'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!

This is why it costs money:

these people cost money

this website costs money

Walk to school campaign costs actual money.

So I agree with the OP, it is costly taxpayer funded bolleux.

Relevant page from Fake Charities website

doesn't help all the kids that are driven to their religious and exclusive private schools either does it?

As Riven says "People have forgotten its easy to walk a mile. ffs, I'd be ashamed if my non-disabled children were too unfit to walk a mile and feel I had done something wrong."

I don't need an organisation dedicated to telling me the blinking obvious, paid for with my taxes.

Clearly you do not need to be told the blinking obvious either.

In fact, who does?

Stay out of my face, stop charging me so much tax and I won't have to drive to work so often to fund this sort of utter drivel.
Easy, job done.

Hear hear Riven.

cat2 - are you saying that if taxes were lower you wouldn't have to drive to work? Or that you would work less, so cause less traffic congestion?

If taxes were less, things would just cost more fgs. It ain't so simple.

I have no problem with the scheme/week. I know a few mums who have walked when they normally wouldn't, one of whom was surprised by how much they enjoyed it, and will be trying to do it more often.

I drive to drop my DD off at school(I work p/t and have a 30 min commute), but pick her up on foot. Our (15 min) walk home is a lovely chance for a chat, bit of fresh air, road safety, look at nature (even if that means a slug on the pavement!).... Plus it is a bit of exercise for us all - especially me (pushchair and steep hill)!

I am shocked constantly at the people I know who live nearer to the school than me, are SAHPs, and yet drive there and back every day of the school year. They have no reason to other than laziness IMO. Not a good example to set.

Do people really, really think that everyone who could be walking to school (even on an occasional basis) does? Clearly, that's not the case. We are, I would suspect, a classic school for this sort of campaign (although our school doesn't do it ) - hardly anyone lives more than 20 mins walk from school, and it's not a pretty walk, but good pavements etc. I am constantly amazes how many people drive from near us - saving maximum 5 mins on a round trip, given hideous school run traffic - in fact, I sometimes walk past people getting into their cars & beat them to school....

I think there are lots of people - esp in suburban areas - who simply assume that getting in the car is quicker and easier, and dont consider non car based options.

Live nextdoor to an infants school and I know perfectly well that not all the mums who fill our road at 9 o'clock either live miles away or are going straight on from work. Besides, I remember the reactions from other mums when I set out to walk a mile with mine: the offers of lifts, the raised eyebrows, the looks of disbelief.

That is so true Cory - and I have only the one dd who doesn't have any kind of illness. So many people used to comment when we cycled the two miles to/from school (we've moved closer now).
I remember one woman being absolutely amazed when I came one day to pick dd up in our car because we were off somewhere - she had clearly assumed that we had to cycle because we didn't have a car, and couldn't imagine that anyone would do so voluntarily

I def know quite a few parents who are SAHM/D drive kids to school and stay same area as we do, perfectly ok to walk. Yes, in v bad weather its better to get a lift but otherwise no need & laziness

The ones that make me laugh are the mums (and yes, it is mums) who arrive in the school car park an hour - AN HOUR - before schools ends to bag a good place. I know this because when I go in to help with an activity I pass them - already sitting there listening to Steve Wright.

Often the excuse is "We go swimming straight after school" or some such, but really it's just rank laziness.

And if I hear one more person say "Well I work" as an excuse for anything and everything - I'll spontaneously combust.

It seems to me that social engineering is a major part of a school's job. I can't think of a more suitable place to promote walking as a normal part of the day.

People who genuinely cannot walk because of work or any other reasonable reason are not the targets here. The targets are primarily the children, particularly those who are forever being ferried around in cars, and to whom it may never occur to walk anywhere.

It's just like the food issue. One reason we have an obesity crisis on our hands, and that 30% of the food we buy ends up in the bin, is that we have had a couple of generations of children grow up on school dinners and convenience foods. Now that they are parents themselves, many do nit know the fundamentals of feeding their own children. That is why the schools now need to teach healthy eating. Because it is not coming from the parents. (And I
don't mean that judgementaly - how can you beexpected to model a behaviour which you don't know?)

www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/7731837/Primary-school-students-driven-to-school-fail-to -know-where-they-live.html

it's a shame they have to do a special week for it really, as it makes it seem like something special, when ideally it would just be a normal part of life (like healthy eating, exercise etc).

loads of people walk to our local school but I also see people drive from near our house to the local shop. we'll be walking, as we can't afford a car. my driving friends just don't understand that walking is fine! as for the shock at walking a whole mile well my DD's been doing that (to the park) for months and she's not quite 3 FGS!!!

'That is why the schools now need to teach healthy eating. Because it is not coming from the parents. (And I don't mean that judgementaly - how can you be expected to model a behaviour which you don't know?)'

PC, I'd expect most parents of reasonable intelligence to do what teachers have to when told to teach something they know little about.
Research it. Buy a cook book. Choose to watch something informational on the TV and make notes. Then bother to make an improvement in their children's lifestyles. Rather than relying on a couple of lessons a week for a term to make a difference.

But it doesn't even occur to some parents! Because they were brought up on convenience foods they do the same for their children. Similarly if our generation of children never walk anywhere, it may never occur to them that their children should walk anywhere.

riven - you may laugh, but we were advised by an immigration consultant that brain gym and eating blueberries would solve the brain damage that might prevent us from getting our visas...

anyway, our last (infant) school did 'activate' first thing and after lunch, and the last junior school did 'wake and shake' every morning. unfortunately they were three miles apart and start/ finish times were 10 minutes apart, so my poor deprived children didn't get many 'walk to school' badges.

these days they walk, (peers out of window at school playpark) and apparently do PE every day. PE largely seems to consist of walking round the running track though... but i guess it's a start.

i took a bunch of cubs to the gym the other day to work on their 'athlete' badge. now, i'm no athlete, but i do expect an nt 8yo boy to be able to jog once round the gym without needing to stop for a rest...

PC, I was a child of the 60s and 70s. If it didn't come out of a packet and glow in the dark it wasn't considered food.

I'm still for it being a partnership, but there's so much more information out there in different media that parents know what they could be doing to improve their children's health and fitness.
Some just can't be arsed.

Walk to school - ha ha. So - let me see - that would be 3.5 miles along windy but fast (60mph speed limit which gets ignored) road with DS and DD. A further 4 miles from there to DD's nursery and another 3.7 miles home (it's a triangle) - and they are at the nearest school and nursery respectively. So - a 11.2 mile round trip, and again to pick up - with a working day in the middle.

(and no, there are no buses. At all)

Interesting Telegraph article. Surely what is "destroying" their knowledge of the area as well is the fact that people no longer live, work and go to school in the same communities.

Some of this will be down to school places not being available. But some is down to parents actively "choosing" to take their children to school a few miles away because the local one is deemed not good enough.

cos you is lazy feckers?
drop em 50 m away and let em walk the last bit