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24HourForums.com > Supported Forums > Britt's Child Education > POLL: When should children walk alone? |
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Britt Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member  Learning Contentment
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 According to this news story by Gary Eason of the BBC, the British government officially states "children under the age of eight should walk up to two miles before qualifying for school transport." They do not state whether said children must be accompanied by an adult while they walk. British schools have the authority to demand children be accompanied by an adult or walk in groups, however, and many do to protect the children they serve. When is it permissable for children to walk alone to and from school? Is there a magic age of maturity or should this be decided on a case-by-case basis, as suggested by the British Walk to School campaign? Are you comfortable with elementary/primary school children walking to and from school unaccompanied by an adult? Do you believe mid-school/junior high students are capable of walking alone to school? Please share your opinions and experience. When should children walk alone? by Gary Eason Children are encouraged to walk to school. But - on their own? At what age? The issue overlaps with the way schools increasingly seek - or feel obliged - to oversee pupils even outside their gates. When Keren Townsend sent her son off to school on his own at the age of six, she said the head teacher contacted her to tell her not to do it again. "It's less than a mile, with no major roads, and a well-used route by many other pupils from his own school and others," she said. "I was phoned by the school and told it was not allowed. "The next time I did so, I was informed that I must send him in a taxi next time I was unable to accompany him." Accompanied The head teacher of the school, in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, Peter Turner, said the boy had to cross five or six roads on his walk, some of which were quite busy. He had heard from other parents and pupils that the boy had been crying on the way to school, worried about being unable to cross safely. Mrs Townsend says she knew nothing of this and, on the contrary, her son was disappointed at being told he could not go on his own. Mr Turner says he suggested the taxi as an option used occasionally by other parents. Mr Turner said: "Some six-year-old children living close to a school with safe pedestrian routes would be quite capable of walking unaccompanied. "Others would not by the nature of their personality. Each case is unique." But Mrs Townsend says the head told her he did not consider any child of that age capable of coming to school alone. The local authority, North Somerset Council, happens to be running a "jam-busting June" campaign to try to curb car use and generally encourages walking to school. School travel adviser for the council Kate Cochrane said: "The way we have handled it is that primary school children should be accompanied or go in groups, but the responsibility stays with the parents." That could mean groups of friends walking together, not necessarily with parental supervision. Some schools have organised official "walking buses" and at others there are informal arrangements between parents. But the authority has tended to take the view that the school's responsibility ends at its gates. Two miles The national Walk to School campaign also takes the view that it is down to parents to judge when their children are ready to step out alone. "Provided they are satisfied that the children are mature enough to do it, we would encourage it because it develops independence," said campaign co-ordinator Andrew Fielding. "But the parent and the child have to be ready," he said - and crucially the child had to want to do it. The government says children under the age of eight should walk up to two miles before qualifying for school transport. "This is measured by the shortest route which a child may walk with reasonable safety," says the Department for Education and Skills. But its guidance is silent on whether they should do so on their own. Extension of powers Questions are being asked about the potential implications of new powers given to schools in the 2006 Education and Inspections Act. These were intended to clarify the powers of school staff to discipline pupils for misbehaviour on and off school premises, for example on a school bus. Mr Fielding says the question that arises is: does this mean staff also have rights and responsibilities over pupils' welfare outside school? If a school insists on a child being transported to school - in a taxi, say - then is the school responsible if something goes wrong? The issue is a sensitive one in North Somerset because, elsewhere in the district, a father is claiming that a car accident outside a school, while collecting a child, is the school's responsibility. Choice The government's school travel adviser for the south-west of England, Andrew Combes, said the statutory distances of two miles for under-eights - and three miles for older children - were, in practice, out of date. In his own authority, Somerset County Council, extensive data collected by schools on how their pupils travelled gave the lie to the tabloid stereotype of "lazy mums in 4x4s". "Actually people who live close enough do walk," he said. But the limits they would tolerate were about 800m (half a mile) for primary schools, 1,600m (about a mile) for middle schools and 2km (2,200 yds) for secondary schools. Mr Combes said the wider issue was parental choice: parents tended to choose schools that were further from their homes than they or their children were prepared to walk. "They will be responsible for the impact that has on the climate and congestion, and on the personal development, road safety skills, health, et cetera of their child," he said. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/education/6731743.stm Published: 2007/06/07 16:08:59 GMT
 "All that you have is your soul." --Tracy Chapman |
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UsedToRide Original500© Member  ^^^That is LOVE!!^^^
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Good question. It depends on many things. It depends on the kid, how far they have to go, what the neighborhood is like. I think kids should learn some form of independence but that isn't something that can be said, "They need to learn independence by age X." People have different levels of comfort in different situations. As a parent myself, I am highly protective of my kids, much to their chagrin. There is a line to walk between wanting to protect your kids and what they think they are capable of. They seem to want to do things too soon, and we don't want to let them do things soon enough. I'd think groups of kids could walk together at a younger age, but again, it depends on the neighborhood and the kids themselves. Is there a long stretch of rural road where they would be utterly alone? There are way too many things to consider when letting kids do their own thing. A case by case basis would be the way to judge what the right choice is.
Respect some, trust one, fear none ~~Bullet http://www.freeholbrook.com The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. ~~Dostoyevsky |
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Britt Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member Learning Contentment
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UsedToRide wrote: There are way too many things to consider when letting kids do their own thing. A case by case basis would be the way to judge what the right choice is. I agree, UTR. Every case is different. Like you, I have been extremely overprotective of my children. My adult daughter is a fiercely independent young woman, thus it hasn't hurt her too much, ha-ha, and my son is constantly asking for more responsibility. When I was in primary school, I walked two miles to school through busy city streets. Friends from my neighborhood walked with me. There is definitely safety in numbers. Still, I would *never* give my kids the same freedom I had. It's just too scary.
