Walking 2 miles to school age 9 & 11

[JulietteLeGall]

Is this reasonable ? I’m out of catchment and too far to walk so this isn’t an option for us but my brother has said that his boys have started walking in. Crossing a major, very busy, roundabout (albeit very well set up for pedestrians) then one long road with lots of side roads to cross. I feel like this is too much and am a bit worried but I’m not in a town so don’t know what is normal.

Has anyone on here seen the 'Most dangerous ways to school' documentaries on youtube?

They are worth a watch, not because we should send our children into dangerous situations but because it shows how resilient children can be when they are expected to do something.

In this situation, so long as both children have learned the route and its dangers under supervision they should be fine if they are together and confident.

I did it as a child, but the roads were not as crowded. That's the bit that would worry me about this, not the distance.

I wouldn't let my 9 year old walk it.

No way for the 9 year old

Not for a 9 year old and it’s not fair on the 11 year old to be put in this position

I was left to my own devices from 12 and chose to keep my bus fare and walk instead. I had quite a few dodgy encounters during my walks. I dealt with them, including running as fast as I could, but wouldn’t have wanted a younger sibling with me at the time

I did a mile each way from 8. 9 is quite young. I felt quite vulnerable IYSWIM.

The distance is just about ok. More than 30 min walk is getting on for a bit of a slog on all weathers etc. I'd say 2 miles is fine physically but that's not the only consideration.

More that's not good is.

It's quite a long way from home/ school if anything happens

They bicker and older might ditch younger or vice versa. If they row and younger one stomps off in wrong direction what is older one to do?
Busy roads not great for the younger one

It's not brilliant. I mean it'll probably be fine in reality but things are different these days and this would be unusual for most parents to say ok. That's another point, less children walk so less safety in numbers IYSWIM.

If parents are determined that need decent waterproofs nothing worse than being soaking wet all day.

Dd1 at 9 no but dtds age 9 (they’re currently 9) and they’d be fine. Very road aware and savvy. Db was in year six and me year four when we walked about 2 miles to school with 4 roads to cross.

I'd say the distance is fine, the major road is probably ok, but side roads are an issue. Cars tend to shoot in & out without indicating or offering pedestrians the right of way, as well as parked cars meaning there's limited visibility. DC & I used to do a similar school run, and sometimes we'd be in the middle of the road before we could see if it was safe for us to cross. We ended up taking a longer walk to school that avoided the side roads - but meant I wasn't bricking it when we had 17 side roads to cross just to get to school.

I don't know whether I would want that for my kids or not. Hard to decide.

But I don't think it is so clearly dangerous that it is worth raising with your brother, given that they aren't your kids and it doesn't sound like he has asked your opinion.

@Dishwashersaurous

Our school won’t allow a nine year old to walk to and from school without an adult ( a 11 year old wouldn’t count).

Therefore an adult will have to walk and collect the youngest

The school don't have the power to decide that. Despite the fact that some will think they do.

If the parent insists on it the school would either have to accept it or speak to social services. SS are not going to be interested in a parent making the decision to allow their child to walk to school unless it's ridiculously unsafe.

I've seen several HT's try and insist on this over the years and every single one has had to back down in the end.

To those saying the 9yo's school might not allow it - it is not for the school to decide. They cannot have a rule that children of a certain age aren't allowed to walk to/from school. They are only in loco parentis during school hours. The school might wish to ask parents to give written permission for the child to be released to walk home alone, to ensure the school won't be held responsible for the child's safety. But they can't say no.

The most the school could do, if they felt very strongly that the child was being put in danger, is to report the parents to Social Care. I really doubt a social worker would take an interest unless the case was more extreme than this.

Oh that's s good point.

Our primary wouldn't let you them go alone under year 6. Whether they can enforce that or not is another point but it might be more trouble than worth

Having said that the sibling is at secondary and they would let them go with them so I think that probably makes no difference in this case.

The question is always what happens if something goes wrong.

Will they have the maturity to deal with it.

OP you say they bicker. If 9yo heads off in a strip down a random road what is older child to do?

If they found this too far I'd be inclined to think they really need the exercise.

I'd maybe walk with a 9 year old once or twice to make sure they understood the traffic regulations, especially at a roundabout. But generally I'd assume that kids that age could manage this kind of task.

The move to being driven to school as the norm has been really bad for children.

I walked about a mile and a quarter all the way through primary school, and that felt just about right. I was refreshed and never too tired for school. But that was through the park and my DM was with me.
I think 2 miles is a bit too far, busy roads are too hazardous to children, and the fact that they can be argumentative is also an issue.

