can see how regular school bus runs may not work then. Thank you.

And yy to lots of unnecessary journeys - to five a side games, to football matches, to stag weekends, to gigs, to the bloody gym fgs. None of these are either economically productive or legally mandated activities

How are those activities not economically productive? People (including women) are spending money at the gym, at football matches, on stag/hen weekends? That post shows a lot of everyday sexism about men’s and women’s activities. Ironic since you’re complaining about sexism...

It is a legal requirement for children to go to school

Actually there is no legal requirement for children to go to school.

Yes there is an element of misogyny.
But I also think it is because the idiots are more visible. There is a private school near my workplace and some drivers stop on double yellow lines to drop off their kids, blocking the road and causing traffic jams.
I do notice a big difference in traffic during school holidays. That is not blaming those who are driving to school with their kids, but it is a fact that my journey is way shorter during school holidays.

There is no focus on walking to work because this is not possible for most people. There is a focus in lots of large workplaces and through transport policies of encouraging people going to work to car share and use public transport. There is also lots of encouragement for people to use public transport for leisure activities. So you are wrong to say these journeys are ignored, they are not. But they are rarely walkable.
Also the walk.it app has been partly paid by government to encourage people to walk short journeys.

Well I guess we could all homeschool our kids yes, which would also cut down on the number of commuter journeys since none of us could work. And then we could all knit our own houses using official Steiner school (TM) patterns instead of buying them, since we won't have any money. Which is also environmentally friendly. Win win.

That was to oliversmums.

You don't get car drivers behaving at a large workplace in the same way some parents do when dropping kids off for school. I think sometimes it does come from a sense of entitlement about their kids being more important than anyone else.
I know my family get exasperated at some parents parking on double yellow lines to drop their kids off for school, when there is a large free car park about 4 minutes walk away.

Just pointing out an incorrect statement.

How is going to a gig/stag do/the gym even vaguely comparable to the school run?

I think it has more to do with selfish driving and parking, born of frustration at clogged roads and impossible parking than the sex of the driver. I lived across the road from a primary school once and it was not infrequent for me not to be able to access my driveway because a parent ( gender irrelevant- sometimes male ) had parked across it.

I agree that it is more to do with inconsiderate parking.

I absolutely agree, OP. Also see "Yummy mummies in their 4x4s" type comments. Fuck the fucking fuck off. Misogyny and envy all wrapped up into a spiteful little bundle.

I accept some parents need to drive their dcs to school. I do not accept that they park on zig zags and double yellow lines especially when there are ample spaces further down the road. I also don't accept people sitting with the engine running while they practice spellings or times tables.

Walk or get the bus. Like the commuters where I live. No one drives to work. No problem.

What mangolover said. At our school too, the drivers are pretty well split 50/50 men and women.

School runs are often walking distance, unlike commutes.

think most people who can walk their kids to school do, as the school run in the car can be a bit of a nightmare!

Nope.

DS1 was one of the furthest flung kids in his class, at a 15 minute walk. Many parents drove their kids in, including one who lived at the end of the school field. The majority of thise parents were not racing off to work.

o five a side games, to football matches, to stag weekends, to gigs, to the bloody gym

Yeah, dh does all of these, every single Saturday

I walk to the gym, a hen weekend and a gig, ebery single Sunday, so that balances it out.

I do love a thread full of bullshit.

On the days I work from home, the little DC and I walk the dogs up to school (25mins or so) then I run them back through the park.

When I have to go into work, we bike to school and I cycle on to work.

I’m lucky to be fit enough to do this because public transport is horrendous, and we live in London. DH gets the train.

Everyday we see car with just one or two occupants stuck in traffic with engines idling.

Whether it’s the school run, work or shopping, something has to change. We can’t keep ruining the planet like this.

Surely the problem is school design. I actually agree with the op because if these were tool hire shops that men had to drop their machines back to they would have loading unloading bays. They don’t because they are genderised. No one gives thought to how children are loaded and unloaded because its womens work! This needs to stop. Yes there are the idiots that drive 2 yards and go back home and out daytime tv on but mostly it’s just busy people trying to make do with a crappy system!

@cakedup Walking to school doesn't make you late for work, not leaving the house on time makes you late for work.

This isn't true for many people. When DCs were at primary school, we were told not to drop them before 8.45am as the school was locked and there was no playground supervision until that time. You could choose to leave them outside the school, unsupervised, but this was only appropriate for the older children. From 8.45am it was very organised, including a supervised 'drop off point', but younger children simply couldn't be left before then. For people going on to work, you could then drive to the nearest town by aound 9.10 am and maybe be at your desk by 9.15, but not if you have to walk the 15 minutes home again to pick the car up first.

I agree OP.

Just because in the last decade or so there has been an increase in the amount of men doing the school run does not mean the stereotype is any less sexist. I am sure someone will come on to say their dad left them to school twenty years ago so their data means it isn't sexist.

Our school moved to a brand new building a year ago. They could have planned it with parking issues in mind. They didn't. Now we get a monthly bollocking in the newsletter about parking issues that aside from the odd selfish prick are entirely of the schools own making.

I think a system of drop off like they run in some American schools would be much better, also if the school could open a little earlier. I'm talking ten mins or so. So that 200 pupils are not descending on the area in a ten minute window. Spreading that out would help a lot.

If it was seen as a dad problem I truly think something would be done. But even though there are loads of men doing our school runs, it's still seen as a woman's problem and the school in general runs on an assumption that we mums are sitting at home twiddling our thumbs waiting for the next daft last minute project or request.