Walking
Where have all the walkers gone?
Gone for cars and buses, every one, Pete Seeger might say. According to The New York Times, fewer than 15 percent of student walk or bicycle to school. That compares with half of all students who walked or pedaled 40 years ago. One-quarter take buses, and about 60 percent are transported in private automobiles, usually driven by a parent or, sometimes, a teenager. Groups like The National Center for Safe Routes to School are urging more students to walk or ride (it is promoting Walk To School Day on Oct. 3).
But some suggest that the congested streets from homes to schools make walking or pedaling to school a risky proposition for students.
Do you think schools should be encouraging students to walk or ride bikes to school?
September 18th, 2007 @ 7:42 am
Creating livable walkable developments is important in community building. Schools and communities should be designed to provide safe routes to schools for students.
As a school planner, I have parents in school pickup lines calling from their gas guzzling SUV saying it takes them 40 minutes to pick up their child that is less than 2 miles from home. Walking to school provides necessary exercise to help fitness and personal contact with your neighbors.
We all need to work to make the routes to school and home safe!
September 18th, 2007 @ 10:55 am
An administrator from Ohio writes:
“This question hit my inbox on the same day the daily paper had a picture of a girl from a local district who now has to walk about ½ mile from her home to a bus stop and wait by a drainage ditch for her bus.
“While the benefits of bicycling and walking are great, the dangers often outnumber the benefits. Bus riding is very safe, but where the stops are located and what goes on there can be problematical. Times have changed and what may be a healthy alternative may not be the safest alternative.”
September 18th, 2007 @ 11:04 am
I’m all for exercise, but would suggest this (walking to school) should be for “age appropriate” students, also taking into consideration the distance to travel. This is a great suggestion; however, I’m sure there will be that “one” horrible incident where someone gets in an accident that will dampen the idea. I’d argue there’s no guarantee…whatever the mode of transportation, there’s something that can happen. Guess I’m one of those believers in fate! The key is to be attentive and responsible in whatever method of transportation in order to avoid such incidents, or minimize the possibility of their happening. For some school districts with reduced budgets for busing, walking or biking is becoming the option. Bottom line…you make the choice, and exercising can only better your health! That’s just my two cents!
September 18th, 2007 @ 1:47 pm
Once you have a child, it is important to live near the best school that you can. Once you do this, then you can walk or
bike. I walked my son to school daily from grades K-8. Once he hit high school, I let him walk alone. We lived only 3 blocks from the K-12 Christian school. I used to listen to all the parents that drove complain and seek car pools. They lived in much better homes and neighborhoods than ours. We could have moved and lived where they did but chose to live here for our child. Can you imagine if there was an earthquake or emergency and I had to drive in a rainstorm from far away? I believe in my heart of hearts a child should be close to his dwelling when he is in school and not yet allowed to drive.
September 26th, 2007 @ 8:32 am
Sadly, in this day and time with all the child predators in our community, walking to or from school and even waiting outside for a bus can be very dangerous. Some adult supervision is needed at the bus stops if your child rides a bus, and I would not let my child walk to school. There is other exercise for children without the danger of a child being kidnapped.