'Walk to school Week'- why, why, why?

[ampere]

What IS the point of this money wasting exercise?

Surely mums (as mums it practically always is!) who drive their DCs to school, by and large either do it because:

-they work and unless they have a very understanding employer who will accommodate them being late for a week, may lose their job over this; or

-mums whom wild horses wouldn't induce to walk, let alone a poxy sticker scheme!

Once again it's attempting societal engineering via schooling rather than attack the 'core' of the problem- if, indeed it IS a problem- being the fact none of us have any time any more and many of us have mortgages or rent to pay! Furthermore, really, why expect DCs to trog to school in all weathers when we, as adults, take the car everywhere?

I wish schools would spend the money on sticking to the point and schooling our DCs not rewarding behaviour 'walkers' already do and guilt tripping those who can't!

no toccatanfudge you are missing my point. What I am trying to say is that the only time they park 1 street away is during the Walk to School week so their child can be seen walking! to and through the school gate to get the prized sticker. 1 week later it is back to Wacky Races again clogging up school gates with cars , endangering the lives of children (and adults) that walk , blocking driveways(please dont start the "well you knew you were buying a house next to a school chant") and somehow they never seem to be in a rush to get to their cars once children have been deposited into school (cannot miss out on the latest gossip now can they)

oh trust me - I wouldn't do the "you knew you were buying a house next to the school chant" - I lived for 5yrs next to the school (literally next to the school we shared 2 of our garden wals with the school and I could peek over from DS1's bedroom into the school hall just 1 metre away )

starlight - no they don't - you only get transport provided/paid for if it's more than 3 (I think?) miles away.

If your local school is 2 miles along a road with no path and a dangerous grass verge you don't get any help.

starlight - where i live there are very few buses let alone bus passes. No bus company gives passes to primary school children to go from one village to the next - and even if they did i wouldn't let my 6 yr old on one.

I love walking mine to school, it's only 10 minutes on a slow day, but we encounter the same people and they exchange good mornings with the DC, which helps them feel confident and safe in their community. Teaches road-sense too.

aww bless you Butterfly - you know there are exceptions to the rule - I'd be freaking out too about the taxi..........even though DS1 has been walking himself to school for 2yrs now lol

because I am an uber lazy mummy who doesn't walk to school at all but leaves her children to do it themselves

Northern, part of the problem is lots of schools don't provide bike racks.

I can sort of understand the ranting if you live in a suburban area etc. but even so there will be mums who drop their DCs off and scoot off in cars to get to work on time.

The one and only point i'm trying to make is that it doesn't suit everyone to walk their DCs to school be it urban, suburban or rural. They may even want to but it's just impossible.

And the 'walk to school' wankery, with it's wall charts and stickers, is a pointless exercise and makes some children feel bad, singled out and picked on. And that is what i find most annoying and unacceptable of all....

ahh well fife - there' nowt but countryside up there is there

but youdon't - there is surely nothing stopping even the "must be at work by 9am" mum from parking a few streets away and walking at least some of the distannce is there???

starlight - each council has their own policy on transport. ours is 3 miles. not many parenst can or choose to walk 18 miles a day to take their children to and from school/nursery

and we have no buses so a bus pass would be a bit useless

as other posters have said, not all children live in suburbia

I know Butterfly - I'm only teasing about Fife.

It's not getting the children to school - it's the time it takes after to get back to the car and to work. It can put 15 mins on a journey and some folk have an angry boss waiting.

And if it is only a few streets away - surely the difference can be made up later at dance class / tennis class or in my case, walking the dogs.

What i'm trying to say is that it's not the bee all and end all...

if it's only a few streets away it stops the school street getting clogged up with the cars - and THAT is half the point of the thing..........

That is so simplistic Starlight. I live just 1.8 miles from ds' school so wouldn't qualify for a bus (it has to be 3 miles) - however I have to drop dd at the junior school another 1.5 miles in the other direction at the same time. Notwithstanding that this is logistically impossible on foot, I would also have to cross a major A road with fucking great juggernauts and a 50mph speed limit to get there. You are being - excuse my bluntness - just a bit 'doh' about this! We don't all live in fulham you know

and 15 minutes to get back to the car? I didn't say you had to park 1 mile or more away - I said perhaps just a couple of streets

Stupid stupid people who can't see beyond their own nose (wanders off ranting incoherently and brandishing a fist impotently)