Not all students live in a location that would actually benefit them to walk or bike ride to school. Some live in more populated areas which means more traffic on the road (and thus, more accidents). Some simply live too far. Some live in climates that could put their health at risk if they spent that much time out doors. Some live in polluted areas which, like climate, puts health at risk.

Then, we get into the fact that we don't live in a society like it was even 10 years ago. It's "more dangerous" now (meaning we're more aware of predators). There are gangs, rapists, kidnappers, and more out there. Depending on where you live, traveling as a group may not be as safe as riding a bus.

if we can form a group , and many of them ride together, it will be a good idea.

Why can't we start something like this? "Ride-to-School", perhaps with one parant each time, and parent can rotate. do it in turn? send msg to my private e-mail: yingharwood@yahoo.com.

Love to form something like this?

Is it obvious that 'they' do better? This may work for you, but as we all learn as our children grow...the 'out there' environment isn't the same for everyone. It depends upon safety, age, health, climate and I'm sure an abundance of other considerations.

jackieth,
I agree... the backpack weight alone is a killer.

Once my older two hit high school, I did make them walk to school, but even then they managed to con an occasional ride off of friends and other parents though.

My wee one is 20 miles from her school.... that would be a tough hike there and back.

This is something that WE need to come together about. Anyone who is a level 2 or 3 (3 is rape) sexual offender should remain in prison FOREVER.

We have level 3 sex offenders in my community, 1 raped 14 and 11 yr. old children (a boy and a girl) and umm excuse me? He's out of prison after only 7 yrs? These demonic ppl are messed in the head, they will NEVER change.

Btw ready for this 1? NY state law. You can only arrest a prostitute now, you cannot arrest the pimp.

Wow, our society has gone to the garbage dump!

We live very close to my son's school. There is no way he could walk or bike to school due to the very dangerous road we live on. There have been very bad accidents on this road, there are no sidewalks, his backpack weighs about 30 pounds. No way.

Hi Suomi0304
It's been a long time,great answer girl.I lol because it's different strokes for different folks.

Quit busing I still see kids live 1 mile from school and get bused 14 miles away. It has more then not slowed in a lot of school districts just do to the energy crisis of years gone bye but is still a factor.
The main reason it will not work is a safety factor we have very tense post on bullies what do you think when there are not even teachers/supervision going to do.
Let alone the all encompassing crazed homicidal sex deviant people out there. (I see this in a lot of post as well. Oh they look normal also) That is why it will not work.

We live in constant FEAR.

How about a free lunch incentive? You bike to school which is a healthy means, you would then in turn receive free lunch for the day or some form of large discount.

where do u live there r no side walks

Suomi:
I am still laughing. So the government want us to spent more on gas and maybe change car very year. It is true, rarely you see sidewalks in some suburbs.

Make our roads friendly for all walkers. For example, provide sidewalks from school main gate to residential roads.

The problem is that in the United States there are not enough sidewalks in the suburbs. This is planned by the government so that people spend more gas.

I love the idea of walking/biking to school but in some areas it's just not feasible. Where I live, you don't just get to go to your neighborhood school. The entire school system is a lottery and chances are you don't want your kids going to the neighborhood school anyway.

When I was a kid, we were always responsible for getting ourselves to school. I took a 60 minute bus ride across town with my two younger sisters every day. We were instructed to sit up front, near the driver. Looking back, I can't believe my parents had us do this, but I guess there was no other way...

I think what Hockeymum's school does is great. It's one day a month, it supports a sense of community, and the school benefits.

i agree with you. the schools give way to many books for kids to take home.

My child's backpack weighs 33 pounds. How can I encourage the idea of walking or biking to school when the teachers have the kids dragging home heavy books every night? It would be nice if the schools had enough books to keep one copy at home and leave one copy at school.

In our community it used to be great, but now...due to the distances from school-schools, and the heavy congested streets, before school and after school...it poses more danger to our children, then in the past.

I, myself live about six miles from the schools, and this option would not work for my children. However, even if we did live in our town...my children would not be able to ride their bikes to school or walk, due to the increasing number of vehicle traffic on our school routes. There have been incidents of children being ran over here, and has dampened many of us of that thought.

