To think Year 4 is too young to walk home from school alone

[user63214]

School have just announced years 4 and above can walk home alone. My DS has autism so maybe my view is distorted but he is only 8. Whilst it’s obviously still up to us they seem to be pushing it abit reminding us to sign consent forms.
We are off a fairly busy road and the parking/driving situation at peak pick up times is not always very safe.

I get it from year 6 preparing children for secondary school. AIBU?

One of the big differences is many children don't go to their closest school. My godson walks past two other primary schools to get to the one he got a place at. If he went to the closest one, as children general did years ago, he could absolutely walk alone, but not the distance he actually had to go.

The other big change is traffic. That's the thing most parents at our local school cite as the big problem - and we're a village location with a walking bus from the local pub car park, so a very good and safe set up. People still park like twats and drive too fast for some parents to feel comfortable.

If you don’t think it’s ok for your child just carry on

but yes most kids at year 4 should be capable of walking to and from school. It used to be the norm and in many countries it still is

edit - we have become more fearful, but we are trading short term risk- accidents - against lives marred by physical and mental ill health

and fewer cars doing a school run will reduce accidents

When my mum returned to work she couldn’t quite get to the school to collect me in time. I was quite sensible but there were 2 extremely busy roads that she was worried about . A bus stopped outside the school and although it was only 3 stops it covered both big roads so she felt safe knowing I wouldn’t have to cross them and by the time I got home she was always there. Perfect solution except I was 8 and worked out that I could walk in the same amount of time ( didn’t have to wait for the bus) and spend the bus fares on sweets yay! It seemed very sensible idea to me but I never mentioned it to her just incase.

Traffic has improved in most places though. Where I live, there are more speed limits, stricter controls, more zebra crossings, more bumps to slow cars down, raised pedestrian crossings that didn't exist at all 20 years ago. So what's actually changed is our perception of danger, and not the actual dangers.
This is true for a lot of aspects in parenting.

So don't allow it. For your child. For others this would be fine and would make a lot of parents' lives a heck load easier.
My neighbour's very sensible year 5 daughter walks home. It's 2 streets from the school and her dad is WFH so she isn't going home to an empty house. She could easily have done this last summer term too.
Yet I know some 12 year olds who would probably cause chaos doing this. Age is not the only factor.

As long as you have taught your child road sense there shouldn't be a problem. Many children have no road sense as they never walk anywhere so make sure you teach yours how to walk around the area.

Totally depends on the child and the school/distance. For some Y4 kids who live over the road it’s probably a nice bit of independance for them! It’s from Y5 at our school, not vastly different.

No, it's fine. It's not saying they MUST walk home alone.

I live in a middle school area. All children are expected to walk if not too far from y5. Kids definitely rise to the challenge of independence just fine at that age. DD was scooting a mile to and from school at 9.

Depends on the environment/child. I'd hate a blanket ban as my 7 year old is perfectly happy walking the 2 minutes between our house and the school with her friends and/or big brother. No roads involved, just a flight of steps down a cliff and with a window open, we can hear them the whole way home.

I’m in a very major city in Canada. Lots of busy roads around my DCs’ school. They are encouraged to walk or cycle home from age 8, as part of a healthy and independent lifestyle. I allow my 8yo DD to do it with a friend.

All depends on the route, the distance and the child.

I was doing it from that age but we lived 200 yards from the school with no roads to cross.

Probably the ND is skewing how you feel. I have twins that are Y4, one I would be happy for her to walk part of the route and meet her halfway with a view to extending over the year. The ND one absolutely no freaking way! 😂

Our school, no, the roads are manic. That's my main concern with it. Local schools here don't allow it until year 6.
If ai lived in a village with little through traffic then possibly. But I would also never forgive myself if something happened. They are still small at age 8, can be easily distracted, grabbed and bundled into a car or van, still a bit uncoordinated.
Unless its a small walk and everyone is going the same way, then potentially.

I think it really depends on child/ route. If you don’t want your child to walk then meet them. The middle ground for our school was the local park kids would walk there after school and play and parents pick them up.

Traffic around many schools has absolutely not improved - cars double/triple parked, stopped on zigzags and double yellows - giant SUVs with a massive front over blindspot driven by morons with no regard for anyone else but themselves and their own children.

