School children should receive free bus travel before pensioners?

[Itchthescratch]

My child is starting a school where it will cost around £2k for bus travel. This school is local and one of the closest schools to us. The other schools close to us are much worse in terms of opportunities and academic outcomes. I can afford the bus fare easily but I worry that some poorer families will really struggle to send their children to the higher achieving school because of the cost.

I understand that there isn't an endless pot of money but surely it would make sense to give school children free travel ahead of other groups like pensioners? School children are statistically much more likely to suffer from poverty (child poverty is almost double pensioner poverty)and it seems crazy that we aren't supporting social mobility whilst we let all pensioners travel for free on buses.

If parents just had to send kids to the nearest school then these sink schools wouldnt evolve.

It should be. I am from London, so I took it for granted.

Then moved to the West Midlands and was shocked children had to pay.

100% school aged children should get free bus travel to get them to and from school.

if it takes your 11yr old 75min to walk 3 miles they need to work on their fitness!

Nothing is free, the buses need fuel, the drivers need their wages. Somebody is paying, if not the passenger, then who? The Tax Payer.

I walked three and a half miles home from school every day from 11 onwards. I'm sure it didn't take 75 minutes and course no one had phones.

Again, not all schools are equal.

Blackpool has 10% of kids achieving a good grade whilst some London Boroughs have over 70% of kids achieving the same.

If you are poor but with aspirations and prepared to work and travel to further yourself then shouldn't this be encouraged?

Here in Northern Ireland everyone aged 60+ is entitled to completely free, non means tested bus & rail travel. Meanwhile the youth/student discount is about to be cut from 50% to just 33%! Absolutely bloody ridiculous.

THey dawdle

90% of schools are good or outstanding so most do not have rubbish schools on their doorstep.

She must have been a seriously high earner, not a typical pensioner!

The pensioners have contributed by working and paying tax for 35 years

That's what Google suggests at the top end which is believable in areas with lots of crossings and congestion.

Read the stats I quote above about the percentage of kids getting gold grades in Blackpool versus London boroughs and tell me that it's just as easy to achieve well in all schools.

88% of schools in Blackpool are rated good or outstanding.

Is this some kind of private school bus? Do you live that far away from the school that they can't walk to a bus stop and catch a bus where the fare is £1?

Blimey,you must have a very very sluggish 11yo.

I walked the 3 miles to senior school when I was a dc. I left at ten past 8 and was always in time for assembly at 9.

I agree schoolchildren should get free bus travel as well as pensioners. They don't where I live unless the nearest school is more than 3 miles away.

Plenty of people live in places where bus travel is not free for children.

Very different to the actual grades the students get.

Not just me then. I was lucky in that my dad dropped me on his way to work but it certainly didn't take me 75 minutes to walk home.

I'm guessing you are exaggerating here.
Are you honestly saying your mum has a pension in excess of £200k pa?
That would be exceptional.

Yep. Let's just bring in compulsory euthanasia for everyone at age 70. Then those greedy pensioners will only get a bus pass and the triple lock for a few years.

My gran used to walk miles every day to go shopping. Does this mean that pensioners should get free travel?

I would not be happy for my daughter to walk that far so early in the morning on the roads near us. It would still be dark then and statistics show that most women wouldn't be happy to walk in the dark alone so why are we suggesting this is great for 11 year old children?

https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/new-data-women-feel-unsafe-at-night/

No, it's a normal bus. There is no £1 bus fare.

60 year olds aren’t pensioners in this day and age. I have another 7 years to go!

Financially, students are far more squeezed than the vast majority of pensioners and that is a hill I will certainly die on.