Which would be ideal if:
a) the schools were close enough
b) it was safe enough eg traffic
c) they could go unescorted
d) the parents didn't have to dash to work asap afterwards
e) there was only one school to go to
Half term - roads
- Thread starter gigeorge
- Start date
Which would be ideal if:
a) the schools were close enough
b) it was safe enough eg traffic
c) they could go unescorted
d) the parents didn't have to dash to work asap afterwards
e) there was only one school to go to
What?
See my earlier post. More people take annual leave during half term so less cars commuting. Not just school traffic.
Even public transport aka the busses are dead quiet. Sometimes you get a small posse of schoolkids who are going to the mall together but otherwise journeys are peaceful...until half term ends anyway.
It is shocking the amount of massive 4x4's these mothers are armed with during school runs.
It is shocking the amount of massive 4x4's these mothers are armed with during school runs.
No, not just school traffic. But don't you think the school starting hours clash a bit with the general traffic/rush hour?
Maybe if school was earlier/later, some parents might be able to work flexible hours and reduce traffic for the majority of 9-5 workers by travelling at different times.
Soldato
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I made mine walk (or use a bus in bad weather). It not hard. You walk them when they are younger and at some point you cut the apron strings.
Admittedly if you have two kids in different schools then it gets complex. I see people driving their kids to school that's half a mile down the road.
Lots of things in life are dangerous for children and I can't help but think this blind panic about walking anywhere is one cause of the rise of fat kids.
Soldato
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agreed. but only saves me 5 mins on a 30min journey as i start at 8am. i am happy to see no toe-rags riding the wrong way down a cycle lane though as they come from nowhere and scare the crap out of me!
too many kids are wet and need taxiing to work. my lad will walk (although until senior school its only a 10m walk anyway as we live opposite the rear entrance of the village infant & junior schools)
Obviously it's not ideal for everyone but you've got to admit there's a lot of kids that probably could but don't.
MW
Soldato
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1. Catchment areas don't tend to be that big. Buses are normally provided if needs be.
2. Mitigate risk. You cannot eliminate it. If less parents drove their kids the roads would be quieter.
3. Really? When did this come in?
4. Employers should be flexible.
5. Yeah that's an issue.
Too many parents nowadays wrap their children in cotton wool. Whilst not ever child can walk I eat a lot of them could.
I agree it was more a rant at the situation as I see it tbh.
1) Not necessarily. I live in suburbia like I guess most of us do and the primary is a 2km walk there and 2km back. I do that twice a day with a 4yr old. Yes, he gets tired but he if formidable at cross country! Now, there is a primary only 1km away and one only 750m away but geographic boundaries and selective admissions policies and all that ie siblings first etc.
2) + 3) Kids start school at 4 where I live. Would you want a 4yr old walking to school unescorted? I'd not want my lad doing that journey by himself for quite a few years yet.
4) Should and infrequently aren't. You also have to your hours in if you are to get them back at a decent time of the night, do some work with them, give them something decent to eat (the school won't), get them bathed and to bed.
I am not saying it is impossible. It isn't but when most families need both parents (presuming there are two) working to actually afford the overinflated properties this country is infested with (be they owned or rental) and you actually need to make things work timewise both between employment and having some family time etc. And with the cost of childcare being so prohibitive it is not really as clear cut as it may first appear. I would say though I do find it ironic walking past the gym just after dropping my lad off at school at all the mums who have ferried the kids to school and then themselves go to the gym after ...
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If a child goes missing, it wasn't worth teaching.
Get a new one.
/Good old fashioned Social Darwinism (the not so evil, yet still evil kind)
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Soldato
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Whilst school run traffic is a part of it, it's not just this. Loads of people at work have taken holiday this week, or are working from home, to be at home with their children at Half Term... so they're not on their usual commute.