2 mile walk to secondary school too far?

[Somewhereonlywego]

I'm not sure how long it would take, 40, 45 mins?

I could give lifts where possible on WFH days, but that wouldn't be every day.

There's a bus, but only one an hour and not sure how reliable it would be. But could be an option for super rainy days?

Prob about 40mins .
I am a walker and it would be good exercise for them. But honestly, in a British miserable winter in the dark.......bit dismal.
Summer would be fine

Fair enough.

Quite.

There’s no way I would have walked 40 mins home every day in the winter with a heavy bag. It was bad enough having to walk 20 mins from the bus stop.

I have a disability and I can walk 2 miles in 45 minutes so I'd expect a healthy teenager to be able to do it in considerably less. It certainly shouldn't be a huge physical challenge.
That said, I think it depends a lot on the route. I complained when the stop my DC used to get the school bus from was moved and that only added a few hundred yards. The initial reply from the bus company was "What? Are you saying teenage lads can't walk an extra few hundred yards twice a day?" Of course that wasn't the issue, the problem was that those extra few hundred yards were down an A road with no pavement and no street lights which is one thing in the Summer when it is light and dry, but a totally different proposition in the Winter when it's pitch dark at both ends of the day and the verges have become a quagmire. I successfully argued it was unsafe. Distance isn't the only thing that matters when it comes to deciding whether a journey is walkable.
I'd say if the route is ok it is doable, but there probably will be days when they want a lift. I've no doubt that a healthy teenager is more than capable of walking that distance twice a day but there will be days when it's pouring down, or icy when it might not be desirable. I lived about that distance from my school. My Mum didn't drive and there was only one school in town so I had absolutely no choice in the matter but I can't deny there were days when I wished there was an alternative.
If you do have a choice you need to balance the extra inconvenience of getting to a further away school with the benefits it offers. Only you/your DC can decide on that.

If she walks nearly 2 miles in 25mins laden with school stuff then she is quite the athlete.

My son used to walk 1.8 miles and it took about 45 minutes. Not sure how fast he was walking! I wouldn't have given him a lift, everybody just met up and walked.

Mine did this. I used to intercept them with the car on the way home if the weather was awful.

One good thing as they got older they were happy to cover similar distances to go and see friends or into town. So my taxi duties were less than they might have been.

If it's a catchment school in a rural place with lots of people doing the same journey, it'll be a chance to socialise, lift share if clubs etc and totally fine.

If you are choosing it over a closer school because it's better in some way, so won't be part of the local community, then it's something to put in the "cons" column as it will feel isolating.

DS does similar, meets a friend partway, go via another friends house then to school. The only problem is his shoes get worn out 😂

The amount of women that say they can’t find the time to exercise after a day at work and feeling exhausted. Yet, think the teenagers must do it in all weather, in the dark with heavy bags (I think their bags will be heavy every day if you have books - do they still have to take their books?) and a water bottle even on normal day. Of course they must also be doing well academically. I would like to see some of those people walk 40 minutes in the rain before AND after work, come home and do their homework. Most of us think it’ll be okay some of the time but not all of the time.

Absolutely fine! Mine do about that a few days a week - there's usually a big gaggle of them.

If it's pouring with rain, then they get a lift.

I think it'll usually be ok but you should have a back up plan, otherwise I'd be prepared for more sick days - seems a completely reasonable walk unless you've got a heavy cold, your period, it's sleeting and you've got a bag of books to carry.

Maybe we did it ourselves and know that it’s absolutely fine.

Honestly, the way some posters are banging on you’d think they lived in the Tundra and their teens were being asked to walk barefoot in the snow while carrying 50kg weights on their backs.

If a healthy teenager can’t walk for 40 minutes after school in the UK then there’s something very wrong.

My son did this for 6 form. it was 2.1miles and took 45 minutes.

I think he'd have been fine younger, but 11(summer born) is different than 16 and his bag was very heavy so that first year might have been tiring? But then he woukd do other physical stuff so probably not.

He only had a mile to his secondary, as did I and dh got a school bus. So not much experience of longer walks.

Mine cycles 2.5 miles every day. Leaves early so roads are quieter (gates open at 8) and then cycles home after school / clubs. Walking would take 40-60 minutes and he’d be annoyed by it so he cycles. He gets the odd lift, but he’s fine.

It's not far and will do them good. Walk there and back. Don't see why not.

According to Google, London (not the depths of Scotland..) is dark at 8am for around 40% of the year, and many kids do after school clubs till 4.15pm so that's getting home at 5pm. The UK is dark for around 25% of the year at that time. This doesn't take into account cloudy days. So accounting for the fact that London gets more light than much of the UK due to its southern location, let's say 40% rather than 50%, but let's not get too pedantic 😊

Factor in what time they need to be at school for as well. My kids had to be inside the gates for 08:15 so would leave at 07:30 to walk 1.6 miles, giving time to meet friends en route. It was entirely uphill from our house to school - in West Yorkshire, so you know I mean UPHILL 😆

it’s not pitch dark at 8am for 40% of the year London - yes, it’s not bright daylight but it’s still perfectly fine for kids to be walking around!

On the contrary, I think it is great. That is great exercise. Children don't get enough of that these days.

My child will have a 1.5 mile walk each way to school everyday, or she can walk for 10 minutes, catch a bus, get off, walk for another 5-10 mins. She'll just walk. She'll learn it's better to rely on herself than the extra factors of buses, passengers, other drivers, car collisions causing traffic jams etc.

She'll walk and at 16 she'll have long toned pins which she'll love, just as i did, at her age, walking about the same distance :)

Great for mental health, too. Best decision you've made!

Depends on the area... Where I used to live it was an invitation to be mugged or worse walking around in semi-darkness, especially as a child 😅

What, during rush hour when everyone is out walking?

I managed three miles each way, for years, though I didn't have to carry a lot of stuff back and forth.

Yeah, older ones will be carrying text books. Wet socks, cold, tired. Will they survive? Yes, probably. But it’s definitely sub-optimal as far as I’m concerned.

All those who talk of exercise, a forced walk to school (and back) doesn’t exactly inspire healthy living. The health benefit is marginal unless it’s brisk walking. I’d rather my child did a sport that they liked.

The number of kids who were mugged or even stabbed walking to and from school was frightening, and no I'm not exaggerating. The presence of other people isn't always a deterrent. But as I say, depends on the area. I wouldn't let my child walk two miles unattended if I wasn't absolutely sure it was safe. 15 onwards is a different matter.