AIBU to wish fewer people drove their kids to school?

[zizza]

It's been lovely commuting to work since the schools have been (almost) closed. I thought it was because of people also not working, but turns out most of the traffic at "normal" commuting times is school run traffic - kind of knew that from past experience of how much better it in is school holidays, but this has been highlighted by the Covid situation. AIBU to think that more children should walk to school?

I have had to explain to my mum in the past why people drove to school if they have a job to go to straight after dropping off so don't have time to walk to school and then back home to get the car, but I'm still mystified by how many secondary school age children get dropped off by car (again, I understand that some people live too far away from their secondary school to walk but what happened to kids walking up to about 30 minutes to get to school with their friends?) I think I'm getting old...

I'm not a SAHP either, I'm a single working parent.

Yanbu. As part of an environmental award our school had to map the journeys to school of the pupils. 64% live within 1/2 km via footpaths of our village school . Yet the traffic outside the school.in the morning is crazy. The same parents arrive early from these estates park up and block up the whole area.

Not a choice for me I drop kids off and head straight to work and vice versa.
My job involves me driving from place to place as a keyworker

My kids normally get the bus. They're being driven at the moment to reduce the risks.

I have a yr8 boy. I drive ds to the school bus stop because a) it's 7 miles away and b) because he is still so small I can lift him easily. Easy prey if someone tried to grab him.

When he's a gravelly voiced six foot teenager he can get himself there by bike. But not yet.

Mine could get the bus at 7:50 and pay for that privilege or they can leave with me at 8:05 and I drop them off! I’m passing there on my way to work.

Is that OK?

Well, much of this comes down to catchments and reduced buses. We live 1.5 miles from our local school, which our daughter was planning on walking. But apparently this year that is too far out so she will be going to high school 5 miles away, involving a change at the main bus station. At only just turned 11, she will be dropped in when our work allows.

Had they not reduced the PAN at her local school while simultaneously building lots of houses, she would walk to school.

We live 10 min from dc schools (primary and secondary)
Drive them because they can’t manage the walk

I was thinking the other day, that we need dedicated school buses like in the US

I live on a small culdesac in between two primary schools both less than a 60 second walk my DD didn’t get into either (we moved in after the application date) so we sometimes drive to school as it’s a lot further. Our road is blocked by parents from the other schools we can sometimes not even get back down our road ...

In general I agree with you OP that we should all walk / cycle more for short journeys.

However, I live in a village and the nearest secondary schools are not within walking distance (over 2 hours walk). My DC get the bus, but one of the other schools starts early so the bus doesn't get there in time. No option but driving really.

If everyone went to their closest school like happens in the vast majority of cases abroad, there would be far less cars doing school runs. That is without question.

Yabu op. Luckily we live across the road from my kids secondary school but if we didn't I'd be dropping them off on the way to work.

When I was at secondary school nobody was taken by car, they either walked, cycled or got the bus. At Primary school everyone walked becasue they all lived within a two mile radius in the village apart from two children that were brought by taxi (paid for by the council) as they lived rurally. Now everyone drives and clogs up the roads. When my son was aged 11 one of my neighbours would bring him home in the car when I expected him to walk - it was a very safe 15 minute walk but she felt sorry for him! Unfortunatly her son was horribly overweight, probably because he was never allowed to walk anywhere.

@Frazzled2207 we would need some new schools built first. Where I grew up it was impossible to go to a secondary school that wasn't at least a 10 mile drive.

The school my son attends is a rural school the powers that be decreed that they would no longer provide free or subsidised transport for children considered out of catchment who are on a low income which had a knock on effect children who were previously enjoying bus transport were either forced to walk for miles down roads with no pavements (or lightning) or the parents were driving them to keep them safe fortunately i can afford the bus for my son at the moment but who knows where the next few years will take me financially the other local school is unsuitable for his emotional needs and full of people who bullied him in primary so if the time comes where I cannot afford the bus I will end up driving

The UK is totally car-ridden and you, OP, are part of the problem. But, from what I can see, there are a number of problems that only the authorities can address, such as pavements on the side of country roads, or decent public transport everywhere.

I don't think it is all kids being driven. I find that if kids are off school more parents are off work. So with the kids going back, people are starting to get back to the office.

Also we have traffic lights that are 2 way that is a pedestrian crossing also so become 3 way when kids are walking to school. So in that case it the the pedestrians contribute to it being a little busier as much as cars.

Weve had two messages from our school in the first week back with a forward message from residents living near the school complaining about parents parking on residential streets. There is a designated car park for parents but its not that close to the school so i can see why parents use the residential roads. Unless they park over someones drive i think the residents should actually be a bit more considerate. You dont know what a persons needs are or their children's. People are struggling at the moment due to the lock down etc. Try to have a bit of empathy for parents. Residents do not own the road and dont need the whole road cleared all day. Imo its part and parcel of living near a school to expect school traffic and demanding people dont park near it is unreasonable. I agree with pp that we need dedicated school buses like they have in the US.

I am in Zurich, Switzerland. My child walks to school. The catchment areas are small enough, it's not dangerous given that no one drives their child to school, and it's good for their fitness and independence. And I gain time every day by not having to do the school run! I would wish the same situation to everyone, it is a chicken and egg problem (the more cars the more dangerous).

I drive my secondary aged son because he hates the bus, it would take an hour to walk it and in any case there are no pavements in much of our village. It's not hurting anyone else!

YANBU. Everyone will be along with their excuses about why they couldn’t possibly do anything other than take the kids to school in the (diesel-belching, huge) car but many more people could than currently do. The school run is a huge contributor to congestion, unsafe streets and air pollution.

I tend to drive up in a morning just because it's a mile walk, that means 2 miles walking for me to get home again. I do tend to walk up in the afternoon tho.

I drive in a morning because my days is busy enough without an extra 20 mins walk either way vs a 5 minutes drive. Also means ds doesn't arrive wet in bad weather or covered in dog shit from the vile footpath we have to walk up that is literally dog shit alley. We also park up round the corner from school next to our allotment and I feed the chickens on the way home.

Dd does walk to high school tho which is 2 miles away. And walks home as well. I do sometimes get a bit 😒 at those sahms that live closer to school who use their cars for both school runs, especially when we walk past them pulling up on the way home.

This again? Personally I am not aware of anyone giving their secondary children lifts in, if less than a 45 min walk from school, unless they were already having lifts, for example because of anxiety and school refusal. Covid testing has made school attendance significantly harder for some.

But if more parents are driving kids in rather than risking bus germs then fair enough. Similarly if we drive to hospital appts rather than using the buses, it keeps us safer and keeps the buses safer for those who rely on them. This is not the battle to pick just now.

In DS primary school class there were 4 friends who lived closer to the school than us and our 5 min walk. They were all driven and collected in the car every day. Bonkers.