Parents parking cars right by school entrances probably making DC unable to walk moderate distances

[nfg]

Where I live, schools are starting the new school year this week. Start date depends on school and the school year.

Parents want to park as close to the entrances to make children walk less.

As well as the dangerous parking which can endanger children. I believe children develop a concept of they think they can be dropped right by places. They probably can’t cope with walking moderate distances such as visiting a shop inside a shopping centre, theme parks, tourist attractions, airports etc. As i have seen kids in supermarkets complaining that they have to walk. They are 8/9 years old and then resort to sit inside the trolley.

Parents let your DC walk further!

OP. And are you spending all your days watching these parents? I think you need a better hobby

There is a large car park that is 5 minutes walk away from the school gates, but is rarely used at school drop off/pick up times. The majority of parents park on the road leading from the school to the car park, they will even park on the road next to it for reasons nobody can fathom. It makes driving through the village during those times very dangerous as often there is nowhere for the car driving past them to pull in should a vehicle be coming the other way. These are the same parents that will whinge about keeping their kids safe with no hint of irony whatsoever.

Kids and adults being too reliant on cars is not a good thing for their health now or in the future.
No wonder obesity is on the increase and all its related problems.

We live in a village, the furthest anyone has to walk is 20 minutes at a child’s pace. The traffic at the school is horrendous and driving through the village is a nightmare, it’s quicker to walk. Parents still park on zig zags and block residents drives because they can’t be arsed to walk. One woman lives less than a hundred yards from the school and still drives there, frequently arriving late!

It's not just school kids, a lot of adults do their very best to avoid any kind of short walk IME. I live a 20 min walk to a station, if I'm meeting friends there I always get asked if I want a lift, they seem amazed I'm walking it. 20 minutes!!

People jump on buses and tubes to go one or two stops. My friend gives her DH a lift to the pub ... you can see it from their house 🙄

Not necessarily. I live in a small city on a family estate, the 2 closest primary schools, one is a 28min walk and the other is a 27min walk, adults pace. I can’t imagine parents have over an hour morning and evening spare whilst working FT.

A lot of people drive straight to work after dropping their kids off too. I drop my son off at 8.35 then have a 15 min drive to work, to be at my desk and ready to start at 9. It’s a tight turn around. So even if he could manage the walk (autistic and hyper mobile) I wouldn’t have time to walk him to school, walk home again then get to work.

I have always walked my children to school and it's about 20 minutes there and back, that's because I am able and fit enough to do it as are my children.

Not everyone is though, I know a parent who lives fairly close to school and to most people looks healthy but actually has a health condition that affects her daily. No way could she manage to walk even 10 minute walk to school without being out of breath.

She wants to take her kids to school so that means she needs to park as close to school as possible, providing the parking is legal and not a danger to others, no judgement here. Just a parent doing their best!

Exactly. I imagine most people would prefer a leisurely walk to drop off and pick up without the stress of finding a parking spot and not having to rush off to work.

I get that some people need to drop their children off on their way to work. That doesn’t apply to those who sit in their cars for ages with the engine running from 2pm onwards. If it’s a primary school, surely the majority are close enough to walk and if they are more than 2 miles from school, transport is available.

I know of a primary school where so many park at both sides of the road, that it becomes a one way road. I’ve seen cars meet from different directions and refuse to reverse and I’ve seen a stand up row in the middle of the road.

I don’t know of any school where there isn’t a problem though, unless someone is able to properly enforce parking restrictions.

No! I went to hospital. Drove past at 9:50-10am with temp traffic lights due to roadworks which were allowing 4 cars each time! Then drove back just before 2pm. Same cars and people in cars both times

I don’t believe there is anyone sitting outside the school all day waiting for their children to finish.

When a colleague of mine went for a head teacher role, one of her interview questions was how would she solve the parking problems around the school. I think she suggested a walking bus. She got the job. I wonder if she had any success solving the parking wars!

I do have sympathy for those who have to drive. I've had to drive mine when they were allocated a school 1.99 miles away as the crow flies so just outside transport distance... (the distance was printed on the council letter!) But was a 45min walk each way. Even as a SAHM at the time, I didn't have 4hrs a day to spare for the school run. But there needs to be more thought into infrastructure around schools, including parking exclusion zones, drop off zones, walking buses from further away etc not everyone for themselves and dangerous manoeuvres. And enforcement.

Yanbu but i think the main driver is more likely to be parents with finely timed commutes to work, for whom that 5 mins walk to school and back to a car to drive to work, means being 10+ mins late for work. Using an expensive breakfast club when you can try and park right by school is unaffordable - you'd be paying £10 a day per child where i live. That could be £100 a week for 10 mins of care.

A school that my friend’s DC attend will start no waiting and parking during 8-4:45 on school days. As parents last two years, parked up and someone took parents home/wherever, leaving car parked outside school all day.

I don’t know the school or it’s location to establish what is happening to prevent parents parking all day long

I assume they wouldn't need the loo for an hour wait?

my sons school is on a hill where 2 cars can't fit on the road at once as people park along it (legally)
a lot of lazy arse parents stop right outside the office thus blocking the road. us other mums just wait patiently for them to drive away but its hilarious when an angry white van man tries to drive past

I do drive to school mostly although it's a 20 minute walk, it's the opposite direction to work and the station and I don't have time in the morning to walk 20 minutes there, 20 minutes back, when I can come out from the area where the school is onto a fast dual carriageway to work. I don't park right by the school though I park a few streets away and where it's safe and legal to do so. DS has no issues walking, we walk a lot especially in summer as we live by the coast and about a mile from town. Yesterday I did 12000 steps and he was with me all day and actually running around for some of that time so probably did more than me, Sunday we walked down to the beach met some friends played some beach cricket, then walked into town for a coffee then back home, about 15000 steps and again he was with me and fine, that's very common for a non school/work day.

No they are sitting in the cars whilst DC are at school. Sitting in the cars all day from 8:45-3pm

Still getting exercise that way though. I hate walking but cycle most places. Still exercise. My kids always cycled to school right from Reception. And DS youngest was on balance bike from age 2 taking the others to school.

Our nursery was literally at the end of our road and there was a woman living on our road who drove her kid there and picked up by car every day. She was going home in between too not going straight to work.

This was witnessed by a friend today. Primary school is on a corner of a major road. Parent stopped the car at the traffic lights and took her children out of the car and walked the 50m to the school!

Very much agree. I live next to a primary school. Its madness at pick up time with parents parking on double yellows, stopping in the road etc. The school is constantly having to contact council to get parking officers out who issue fines but it doesn't stop for long.
The absolutely mad thing is that due to how the roads are arranged, the road running parallel to the school road always has plenty of free parking and is far easier to get in/out of. It's not even two minutes walk but still you get masses of idiots blocking the school road. Its completely nuts.

I live in Scotland. All kids have a free bus pass. They used to walk the 30 mins to high school. Since the free bus pass came along every child gets the bus 5 stops to school. In a country with possibly the worst health record in Europe the decision to give every child a bus pass seems very misguided. Kids need exercise.