Why don't kids walk to school anymore

[Failingatthemoment]

I'm obviously old. BUT, when I went to school the majority of kids walked to school on their own from around the ages of 7/8. Now it only seems that ( some) secondary school kids do this.

Ours weren't allowed until primary 4. My son now walks to school by himself. It's about a mile away.

Kids don't all go to their local school.

Parents parents parent. You just have to be within 100 yards of any school to witness the lengths most parents will go to in order to not have themselves or their offspring have to walk ANY such distance to school.

Actually lets not just limit it to the school grounds. How about bus stops all over the country on school day mornings where parents would rather endanger everyone and anyone with their shitty parking so offspring can save their legs.

You can make all the excuses you like for time, work, etc etc but get out of bed earlier. Park 200m away in safety. Walk a bit further every day. Parents are just getting lazier and kids will get lazier

Loads of people walk to our primary school, kids are allowed to alone from either year 5 or 6, not sure which.

We walk when I'm not at work but we have to drive when I am because otherwise I would be late/have to leave early and I would lose pay. Sometimes we drive when we don't need to because we are running late/have a load of stuff/it's chucking it down and it makes things easier. On the whole though I do try to walk because it's good for us.

I would imagine the parents who drive probably have similar reasons but there will also be the ones who won't walk anywhere ever. They do tend to be the ones who park on double yellows, pavements so that they can get close to the school. I park as close as reasonably possible but it's quite far away really because I'm not battling with others trying to find somewhere to park. There is usually plenty of space where I go although I'm probably upsetting someone because I'm parking (legally) outside their house for 10-15 minutes twice a day.

A school local to me used to do a morning crocodile. A teacher/assistant, not sure which, maybe even both, used to wait outside the local shops each morning, parents would drop the kid at the crocodile point, then the kids would walk to school with supervision.
I thought it was a very good idea, however, the school wasn't too far away and no roads needed to be crossed really.

Various reasons.

1. Kids used to attend their nearest primary school. Now they travel to their preferred school seen as the better school.

2). I drop my child at 7:30am on my way to work some days and I’m the winter it’s dark. Same for collection from after school club at 5pm.

3. schools tend not to allow it until y5/6 unless you’re still 3 tier and possibly end of y4 getting ready for independence at middle school. That’s how I recall. I was walked (not driven) to first school then I walked my self to middle and got a bus to high school (13).

4)Depends on locality and what the roads/pavements/cycle paths are like. Roads are much much busier and more dangerous these days. One local housing estate near us as no actual path to walk safely to the nearest schools or even to the nearest shops. Everyone on that estate pretty much drives or catches a bus - bus only to main route though not necessarily to the various schools.

What I have noticed myself though is the number of kids regularly driven to secondary schools. The bus stops aren’t nearly anyway near as busy as when I got the bus. The kids that live where I did and go to the same school now are all pretty much driven. The school car park is a night late. I refuse to drop and pick mine up unless it’s raining (she’s autistic and hates getting wet), or she’s staying late and it’s dark, or running late. If I do pick her up at the regular end of school time then I go about 5 minutes or so after the end of school to avoid the gridlock.

Seriously. If i don’t drop my daughter at exactly 7:30am when breakfast club opens and head straight to work, the 25 minute journey can take over an hour. I’d have a 20 minute walk back home meaning it would be 7:50 minimum when I left my house after going back to get the car - later depending on how long it takes them to open the door at the school as they don’t always open on time!! I have to be at work for 8:30. Some days I’m there for 8, some days it’s nearer quarter past. But I’m not a get into work and start work kind of person - I’m a teacher and we often have a meeting at 8:30 before the kids come in and I need time to sort my stuff out for the day. I can’t always get it done the night before because if I don’t leave work before a certain time I don’t make the end of school club pick up time (5:30). The after work traffic is so unpredictable again. Anything from 3pm it’s to well over an hour.

The majority of my form (Year 9) walk. We do regular travel surveys.

We are very rural. No pavement at all between here and school, narrow country lanes with stone walls and nowhere to go if a tractor comes. It’s just over three miles as the crow flies but a lot longer if you choose not to trespass. We did it in lockdown when there were no cars - it took over 2 hours and we only got about 3/4 of the way there. It was a lovely day trip though! The school is in a hamlet with most kids coming in from surrounding farms. We only have one who is actually close enough to walk.

