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.

When I used to walk to school in the 80s, there were lollipop men/women on all of the busy roads-I think there were 4 on the route to my school. Now there are much busier roads and no crossing patrol staff.

I live by a primary where lots of pupils attend from about 3 miles away. They are desperate to come to that school as their primaries, in a really deprived area, are failing and there's no real catchment here.

My own kids. We lived about a 30 min walk, 1hr round trip from our neareat primary then and we both worked, so we dropped rhem in en-route

We live a mile away - I don’t feel great about my 9 year old doing that alone. He makes his own way home at least once a week but I prefer to see him in the doors myself

Because there are more cars on the roads these days due to an increase in population.

When I was a child, we went to the nearest school and that was that. It's different these days. We were allowed to choose 3, we chose the closest school and was allocated one 3 miles away.

Anyway, isn't this all obvious? 😂

People drive cars that are more like tanks nowadays. Way more cars on the road.

Oh yes, agree with PP - We no longer have lollipop men/women to help crossing the road.

Our local school is on a busy A road. There is a crossing with traffic lights. I use it everyday and every week someone speeds through the red light. Even if you're half way across with a pushchair (bitter experience)

It is all obvious but some people just love to have a pop at other parents. It makes them feel all smug and superior that they get to call other people lazy.

It's also highly obvious they more parents these days are working so will be rushing from school to work.

My children all walked in primary school (a 15 minute walk each way, often took them closer to 30 minutes).
Their secondary school is 5 miles away if they walked the most direct route, which would take them through the heart of Epping Forest, so I drive them, 7 miles each way via roads.

I'd add in further distance to primary schools. In the area I grew up in there were three local primary schools, two for Catholics and my one. Now there is one large school and if you want a Catholic primary school, you'd have to get a bus. In my childhood (70's) it would be unheard of to need to get a bus to primary school.
Then in some areas there is a lot more violence between young people and even towards primary aged children. We certainly need tougher sentences for dangerous driving. They aren't popular but there is a need for cameras for speeding and incorrect driving around crossings.

We walk but I walk with my kids. They're still very young, oldest is 7, and there's no way I'd let them walk alone until earliest year 6. School wouldn't allow it either, but even if they did I'd still be walking with them. It's a 15-20 minute walk but have to cross the road a minimum of 3 times and there are no pedestrian crossings. The only proper pavement with space to walk is also full of driveways as well as people parking in the middle of the pavement. One child was taken by helicopter to hospital earlier this week after being hit by a car turning in to their driveway. So I'll keep walking my children until they're in year 6, although longer if they'll let me seeing as I have to keep walking younger sibling as well :)

Lots don’t attend local schools as they don’t get a place/it’s religious or parents deliberately put them in a village school to get smaller class etc.
Our village primary is massively oversubscribed (new builds) but they say it’s fine as there’s capacity nearby but nearby is a rural village over a massive hill with no footpath - only drivable. There is no bus service to that village.

A lovely thought, but when you have to cycle an hour each way to get to work, plus drop off the children in the opposite direction, it doesn't work. You are being deliberately obtuse.

Catchment areas are also larger, my daughters school was 24 miles away!

I'd actually be quite happy to let mine walk alone once in juniors, one quiet road and one road with a zebra crossing. There's loads of others from their school around too. Wouldn't be risk free but then nothing is.

It's irrelevant as they aren't allowed. I walk with them as I don't think I'd save any time driving in my case as it's such a short walk.

It is all obvious but some people just love to have a pop at other parents such a weird thing to do! And I fell for it anyway 😳

I'd love DC to cycle to school but we don't have a cycle network! Despite living in a city. Just loads of dual carriageways leading in and out and around in a circle. Whoever designed our road network is a pillock

We live 4 miles from our catchment primary. Only the last half mile has a pavement. The rest is across country, with 2 miles having no houses at all.

We live rurally and the school is 3 miles away along narrow country roads with tractors thundering along most days, I also drop off then go straight to work

Where we are in London it's mostly kids walking with their parents. Very few are driven. Rare to be allocated a primary further than walking distance. Year 6 and secondary kids travel alone (but often on bus as it's free).

I walked with my mum in the 90s at primary level so don't think it's a new thing not walking alone. School was close too.

I drive as it's 3 miles each way but wish I could walk as it's so much more pleasant.

But once at secondary school bus picks them up outside the Door

It depends where you are. Where I live, very young children walk to the local school independently. Age 6 plus. I must admit I was a bit shocked when I first saw it many years ago, but they do seem to be pretty safe / street wise. 🤷‍♀️ Other schools a bit further away are either year 5 or 6 before the school will let them go.

I think we as a society have reduced our tolerance of possibly fatal risks to children. Child road deaths have more than halved since the turn of the century because our calculation of the risk/benefit tradeoff has changed.

The number of child deaths and serious injuries on the road has decreased by over 90% since 1979 when I was in primary school. That's more than ten thousand children each year who don't get killed or seriously injured thanks to our nannying cotton-wool mentality.

Child road casualties peak at age 11/12 when they start walking to school by themselves.

It really does depend where you live. I live in the outskirts of a city - not even a ‘bad’ area and there’s no way I’d let my children walk alone until year 6/7. There are so many more cars on the road now, so many more people around, there’s knife crime. Schools won’t allow it until year 6 here anyway. For us it’s nearly a half an hour walk and crossing the road, even at crossings with lights, is stressful.

We walk pretty much every day, school is about half a mile away but nursery is in the opposite direction, I like the walk, DD usually scoots, she's only in reception though so I've got years of this to come!

The only exception is if DH is away and it's my office day so DD has to go to breakfast club. It takes 40 minutes to walk DS to nursery in one direction, then take DS to school (or vice versa) then for me to walk home - I am not hustling the kids out of the door at 7.25am at the morning when I could do the same trip in 10 minutes in the car and be on my way to work. I imagine plenty of parents are in a situation where they are then rushing off to work or appointments.

My just turned 8 yr old walks the 20 mins to school, and I walk with her