At what age is it okay to let your child walk to school alone? Would it be different if there were other children his age to walk with him? Does it depend on the route, busy streets vs. quiet ones?
What are your thoughts?
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4 comments:
I read that article yesterday, and I'm really conflicted about it. The way it was presented, I thought, "It really isn't that bad to go pick up your child from school!" But the information that is underlying is that she has a child with cerebral palsy at home. Since we don't know the severity of the disability, we don't know how difficult it is to load the child in the car for five minutes to pick up the children.
Personally, I wouldn't let my child walk home. Jackson's school is about the same distance away as that child's was to his home, and there is a busy street for about half a mile with no sidewalk. There is NO WAY I would send him to school at this age (same as the boy in the news story) walking on that street.
In a way, I feel like she's making excuses. I'm sure that mother could find someone who was willing to car pool and help her kids out. It can be a hard thing to reach out to someone you may not know well, but it would be worth it to me for my child to be safe.
There are too many creeps out there who do bad things to children. I walked to school by myself from age 8 on, but always thought it was kind of scary until I had an older step-brother who started going to the same school. Then it wasn't so bad. I would say it's never okay, though, for an elementary-age child to walk to school by themselves, and even in groups I wouldn't let them walk in neighborhoods that were too busy or too secluded. Most school districts are willing to accommodate special-needs families, and if she really can't take him or find someone else to take him, she should have informed the school and arranged for him to be added to the bus route.
I didn't read the article, but it seems like a mile is a LONG way for a five-year-old. I just mapped how far away our school is, and we're lucky in that we're just 0.2 miles from the school. I walk my six-year-old with my other two kids in tow every day. I do it for safety, sure, but there are other trusted neighbors who are also picking up their kids who could pick him up for me, and I *do* do that when necessary. But I choose to walk to school to "be at the crossroads." I feel pretty lucky to be able to do that. It is never convenient to pack up three kids, interrupting naptime for a baby and whatnot, but I feel like it's important that I be available while my kids are young as much as possible.
I remember walking home from kindergarten with my friend's older siblings when I was little ... I just mapped that route and it was 0.7 miles down a pretty busy road. It's so crazy to think that I was younger than my son is now when I was doing that!
I figured out awhile back how far my mom let me walk home alone in 1984 when I was in first grade. It was .4 miles through a residential neighborhood. That was over 20 years ago. Personally, I wouldn't let my kids walk home at the age and on such a busy street. I realize that the mother has a child with CP and a younger one also, but just sounds like an excuse to me. She obviously realizes the danger to a certain extent because she is dressing him in an orange vest, etc. She shouldn't blame the school district either.
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