The school run

[Lilysmum]

I see the Government have decided to focus on this....

Am I the only person to get infuriated that mums are constantly scapegoated as single handedly responsible for traffic conjestion?

Is there something less valid about going to school than going to a poxy office to sort paper clips into different colours and sizes ? Are the car journeys of a lardy Burton's suited 'professional' geezer who frankly could do with the exercise, somehow more righteous than kids going to school to get an education?

Blimey my daughter is not even old enough to go to school yet and I am still morally indignant about the whole thing

Oh yes lets tell them to cycle to school - as long as we don't mind a phone call from A&E one day to say 'hurry up - junior is in resus with a head injury'

Oh yes lets make them walk to school - just this week there was an attempted abduction of a teenage school girl in broad daylight just down the road from me....

What about mum's who need to go on to work afterwards - they can hardly be expected to walk junior to school, walk back and then hop in the car to go to work....not unless they boss doesn't mind them turning up until elevenses.

Rant over....

[happycat]

Hear Hear

[suedonim]

No, you're not the only one who is indignant about this, Lilysmum - and I walk my dd to school! I agree, it is scapegoating an easy target, and it also presumes mums are all SAHM's, that children go to school in their local area etc. As for the idea that schools should have staggered start times - puhleese! I believe that things like car sharing should be encouraged, but that should apply to everyone who commutes not just those going to schools.

[waterbaby]

Here, here. I'm as environmentally friendly as they come, I think, and at the moment DP and I cycle to work with DD (2) in cycle carrier. Luckily there is a decent cycle route which doesn't involve too much traffic, and at the moment DD is small enough to go on our bikes. Once she gets to school age there will be an awkward stage where cycling will probably take as long as walking, plus dropping her off at 8.45 will mean I get to work at about 9.30. We're committed to trying to use the car as little as possible, and will probably take it in turns with friends to do the school run/walk, but being addressed in this way makes me furious! Sure, congestion in the immediate area of schools, with all those fumes pumping out isn't good for anyone, but I see so many suited people heading to work with just 1 person in the car - why not tackle companies/workers instead or at least as well as, and encourage car sharing or better public transport too... rant over - thanks, feel better now!

[SoupDragon]

I've not seen the news that sparked this off. The truth is that there is definitely a lot less traffic on the roads when the schools are closed. I would imagine though that there would be a similar, if not more dramatic, drop in traffic were workplaces closed...

I'm currently improving DS1s walking stamina with a view to walking him to school most of the time.

[WideWebWitch]

Great article by David Aaronovitch making a similar point here As he says: "We still find ways of blaming women for everything, usually with the collaboration of other women. Men make up 80 per cent of rush-hour traffic? Blame the mothers."

[bells2]

I am also very annoyed at these media reports. There is a bus and a tube which could in theory get us to DS's school. The tube is out of the question becuase with a 4 year old, 21 month old (who doesn't walk) and a new baby due tomorrow, the 60 or so stairs at one end and the combnation of stairs and long escalator at the other make it dangerous, if not impossible to manage on my own with three small children. I have tried to get the bus there 3 times with my 2 children in the past couple of weeks. Each time I have to wait for upwards of 25 mins as 3 full buses sail past only to be made to feel like a complete leper when I do try and board with a pushchair. Each time the driver has only allowed me on if I fold the pushchair at the entrance and carry it to the back. This has been difficult enough to manage while 9 months pregnant with 2 children but I have no idea how I could manage it with a newborn plus a non walking toddler so I have given up and resorted to the car. The school is actually less than 2 miles away but were I to walk there and back, that would add up to 8 miles a day walking along busy roads with endlessly uneven kerbs and difficult crossings. I just wish that public transport, and in particular the tube, were more child friendly. Grrrr!

[cheese]

I wish they would concentrate on the actual walk to school - we do it was to drive would take longer and it's a HORRIBLE WALK EVERY DAY. Honestly feel like driving just to avoid it. No one bothers to let you cross the busy road in the hot sun and pouring rain you still have to take the long route because the road is so busy you can't cross and where it is safer to cross it is still very dangerous because drivers are very single minded and don't let you cross. The lorries make the narrow pavements even narrowier, they can't help their size and I could go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...... SO WHEN THE GOVERNMENT GOES ON ABOUT WALKING TO SCHOOL AND WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK STARTS I FEEL EVEN ANGRIER - There, don't feel better but got if off my chest!