I have twins and in P4 (they’d just turned 9) I asked for them to be allowed to leave alone once a week. They’d walk up to local community centre 300 yards have an ice cream then ballet lesson. Then I’d pick them up. They normally allow it from p5.

We did have to have a conversation but they were ok in the end. My thought was they are sensible/ have each other/ quiet place where everyone knows each other and a big brother who was also at the school.

DD walked home from year 3. She is very sensible and good at crossing the roads. There were always other people around as its a school route. DS1 has auADHD so we waited until end of year 4. DS2 we waited until y5 as he has zero common sense.

Depends on where you are, as many other posters have said as well. But even if there are still dangerous situations and drivers, our roads have got steadily safer over the last decades, as is evident by the steady fall in road casualties (including pedestrians) since the 70s, despite an increasing population.
It's common to think our roads are very dangerous and have got more dangerous recently, so we're justified in not letting our children walk alone anywhere. But it's actually a skewed perception and has nothing to do with reality.

My primary wasn't my closest, that would have been a 1 minute walk. I went to a Catholic school which was a 10 minute walk away crossing residential roads and yes we did walk home but they were a lot less cars on the road back then and everyone in my street all knew each other by sight. If you came off your bike Mr Peters from no 4 would have stopped washing his car, picked you up and carried you back home. I can imagine the uproar now if some random bloke who lived down the street carried a female child in his arms.

My children's school was a 45 minute walk away, across public footpaths over fields and down dual carriageways with a 70mph speed limit and a crossing a major motorway junction. I basically drove them to school every day and parked 5 minute walk away so they could use their scooters and still get the scoot to school points. When Ds was in year 6 he was allowed to walk ahead so I could monitor his road crossing skills as I still had to walk his younger sibling in.

So if the local primary was a 1 minute walk, yes, if it was my children's 45 minute walk crossing busy roads, no. It depends on the child and the route.

We live in a tiny market town and my year 4 rides her bike home. There are no main roads and she’s home within about 7-10 minutes.
She has a key attached to the inside of her bag in case she gets home a few minutes for me. She loves getting back and getting herself a snack and a drink.

She has such little freedom in comparison to mine and her dad’s childhood that I really try to allow her as much independence as I can.

At my dcs old school (they are now adults) no child was allowed to walk home alone,even if they lived next door with no main roads to cross

Anyone who picked them up had to be over 16

I sent dd (who at the time was two weeks off turning 18) and they had a fit

Parent or nothing-they tried to hint they'd get ss involved (I laughed and told them to go ahead) but expected them to leave at year 6 and be fully independent!

We lived a 5 minute walk with one quiet road with two crossings and I had two sensible kids and one that wasn't

Bonkers

I think it has to depend rather a lot on the child and the route.

However, I have just posted on another thread that generally speaking I feel the push for "independence" is often an excuse for parental convenience and doesn't really benefit the child as much as people claim. That starts to change as they hit their teens I think, but there is no harm in protecting children while they are exactly that, children.

However, some routes would be fine at that age.

I think it is totally OK in general for an 8yo to walk to and from school alone, assuming they know how to cross the road safely and that they only have to cross quiet roads or at crossings. Obviously each parent has to decide based on their own particular circumstances.

Traffic has improved in most places though. Where I live, there are more speed limits, stricter controls, more zebra crossings, more bumps to slow cars down, raised pedestrian crossings that didn't exist at all 20 years ago. So what's actually changed is our perception of danger, and not the actual dangers.
This is true for a lot of aspects in parenting.

Traffic around schools hasn't improved in many areas though.

I live in a pretty safe village, traffic wise, but there used to be three lollipop ladies at the busier bits years ago - all gone now despite the fact the actual amount of traffic has increased.

So whilst it may be true in your area it's actually safer now that's not the same everywhere (and I say that as someone who believes children should walk to and from school when they can and had to push my first DDs school into accepting it was my choice, but theirs).

Driving standards are atrocious on many occasions now as well. When I was a kid nobody would have dreamed of ignoring the HT and parking on the zig zags outside the school. Now at many schools it's like a competition to see who can drive and park the worst.