@Saracen

To those saying the 9yo's school might not allow it - it is not for the school to decide. They cannot have a rule that children of a certain age aren't allowed to walk to/from school. They are only in loco parentis during school hours. The school might wish to ask parents to give written permission for the child to be released to walk home alone, to ensure the school won't be held responsible for the child's safety. But they can't say no.

The most the school could do, if they felt very strongly that the child was being put in danger, is to report the parents to Social Care. I really doubt a social worker would take an interest unless the case was more extreme than this.

This is not true . A girl in my dd’s class was allowed by her mum to walk home at 8 , the school were not aware at first until a teacher on their way home found her crying in the street as she’d taken a wrong turn and was lost . From then the school got involved and the mother had to agree to collect her everyday .

@fluffybutter
That's because there was a genuine problem for that child so if mother hadn't agreed they may have had a case for SS involvement but they wouldn't be able to stop her class mate that lived 3 doors away from school going home alone on the bases that child X had been lost and upset , the point is the school can't legally enforce a blanket rule about year 6 it is about genuine risk for a particular child

It is possibly perfectly ok for even a year 2 or e to walk to and from alone is they basically live next door and also possible that it might be too risky for a 10 year old because of distance or no footpaths etc

I wouldn't like them walking alone, especially now. Don't know where you are but it's dark when my children leave the house and getting dark when they get home.
Not so bad for the 11 year old but at 9 I wouldn't like it. Also do the parents expect the 11 year old to be in charge? That's a lot of pressure especially if the youngest is a bit of a pain.

[quote TeacupDrama]@fluffybutter
That's because there was a genuine problem for that child so if mother hadn't agreed they may have had a case for SS involvement but they wouldn't be able to stop her class mate that lived 3 doors away from school going home alone on the bases that child X had been lost and upset , the point is the school can't legally enforce a blanket rule about year 6 it is about genuine risk for a particular child

It is possibly perfectly ok for even a year 2 or e to walk to and from alone is they basically live next door and also possible that it might be too risky for a 10 year old because of distance or no footpaths etc[/quote]
Our school rules as stated on their website say they will not allow children to walk home alone from school until year 5 .
It may not be the law but it is a rule for our particular school and many others .

@fluffybutter That's as maybe but they can't enforce it as soon as a parent sends a letter in saying I give permission for "flora" to walk home alone that's the end of it as if flora's parents don't collect her the school rings them they say she can walk home alone they have to release her, if they call social services they will call flora's parents they tell social services flora is 9they live 50 metres from school and have sent a letter giving her permission to walk home social services will just tell school to allow flora to go home unless they have child specific evidence that it is too risky for flora to walk 50 metres by herself. Like many rules they rely on people following them but in practice they are unenforceable. Likewise the school can't make you wait until child is in school if you just drop and run or Flora walks there herself there is nothing they can do. The Local authority will not allow a school to withdraw a place based on this.

Obviously in the case of the girl you mentioned she was not capable of going home alone but another child might well be especially if a very short distance blanket rules rarely work. Schools jurisdiction only works in school day so if you don't wear your tie there can be penalties but there can be no penalty for walking home with your tie removed or goingto Sainsbury with parents after school without your blazer etc etc school rules only apply when they are in loco parentis, so as soon as a parent says I'm responsible for flora from 3pm and she can leave school unaccompanied that is a parental decision which the school can only raise as an issue if they can be sure it is unsafe for Flora not that it maybe unsafe for Ben, Freya etc

Our school rules as stated on their website say they will not allow children to walk home alone from school until year 5
It may not be the law but it is a rule for our particular school and many others

It's completely unenforceable and completely reliant on parents believing, and accepting, the school have the power to make that decision.

I've never once worked in a school that hasn't had to back down when a parent has said "No, my child is walking home themselves".

Yes that’s true .
I wouldn’t think to argue with them but I suppose some may have grounds to if like you both say ,they only leave 2 mins away. My dd is 9 and I’ve just started to let her come out of school herself but I meet her across the road.
Slowly slowly catchy monkey and all that ..

@Fluffybutter

Yes that’s true . I wouldn’t think to argue with them but I suppose some may have grounds to if like you both say ,they only leave 2 mins away. My dd is 9 and I’ve just started to let her come out of school herself but I meet her across the road. Slowly slowly catchy monkey and all that ..

Parents have grounds to regardless of how far away they live.

Schools only option is to agree or contact social services if the parent insists. It's a parenting decision, in no small part because lots of children behave very differently in and out of school