[Lilysmum]

Wickedwaterwitch,

Thanks for sharing that article - it was fantastic.

[robinw]

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[janh]

Another interesting/amusing piece on this from the Observer yesterday - by Phil Hogan - here. Some of it could have come from this thread!

"There's an assumption, in all this, that mothers find the school run somehow enjoyable and that 'causing' gridlock (as opposed to being stuck in it like everybody else) is a way of passing the time before meandering back home to bake a pie or popping into town to have their legs waxed. The truth, of course, is that many are rushing to drop the kids before driving off to the office themselves. Busy mums are part of the workforce too now, remember? This isn't 1958. If it were, we'd all be catching the bus. Now there's a crazy idea."

[suedonim]

Good piece, Janh! Our local council itself has contrived to cause a dangerous traffic situation at our local school. It has awarded school transport contracts to two different companies, according to where children live/go to school. Hence, instead of the one coach which served all children previously, we now have one coach, as before, and three 16 seater mini buses vying for about a 10 yard parking area!!! How can that possible work out cheaper? It certainly doesn't help me when I'm trying to walk past the wretched things on our narrow pavement.

[Bozza]

And why is the blame being laid on the mothers? Most children have two parents. When DS goes to school I fully expect DH to share in the school run on the days when I am working as he shares in the nursery run now. On the other two days I plan to walk DS to/from school.

It is definitely true IME that the roads (including motorways) are quieter in the school hols. But following on from Soupdragon's point about when workplaces are closed I've commuted between Christmas and New Year and they are virtually deserted then.

[codswallop]

this was what I found out for our anti parking campaign.

Graph 6: Child Pedestrian Casualties by Location

7a. (i) The two peaks between 8am and 9am is at the time children are travelling to school.

7a. (ii) The relatively low casualty figures between 9am and 3pm are due to children being at school; 3pm sees a sudden peak as children leave school and are still well above the daytime levels at 7pm.

6. About two fifths of pedestrian casualties were children, of whom less than 1%were killed, 20% seriously injured and 79% slightly injured. Almost three quarters of child pedestrian casualties were hurt further than 50 metres from a crossing, compared to a half of adult pedestrian casualties. Almost nine of every ten casualties were injured crossing the road and a third of these were masked by a stationary vehicle.

2. (i) In 1998, most deaths and injuries to children occurred on built up roads and 50% of all child casualties were pedestrians. Of the 36,010 child casualties on built up roads, 49% were pedestrians, 18% were pedal cyclists and 27% were car occupants.

[dadslib]

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[dadslib]

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[lucy123]

I think more kids should walk to school too.

I don't like the fact that mothers are blamed for congestion either, but somehow it is more important that we cut down on the school-run rather than the work-run. Firstly, as the govt says, kids need the exercise, but also if we get them into the car habit now, what hope is there when they grow up? There are too many cars around.

On the other hand I would like to point out that at leat school-run parents/carers are more likley to share lifts - you don't see nearly as many school-run cars wih only one child as you do employee cars with one worker.

[tallulah]

I always longed for my kids to walk to school.. bit difficult when it is 22 miles away (primary)...

How far should they walk? DS1 walks almost 3 miles, DS2 has ADHD & there is NO WAY he could walk that sort of distance unaccompanied. Because both secondary schools are "almost" 3 miles we don't get transport either. As DH has to take DS2, he might as well also take DS3 who is going in the same direction.

[codswallop]

funny how no one minds if men drive big cars but women with three kids should drive a tiny one....

Pure sexism and envy

[Crunchie]

Ah but men need the large car to prove how big their d**k is!!!

[Bozza]

I agree that kids should ideally walk to school. LIke I said in my post DS will be walking on the days that I don't work. This has shaped our decision making in choice of home, application for school etc. It has been a big factor - although I realise we are lucky to be able to make the choices that make it possible.

But I can't see it will be feasible to walk him to school, then walk home, then drive 23 miles to work. Probably after school he will go to a childminder and most of the ones in our area seem to walk to collect the children. Again this will be a factor in choosing a childminder.