My eldest gets a special minibus which drives round the area collecting children for secondary school.

So parents these days are getting lazier for dropping kids to school, but years ago 7 year olds walked to school on their own without their parents.

So which is it? Are parents lazier or were parents years ago lazier?

I don't think parents generally are getting lazier at all, I think that they are getting busier.

Round our way, kids will walk with parents if they are not needing to be at work and kids will start walking by themselves from about 10/11. However, lots of parents drop off as we have jobs to get to that start before school (breakfast club drop offs) or just after school starts so walking isn't feasible. We also live in furthest part of the catchment area so about a mile and there aren't really many other children on our estate. Even when I was a child 'stranger danger' was an issue and concern and that is still something that would worry me as my son's mother.

I'm saddened to read people saying there are no lollipop people at their child's school. We still have them round here. My DD is quite anxious, but has started walking part of the way to school on her own and it really helps having our lollipop man to see her across the road to school for my own reassurance and hers.

Because I don’t want my children kidnapped 🤷‍♀️

I walk with them to school but wouldn’t let them do it alone and the school doesn’t let them until year 6

I have a child in year 12 and he's never been to a school with a lollipop man/lady. His older siblings have experienced going to a school with one but only about 4 years.

Haha what?! No one sits and idles their engines at my kids primaries. Park and walk to the school yard and then leave. And ages…? Nope, self employed so always last minute lol

People need to stop putting cars at the centre of their lives.

For that to happen, public transport needs to be cheaper, more widespread and more reliable.

A lot of children walk to my village primary, but lots don't. I live in a fairly rural area. Some villages don't have a primary school, or did but it closed down, so many children go to school in another village. Roads between villages are winding, single track and have no pavements and no buses.

Public transport is rubbish here. Most people drive to work. It's not an area full of lazy people though - adults and children are out on bikes and dog walks all the time. In ds' class in primary, everyone but him had a dog (until we got one!). It's also very safe, so people tend to let their kids play out and walk to friends' houses etc.

Apparently there used to be a lollipop man to help at the dodgy crossing by our local school, but when he left due to health problems they never replaced him, which is a shame because while the school only allows Y6 to walk home alone, I've definitely seen some of them rather reckless on scooters/distracted by friends and have close calls there.

Close calls with cars full of kids no doubt

OK smart arse. Please show where i quoted years ago kids walking by themselves?

Yes kids did walk to school more 20 years ago. Parents would take turns to walk other peoples kids. Groups would walk together. Kids would knock on other kids. Hell i used to bike to school every day and then bike to my friends house after school then bike home again.

Come up with whatever routine works but driving to school has become a social issue which is entirely down to lazy parents with excuses for everything. Get up earlier. Put the child in a closer school. Create a walking group etc etc.

I was born late 70's and had a parent walk with me to school and back until I started secondary school.

My own children went to school on a school bus from reception as we are rural and outside the main village. The catchment area for the school encompasses other villages and most of those children get the bus or parents drive them in. Children in the village generally walk with parents. All the secondary schools are at least 10miles away.

Why don't you walk to work? It's only an hour each way, you'll save in petrol and gain in health.

We have a High School in town, from one direction in particular parents drive along an A road, turn down a very narrow road to get to the school, maybe half a mile, they then turn round to drive back. The A road is alongside the playing fieds across which there is a wide path leading to the school but no parent drops their child off to walk the last 300 yards across the field.

They're in no greater danger of kidnapping today than they ever were!

As a working parent my time is valuable. There’s no way I’d give up two hours of my day to walk somewhere without the dog to save a couple of quid on petrol.

As for the children there are much more fun ways to exercise than walking for an hour carrying a heavy bag.

I used to walk to high school sometimes in the early 90s. My mother told me to get the bus as any savings were negated by the need for new school shoes.

Less car use sounds lovely but it’s got to be practical.

It's commonplace here, in spite of signs prohibiting it. People who live closer to the school than I do (15 min walk, no dangerous roads) drive their kids to school and clearly aren't in a rush because they're there well before pick-up time to get the closest parking space with their engine choking out the playground.

Some people even drive when it takes longer to park than it would to walk!