WELL I TAKE MY DAUGHTER ON MY WAY TO WORK. AND SHE WALKS HOME WITH FRIENDS . I GET HOME ABOUT 10 MINS BEFORE OR AFTER HER SO ITS GOOD. SOMETIMES SHE HAS BE HOME FOR ABOUT 1 HR WITHOUT ME BUT SHE GETS OUT OF SCHOOL AT 4 AND I GET OFF FROM 4 TO 5 SO WORKS OUT WELL. SHE IS VERY HEALTHY AND LIKES TO BE WITH HER FRIENDS

This sounds great if you are a stay home parent,or your job fits in with the school hours and you don't stay too far from the school.we always stayed to far from my childrens school they either road on the school bus or I took them to school.
Great exercise if it can be done for the family.

walking or biking is great for kids they get some cardio excercise, however we live in different times and by that I mean; kids are getting kidnapped and molested more often then ever before. When my 9yr old decided he wanted to walk to school I made a deal with him I said you can't walk to school but you can walk home from school. I had my husband drop me off at work( I work across the street from his school) and after school I went to pick him up walking. He looked at me and said what are we doing I said you wanted to walk home lets walk home; He looked at me and said for reals I said yup, so off we went. He was a happy kid until he realized he had to carry his own backpack and no stopping at the park to play was allowed he had to walk stright home, and then he noticed non of his friends walk that way ( of course he goes to school out of district so non of the kids we live by go to his school) about less then half way home he was tired and said next time just drive and pick me up. SO in my opinion to be safe if we as parents want our kids to walk of bike to school we have to make the commitment of doing it with them .

Our school does Walk to School Day once a month. Every student is asked to wear something red and walk to school. When they get on the school property there is a table set up and the student is given a ticket. They then are elligble for a giveaway. The local insurance corp helps sponsor and local companies help donate prizes also. There is also spots where children can meet up with others and walk together. This is all coordinated by the parents.
The school sells as a fundraiser Red ball hats and sweatshirts with the school logo and many students wear these on the Walk to school day.

like others have said, it really depends, on age, distance, and safety.....other-wise i would be all for it...

When my son was in 5th grade, his elementary school was close enough that we could walk him to school every day. It was a real benefit to all, because we got an extra 10 minutes in the morning to chat while increasing our energy. And, we didn't contribute to the traffic and congestion around the school.

Now that he's in a middle school located at least 20 minutes away by freeway, it's impossible for him to walk or ride a bike.

I don't think it's an issue that parents don't realize the benefits of walking to school or riding a bike, but as other posters have noted, distance, safety and convenience often dictate our reasons for driving our kids to school each day.

Hi monicaadkins and welcome to GreatSchools.

I'm not sure how the trend started to drive the kids to school (perhaps with working moms needing to be out the door with little time to walk the kids and then go back to drive to work), but since my kids have been in magnets and enrolled through open enrollment, it's never been an option for us (the closest school was 10-15 minutes away by freeway). If we lived "in the neighborhood" I'd love to walk my child to school to avoid the crazy drivers.

For those interested, today happens to be International Walk to School day, and there are schools "celebrating" all over the world. Here's their website: www.walktoschool.org/

Interesting question, I think this would be great for a lot of reasons. It would cut down on the congestion picking up/dropping the kids off, their heath would improve, and it would do the environment some good.

The problems are these: Safety and convenience.

First you would have to address these issues before you could talk people into letting their children walk, bike, or carpool to school.

Questions to ask:
How safe is the area?
How far away is the school from the majority of the community?
Are their adults/older children willing to escort the groups to and from school if necessary?
Are people interested and willing to share responsibilities?

If people are more interested in carpools:
Would they be willing and able to prove they had insurance?
A valid drivers license?
Responsible driving habits?
Working restraints in their vehicles?
These might be some big questions to ask (and a might overprotective) however, if your child is riding in that person's car two-three times a week wouldn't you want to know?

I would start with posting fliers at school and maybe dropping some in people's mailbox. Let them know why you think this is a good idea, and point out the benefits and REQUIREMENTS. Let people know if they want to participate they will have to share the load. See how many people are interested, and what type of travel would meet their needs and go from there.

Stop driving them!! :)