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.

I live near a Primary school. The majority do arrive by foot.
Breakfast club drops tend to be by car.
Most of those arriving by car are from the next village, rather than the village where the school is.

Kentish, it's not all of us, we don't all drive kids everywhere

We live too far away so mine takes the bus.

We live a four mile round trip from school so we drive

Oldest goes to a specialist school about 20-25 minutes away, youngest is 5 so I or DH will walk him down but depending g on what the school says when it is acceptable for him, that’s when he will likely unless he doesn’t have the maturity yet. We’re in a new build estate but we still have drivers wanting to treat it like a raceway including trying to go past a bus on a bend knowing the speed limit is low and lots of children around.

There is no law preventing children being allowed to walk alone; it is up to the parents to decide. I have read of successful challenges to schools which have tried to enforce their own rules about this.

Lots of schools don't allow it until Year 6.
Lots of parents work, so they can't walk to drop off their kids then walk home just to drive to work and be late.
Lots of children aren't allocated a space in their nearest school.
More cars on the road now, so roads and crossings are far busier and more dangerous.
Many councils no longer fund community safety jobs like "lollipop ladies".
Less police presence in the streets leaves unsupervised children more vulnerable.
Schools are far more inclusive, so more children with special needs (including invisible disabilities like autism and ADHD) and it would be unsafe for many of them to walk to school alone.
Stranger Danger campaigns from the past have resulted in a generation of adults who are don't allow their children to be unsupervised until they are much older.
Walking in pissing rain and cold is unpleasant and parents opt to keep their children warm and dry when there is an alternative.
People are far more dependent on cars now and some can be too lazy to walk.

I live on a school route lots of children are walking but there is an adult with them.

@Ladykryptonite Of course, I was generalising there, nothing personal. I couldn’t even drive when my son was in primary and then I home educated, so no experience really.

Because parents need tk get straight to work after and don’t have time to waste by walking there and back.
also siblings who need to go tk a different school often.
my kids primary schools were 20 and then 12 minutes drive, no way could that be walked. Also loads of kids do walk to school when they live near enough

I walked alone / with friends from about 6 I think, but it was a village and there was only one road with a lollipop lady and the rest was footpath through fields, and lots of other kids & Mums of younger kids walking the same way from the estate to the school. No chaotic parking issues at school as a) nearly everyone walked and b) the footpath came into the playground at the opposite side of school to the road and car park.

I wonder if the kids in the village still walk from as young now, as the route hasn't changed. The village has expanded a bit though so perhaps kids from the newer outside edges are driven or walked in.

Mine walked to school or home sometimes with friends from year 4 (only a few years ago). But they had no roads to cross and it's less than half a mile, and lots of other kids and parents went that way. This sort of route is pretty rare.

Moosebreath, not all parents 'have to' drive to work, there are alternative modes of transport, and the roads are so busy partly because of all the parents driving their kids to school

I think there are a few reasons.

There was certainly less traffic when I was a child in the 70s. So walking and cycling felt safer.

Today more households have both parents working, or the sole bread winner is a single parent. So time constraints are an issue.

With the advent of the internet more opportunities arise for children to be exploited. So this adds to safety concerns if travelling unaccompanied.

Lastly, as a society we have generally become more sedentary, so walking is seen as a chore.

Divorce, driving is not the only way to get to work for plenty of people

Oxford. A girl was abducted on her way to school. She got away thank goodness, No idea if they caught the guy but it's freaked out parents and made them way more wary of stranger danger

I sometimes wonder if I dreamt my childhood in the 80s. I wasn’t allowed to walk to school on my own until Y6 (which was also the same age I was allowed into town or generally out with friends). So to me my DSs have the same freedom I had 35 years ago.

I live near 2 primary schools plus a private nursery and a prep school.

The majority of children do arrive by foot, public transport and bike.

More nursery children arrive by and are picked up by car than primary children as their day is longer.

Now it is summer term you see more children aged 10/11 going to school on their own. Younger than that there is an adult with them.

My DD goes to a CM near another 2 primary schools. One day I picked her up early for an appointment and a child who was small for his age was walking home on his own. Other adults picking up their children were overheard saying stuff like "Isn't he a little young?" until another child loudly said "That's [child's name] and he's 11" The boy then went into his home which was about 200m away from the school.

I walked to and from school sometimes age 9, in the 1980s, about a mile and a half, with my friend. But sometimes my mum dropped us off on the way to work, or her mum did, or my grandparents picked me up, or I walked home with my aunty. There was definite stranger danger - always reports of creepy men hanging about near the school, and plenty of traffic as it was a more urban, built up area than we live in now. So my parents definitely worried about it, but I remember it being something I enjoyed when I was allowed to do it.

Surely depends where you live. My child started going to school alone in year 5 on his scooter. It was about half a mile. After school used to go with friends to nearby park where many school families hung out and it was very safe.

Yo do know you are the parent, right ? You decide, not them. Just like you decide what goes into their lunchbox. Stop being a sheep.

I'm 80's child and didn't walk to school until I was what would be year 5 now and was around 9, And most kids were same then. Now mine has started but only across the road and with friends. I think it is busier lifestyle, parents working etc so just drop them off on way to work.

Our local primary only takes children who live in catchment area so no-one lives more than a 25 min walk away.
I always walked mine to school and then came home for car because I started work at 9.30.
But I see so many parents now dropping their children off by car as they're on tight timescale to get to work. I do think there's a lot more families with both parents working full time now than even a few years ago

As with all these threads (eg why dont kids playout anymore) it all depends on the area, dangerous roads etc etc vast majority DO walk here and the kids walk without adults from yr5 which is the earliest school will release them on their own.

"Don't have time to waste" yet sit outside the school for ages idling their engines.