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Original poster

walking to school

36 replies

frances5 · 08/06/2007 11:07

I have just seen this article on the BBC website

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6731743.stm

My son is desperate to walk to school at the age of five, but there is no way I would let him at the moment even though he does not have to cross a single road and the school is just next door to our house.

If I drove him to school then we would end up parking further away from the school than our house is.

At what age do you think a child in my son's position could walk to school on his own. I am planning on waiting until he is seven or eight before he walks to school on his own.

Do you think that parents being over protective restricts their children's development?

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Original poster
frances5 · 08/06/2007 11:09

At the moment my son "walks" to school on his own, but I follow five metres behind him making sure he is alright and carrying everything that he has forgotten like his book bag.

OP posts:
ktmoomoo · 08/06/2007 11:10

my children not walking on own till year 6 [10]

babygrand · 08/06/2007 11:11

I think 7 or 8 is very young to walk to school alone. My dd (10) has walked on her own ONCE when I was having a problem with the other dd. It really depends how many busy roads they need to encounter I suppose.

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ktmoomoo · 08/06/2007 11:12

7 or 8 i think is far too young huni

Blu · 08/06/2007 11:13

I certainly wouldn't want a 6 year-old to walk nearly a mile to school over 5 or 6 roads, as in the case featured in the article.

But I am sure I will let DS walk with his very sensible friend when he is 7 - the school is round the corner, no roads, and loads of parents and kids walking the same route.

munz · 08/06/2007 11:16

if your school is next door to your house thou, can you stand in your front garden and see him directly walk into the school? possibly that might be an option whne he's a bit older - agree deffo not yet. I think I was around yr 6 as well (so about 10)

Original poster
frances5 · 08/06/2007 11:18

My house is by the school gate. There are no roads to cross. I can even see the school gate from my house.

Honestly when I was seven of eight I used to be sent to the shops to get groceries by mum half a mile away. I walked a mile to school on my own and lollipop man helped me cross the road.

The chances of a child being kidnapped were just as high in the 1980s.

How do you foster independence in children without allowing them to take some degree of risk.

OP posts:
juuule · 08/06/2007 11:22

Mine have always been in y5/y6 before I've let them go on their own. Really it wasn't on their own as they walked with friends. I just think that anything younger than that particularly completely on their own they are far too vulnerable.
If you can see the school gate from your house then surely it's not too far for you to walk him to school (wouldn't even consider the car). Maybe in y3 you might let him go alone but watch him from your gate until you see him go into school.

RosaLuxembourg · 08/06/2007 11:30

Well going against the trend here but I would certainly let a seven year old walk to school alone in the circumstances you describe (no roads to cross). I really don't understand why anyone would not, if the child himself wanted to.
DD1 aged 9 walks home from school by herself on days when she finishes later than her sisters. It about half a mile and there are two busy roads to cross, one with a pelican crossing and one with a zebra crossing. She also takes herself to and from her ballet classes and so on. She loves being allowed to do this and I trust her totally to be responsible.
I do think people can be ridiculously overprotective nowadays. In my opinion it is far more dangerous to wrap children in cotton wool until they are teenagers and let them loose on the world with no experience of managing to get about by themselves.

VoluptuaGoodshag · 08/06/2007 11:31

Since you are so close to the school gate then I'd let him walk on his own and watch from the window. My mother took me to school on my first day (aged 4.5) and from then on I was on my own. This whole thing about it being too dnagerous is a self perpetuating thing brought on by parents and media. No-one wants to be the first to actually do it because of the fear of what other parents may think NOT because of the danger.

Original poster
frances5 · 08/06/2007 11:36

Its nothing to do with me being lazy. Its about letting go and when to cut the apron strings.

By being overprotective are we stunting our children's development. Have parents and schools become paranoid about the risks of aduction?

Look at this article.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6720231.stm

OP posts:
fennel · 08/06/2007 11:41

I'm going to let dd1 next year when she's 8, but we live in a safe area for traffic, with just one possible tricky road at the end of the route.
I'll probably let her cross that alone when she's 8 - it's not the worst road, as long as the child's got road sense.

I've let her go around outside on her own since she was 6, apart from across main roads. she's quite sensible about it.

