Getting Students to Walk It Out
by Sean Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio on 09. 5.07
Want a sure sign of our growing auto dependency over the last 30 years? Look at how many kids now walk to school. A 2003 study by the Surface Transportation Policy Project showed that although 71 percent of parents with school-aged children walked to school themselves, only 18 percent of their children do, while 53 percent are driven to school. This coincides with a tripling of the percent of school-aged child obesity over the last 20 years. Luckily, some U.S. states are starting to use federal transportation money to urge students to walk or bike to school again. For instance, Wisconsin is putting a $4 million federal grant towards bicycle and walking safety in an effort to get parents and students to reverse the trend.
With many children being raised in sprawling auto-centric communities, safety becomes the concern of many parents. The Wisconsin plan addresses this by focusing on slowing traffic near schools, creating "pedestrian islands" and creating education opportunities for the kids to teach them pedestrian and bicycle safety. Wisconsinites should see the effects of the new plan starting next school year. Let's hope other states take Wisconsin's lead and help to get kids on the sidewalks again.
Not only is it great exercise for kids, but if there is a parent at home to walk them, that's even better! After all, adults need excecise too. I remember when my Dad would walk me to and from elementary school, he would bring our dog and all the kids loved it!
There's got to be a big safety issue in most kids walking to school. Seriously, drivers are crazy, and there aren't sidewalks everywhere. My child will likely walk to school for elementary for two reasons: 1, I can walk with her, 2, the school's in our subdivision and we have sidewalks. After that, it's bus time. She'd have to walk across a major road to get the the other schools.
I think part of the issue with kids no longer walking to school is parents paranoia, and fears about people who prey on children.
I remember when I was about 7 when i started waling to school with friends, and I think the year before that I believe I was walked home by a middle school/ High school friend of the family. (I'm in my late 20s)
However these days parents are much more fearful. I recently I talked to the mother of a 13 year old boy who was afraid to let him bike further than around the block. A lot of parents think that if they let there kid walk to school they may be lured by a predator, or kidnapped. This may be part of why so many are driving. They don't feel like it's safe for kids to walk, or for kids to just "go outside and play" around in a neighborhood.
Fear is by far the major thing i believe, my daughters school is on the side of a residential zone barely 3-4 minutes walking distance from my house, full sidewalk, there is no traffic at all because the parking lot has its own rear entrance, really the ideal situation for a kid to walk to school. But the wife is scared because she heard there is a shady neighbor who lives in front of the school, purely founded on gossip. My daughter also begs for a drive every day due to it being too hot or too cold or doesn't want to walk up the hill. Todays lazy society mixed with GW style fear mongering is what i think the problem is.