I walked to school — or, in junior high, biked — pretty much every day. It wasn't until high school (at least the first two years) that I ended up going by car or bus, and that was because it was that distance away. I was fortunate enough to live close-by my elementary school, at least, but there was never the massive traffic jams I see in front of schools today.
While the decline of walking to school is almost certainly in part due to paranoia about child snatchers, I'm pretty sure there are a couple of other factors:
1. "Neighborhood schools" aren't as common. Especially as neighborhoods have aged out, school districts have realigned catchment areas to balance populations (for numbers, if not for other demographic reasons like integration), resulting in schools that are far too far to walk to.
This is what happened with us and +Kay Hill — our neighborhood was put into the catchment for an elementary school in an older neighborhood some distance away. She's ridden the bus on a regular basis through her whole school career.
Ironically, as she has progressed in her school career, each school has gotten closer; her high school is the closest of all.
2. School schedules and after-school activities have increased, often requiring parental pickups.
3. Newer neighborhoods have been less designed for walking than in the past.
I still suspect that paranoia is still a big part of the picture, though. Given the trouble parents have gotten into by busy-body folk calling the police and CPS when they see someone below the age of ten that isn't tethered to an adult, it's not surprising more parents simply load up the young'uns in the SUV and take them to school.
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In the late 1960s, nearly 50 percent of American children walked to and from school each day. In this short film produced by City Walk, experts discuss the decline of a once-common activity—and why it would still benefit children today. “Kids need to walk to school so they learn about active transportation,” says University of Utah professor Elizabeth Joy. “When you have to go two, three, or four blocks, that doesn’t mean you get in the car. You …
Distance was the main issue for us. My neighborhood was pretty big, so it was a pretty decent walk just to a main road. The junior high was the only one within a reasonable walk, but I didn't do it very frequently. (Usually only when a ride home after rehearsal or practice failed to materialize.)
We're in a neighborhood with a local elementary school, and we still see kids walking to school, with and without parents. Most likely grandparents in our area due to parents that work. it's actually kind of charming to see them herding their grandkids – and the neighbor's kids – in a little flock to the school each morning.
First elementary school was 1.2 miles away, across two 8 lane roads, so driven.
Hippy School was 4.5 miles away, so driven to school, but walked to where mom worked (1.2 miles away) as long as it wasn't snowing or the sidewalks un-shoveled.
Jr. High was 1.7 miles away and I rode my bike every day unless it was to weathery to do so and I would walk.
High School was 1.2 miles and I rode my bike every day (weather permitting) for the first two years, senior year I had a car and drove.
Grade School was 1/2 mile away and everyone walked to all schools in the City. Suburbs had buses, but City kids walked. And we came home for lunch in grade school! High school was about 1 1/2 miles away. We could take a bus (public transportation) but many times walked anyway. It’s one of the reason that a grandson gets no sympathy when he complains about having to walk to work, which is 1.1 miles from his home. I expect walking to school varies a lot from locality to locality.
Walk to elementary school was 1.3 miles, but over country street with no sidewalk and no one to walk with, so didn't walk to school till 5th grade (when some other walkers moved into the neighborhood). The next year and 9th grade walked to a bus stop about 3/4 mile away. The rest of my schooling too far to walk.
The lack of neighborhood schools has to be very location specific. I live across from a neighborhood school where there are many walkers/riders, but they have more when they have "Walk/Ride to School Days." Also, have another neighborhood school less than a mile away that I see kids walking to.
Also Dave, you have an elementary school within walking distance of your house. Maybe out of your district, but certainly close enough to walk once Kay was 7 or 8.
+Mary Oswell Well that gets into the whole catchment issue I mentioned (compounded by a district boundary). Yes, Kay could have walked to that one. The closest one in-district is outside of walking distance.
We live ridiculously close to all my schools so I always walked. The exception was 4th-6th grade when I walked to the local elementary school and was then bused to a program school.
Our district is very good about providing bus transportation for those that live beyond a reasonable walking distance, but I am amazed at how many parent drive their kids.
Mom rode the trolley to school when she was very little.
I walked or rode my bike all through school. No bus, no rides. It built character!
Once my family moved to California, I walked to school for a year, then the middle school I was assigned to was too far to walk to. It was really too far to bike to, though we sometimes did. My high school was a 30-minute ride in the car. I took the bus to Jr. High and High School until I got my driver’s license, except that we had a carpool for morning swim team practice. But the walk to the bus stop was much longer than the walk to school had been. I walked about a mile to get to the bus stop. In my neighborhood here in Colorado, it seems that kids don’t have to walk more than about 200 yards to a bus stop. I’m not sure where they are going, except that it’s not to the closest school, which is a choice school, and there are a ton of parents bringing kids to that school by car.
Interesting, I just looked it up on Google, and Google maps says the drive to my High School from my house at the time is about 9 miles and 15 minutes without traffic. I remember it being more than 15 minutes, but perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me.