Mumpbump · 08/06/2007 11:44

We allow my dsd outside to play unsupervised in our very quiet road with virtually no through traffic. So I would probably let ds walk to the school at the end of our road from 8 onwards, but depends very much on the geography of where you live.

Fennel - quick hi-jack - have posted for you on the house-swapping thread...

juuule · 08/06/2007 11:52

Stunting our children's development by not letting them walk to school on their own at early primary? Doesn't seem to have hampered my 20yo, 17yo,16yo 15yo and 12yo. And they quite liked me taking them to school, we would have some quite good chats on the way there and back.

coffeepot · 08/06/2007 12:08

Frances5 ? we?re in almost the same position as you ? school is down a safe footpath at the end of our road (a cul-de-sac). Dd is 7. She has walked by herself on occasion. Reluctant to let her do it regularly before next year ? not because I don?t think she is safe but because she and gets . Also I enjoy meeting the other parents at the school gates. People who live even closer ? literally across the playground ? let their children walk but they can stand at the front gate and watch.

Agree it would be different if children had a long walk. We are very close to the school.

Nemo2007 · 08/06/2007 12:13

I think it completely depends on where the school is etc and the child. We live a 10-15 min adult walk from the school the dc will go to. So child walking it is around 30mins and is something I wont be letting my dc do until they are in the top juniors. Even then because of the other little fishes it will probably be them walking ahead rather than alone. There are a couple of main roads to cross etc for our school.If I could see the school by standing at the end of the path then I would be more inclined to let them walk alone/ahead by age 7 or 8.

coffeepot · 08/06/2007 12:13

Oh, and agree with Juule, don't think stunting their development by being over protective and not letting them walk is a huge issue at 5,6, or 7 or even 8. More of a problem for older children I think.

expatinscotland · 08/06/2007 12:16

Depends.

You can't really generalise in these instances because each child is different and where they live in relation to a school is different.

For example, where we live now, I wouldn't dream of letting DD1 walk to it until she were about 10 because it's extremely built up and involves several busy road crossings.

On the other hand, we'll soon be moving to a place where the school is 3 miles away, no pavements and no bus - not much choice how she'll get to school then, duh!

She's also got dyspraxia and tires more easily and is socially immature.

Nemo2007 · 08/06/2007 12:19

I was actually 7 when I walked to school alone, I was crossed over a very busy main road that we lived on by my nan and then walked crossing one smaller road for about 5mins to school. I used to walk home again and had to shout opposite the house until someone heard me to cross me over.
However by the time my sister started the nursery I was in top juniors and was responsible for walking us both and doing all the crossing etc.

janinlondon · 08/06/2007 12:20

Also depends on the school policy - at ours a parent must wait with the child in the school grounds (even though the grounds are supervised and gated) until the child is in year 3. And children can only be allowed home when handed over to a parent or designated adult.

OrmIrian · 08/06/2007 12:23

DS#1 is 10 and DD is 8. They have to walk about 1/2 mile and cross 2 roads. They have walked there twice in the last few months for practical reasons (DS#2 was ill). They have walked back more often. DS has done it alone but DD hasn't - I think she's too young as yet. Neither does she want to. I think that perhaps in your case Frances I would leave it for another year - when mine were that little I wanted to see them in the door to be 100% sure they were OK.

OrmIrian · 08/06/2007 12:25

And personally I think the risks of traffic are greater than the risks of abduction. I don't disagree with that article in general TBH - but in your case I think it's too early. 7 or 8 sounds about right.

Original poster
frances5 · 08/06/2007 13:23

I have no plans to let my five year old walk to school on his own. I think he could cope, but it would seriously be against school policy.

I think a school would have no power to force parents to walk with their children up the age of 10.

OP posts:
Mrbatters · 08/06/2007 13:24

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kel4mum · 08/06/2007 13:47

I wouldnt allow my kids to walk to school on their own until they were in year 6. Only then would it be a practise run for secondary school. In your position i would wait until ds was in year 4 or 5. We are responsible to make sure our children are safely into school at such a young age. Im dreading my kids having to walk to school on their own, even when they are old enough, i think im a little over protective. I dont even allow my ds(8) and dd(6) play out the front. I just dont want to take too many chances

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