"All that you have is your soul." --Tracy Chapman |
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UsedToRide Original500© Member ^^^That is LOVE!!^^^
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Britt wrote: When I was in primary school, I walked two miles to school through busy city streets. Friends from my neighborhood walked with me. There is definitely safety in numbers. Still, I would *never* give my kids the same freedom I had. It's just too scary. Well heck yeah! Not only the things that need to be thought of now, the world is a very different place than it was when you and I were kids. I rode my bike to school, alone, about 5 miles when I was in 6th and 7th grade. I wouldn't let my kids ride that far, alone, even at the ages they are now. My son is almost 18 so I don't have much say for much longer, but that doesn't mean he's not still my baby boy!
Respect some, trust one, fear none ~~Bullet http://www.freeholbrook.com The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. ~~Dostoyevsky |
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Britt Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member Learning Contentment
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UsedToRide wrote: My son is almost 18 so I don't have much say for much longer, but that doesn't mean he's not still my baby boy!  Yep! I told my son the other day, "Even when you're a professional man, married and with children, you'll still be my baby." (Dear God, I promise to be a good mother-in-law. Infrequent visits, calling first, treating my daughter-in-law like a princess...until she breaks his heart, and then I get the nunchucks, wha-ha-haaa.)
"All that you have is your soul." --Tracy Chapman |
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CARLA Original500© Member  Aloha San Diego is Paradise.!!
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Good advice UTR its a dangerous world out there today. As kids we walked every where from dawn to dusk and even when it was dark. On Halloween we were gone at 6pm and didn't come back till 9pm. You can't do that today just not safe. They are our most precious children and we must guard them as best we can 24/7. Yes as they get older they want more freedoms if you taught them well they will be careful, but you never stop worrying about them just a different world today.
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up worn out screaming what a ride.. |
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Lady Cop Pioneer100© Member  BAH HUMBUG
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geeze Carla...you mentioned halloween...i can't even imagine letting little kids go door to door at night anymore. we sure did have an innocent childhood, didn't we? such a loss.
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Britt Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member Learning Contentment
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Lady Cop wrote: geeze Carla...you mentioned halloween...i can't even imagine letting little kids go door to door at night anymore. we sure did have an innocent childhood, didn't we? such a loss. I agree. Times have definitely changed. Perhaps the safety we felt in the past was an illusion, but now we know there is no safety save in God.
"All that you have is your soul." --Tracy Chapman |
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CARLA Original500© Member Aloha San Diego is Paradise.!!
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I don't if our saftey back then was an illusion or just a different time in space on this planet called Earth. There were less of us and housing was totally different then. I don't remember there being many apartments when I was growing up here, but now there are hundred of thousands of them per square mile. No place for kids to play period.
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up worn out screaming what a ride.. |
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Lady Cop Pioneer100© Member BAH HUMBUG
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i lived in a leave-it-to-beaver neighborhood. i can still small burning leaves and feel what it was to kick piles of Fall leaves. i can still feel the joy and anticipation. we knew our neighbors. i am so glad my kids had the same experience. will any other generation ever enjoy such memories?
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foxglovepress Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member  NON-PC!!
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I don't think it makes any difference where you are anymore, kid's shouldn't be alone on the streets. City's are far too dangerous. Small towns SEEM safe and probably are safer, but bad people will find a target when they are looking for one! Why allow your child to be that target? Granddaughter has only walked home from school, with friends, maybe 4 or 5 times in her life, and she's 13 yrs. old. We drive her to school every morning, and pick her up at the school every day after school. She has her "social" life at friends homes, the movie with several kids, or everyone at our house! The kids are picked up and driven to these homes! There really shouldn't be any reason why a child should have to walk alone. SOMEONE needs to be with them.........................
Justice for Mark.....Imprison Employers Who Hire ILLEGALS! |
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shirohniichan Original500© Member  Obscurius per obscurum
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Lady Cop wrote: i lived in a leave-it-to-beaver neighborhood. i can still small burning leaves and feel what it was to kick piles of Fall leaves. i can still feel the joy and anticipation. we knew our neighbors. i am so glad my kids had the same experience. will any other generation ever enjoy such memories? I wish they would. The best chance I'd have of giving my kids such an experience would be to take them to live in a small town (especially in Japan). Small town folks have very little privacy, but at least they know where their kids are or know others will know where they are. My wife won't even let our daughter out in the front yard alone (even if the neighbors we know are out in their front yards. I think the fears have gone overboard.
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Britt Forum-Blogger© Original500© Member Learning Contentment
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Nice to see you posting, shirohniichan. I'm glad you have returned from a short leave of absence. We missed you! One of my good friends lived in a small town in Japan for 18 years. He said it was extremely safe for kids. Perhaps you should move...?
"All that you have is your soul." --Tracy Chapman |
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shirohniichan Original500© Member Obscurius per obscurum
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Britt wrote: Nice to see you posting, shirohniichan. I'm glad you have returned from a short leave of absence. We missed you! I loved living in the Hiroshima countryside for almost 3 years. As my 3+ years came to a close I got really homesick for the good old US of A. I realized how American I was. If I could find a decent temporary job there I wouldn't mind taking my family there for 3 years or so so my kids could enjoy the sort of safe environment we had growing up. Children walking to school say good morning to people they pass on the way, as do adult strangers. Neighbors bring each other excess produce from their gardens and stop to chat with each other. 
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