Don't they walk anymore?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I live in a dead end development.  There is a main road that has 4 roads perpendicular to it.  Each of those perpendicular roads is also a dead end.  I live almost at the end of both the main road AND the perpendicular road and from where I live until the school bus drop off is probably no more than 1/4 mile, so the furthest I could possibly live from the bus stop.

I just went out to run errands this afternoon and noticed a line of vehicles along the side of the road near the bus stop.  Every single kid got off the bus and into a vehicle to be driven home.  It's a gorgeous day out, 70 deg and sunny.  None of the kids were carrying anything more than light back packs.  Kids looked to be anywhere from 8-11 or so.  The cars were all parked so that they could drive home, not out of the main road.

Is this the norm these days?

[shanendoah]

It is likely not the kids. The first week of school, bus drivers like to see parents at the bus stop (both pick up and drop off). So this is the parents being too lazy to walk to and from the bus stop.

I note this because last year, the bus stop was right at the end of our driveway, so C did not escort Pop Tart out or wait for her at the end of the driveway the first couple of days (he could hear the bus/kids and see them right out our bedroom window). Then the bus driver apparently got snippy with Pop Tart and told her one of her parents had to be there. So day 3, I think, C was out there. After that, he didn't go again.

But, we're first week again, this week. The bus stop has moved to the other end of our block due to construction/the bus driver making a unilateral change (the school district still says the bus stop should be in front of my house, or as they like to call my side yard, a vacant lot). C walked up with her the last two mornings and went to get her yesterday afternoon.
Due to my injured ankle, I am not going to walk up to get her today (C isn't back from school yet). We'll see if the bus driver gives her any lip.

[Deleted]

DD's bus stop is 50/50 walking versus being driven. On the second day of school 1 girl got off the bus and complained that her mom walked. Every day since there has been a minivan. I wish I didn't have to pick her up, but the only kid coming our way is minivan girl.

Its about 4 blocks.

[haapai]

Sadly, I think it's the norm these days.  I don't think it's going to change much after the first week or so.  Maybe a quarter of the chaperones will fade away over the course of the year.  The rest will stick it out. 

It's kinda painful to look outside twice a day and see four chaperones on the sidewalk waiting for their kids.  They tend to position themselves 20 feet apart and play with their phones instead of talking to each other.  There's a part of me that wants to put a big rock on my lawn where each one stands, get them all to start sitting down, and then slowly move the rocks closer together. 

[Abby Normal]

my first thought was that they can't walk. Parents are too worried they will fall (see other thread). 
My poor sap of a kid had to walk to the bus stop- regardless of weather.  Now that he's in middle school- he has to ride his back. We'll he could walk, but chooses to ride his bike. He even rode it in the snow last year.  Suck it up, buttercup.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

I don't think it is so much that this is the first week of school because I remember seeing cars lined up along the side of the road last spring too. 

I guess that the reason why it hit me today is that there is construction going on on one of the side roads and the road is closed.  The people who live on that road are needing to park their cars on the main road until they get the tank installed under the road.  So between the construction vehicles, the cars owned by the houses on the road and the cars waiting for the school bus, getting through the area is like running the gauntlet.  This is the only way out of the development so not a lot of choices if I want to get into town.

[gacpa]

Around here, safety of the kids is a concern.  Here and in other towns I lived in, there are reports in the news about strangers trying to pick up kids waiting on a school bus or walking home from school.   It would be better for the kids if they could walk more.

[haapai]

I'd like to think that the parents are in their cars because they are either headed right to work or getting off work with just enough time to pick up the kids.  Walking the kid out to the bus stop and then walking home and immediately jumping in their vehicle seems a bit silly.  Ditto for rushing home, parking the car, and walking to the bus stop.  Yeah, yeah, blame it on our insane work/life balance. 

Push aside any suspicions that the parents are in cars because they don't want to talk to each other, or because everyone else is in cars. 

I'm a little frustrated by what's going on, on the sidewalk in front of my house.  The adults may be on foot but they are going to ridiculous extremes to avoid talking to each other.  It's not a sign of healthy civic life and it has to be nullifying a few things that kindergarten and elementary school teachers are trying very hard to instill.  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Sept 4, 2014 18:18:46 GMT -5 haapai said:

I'd like to think that the parents are in their cars because they are either headed right to work or getting off work with just enough time to pick up the kids.  Walking the kid out to the bus stop and then walking home and immediately jumping in their vehicle seems a bit silly.  Ditto for rushing home, parking the car, and walking to the bus stop.  Yeah, yeah, blame it on our insane work/life balance. 

Push aside any suspicions that the parents are in cars because they don't want to talk to each other, or because everyone else is in cars. 

I'm a little frustrated by what's going on, on the sidewalk in front of my house.  The adults may be on foot but they are going to ridiculous extremes to avoid talking to each other.  It's not a sign of healthy civic life and it has to be nullifying a few things that kindergarten and elementary school teachers are trying very hard to instill.  

The busses were letting off the kids at 1:30 this afternoon, and that was when the traffic was backed up.  I have yet to figure the school schedule around here.  Sometimes the lights are flashing at 1, sometimes 3.  

[swamp]

I've come to the conclusion it's child abuse to make your kid walk anywhere. 

[Jaguar]

I live two blocks from a school, I don't go out when the kids are going to and from the school cause the amount of cars picking up or dropping off kids is freaking incredible. I can't remember ever seeing a car picking up or dropping off kids when I went to school, but it's a much different era now.

[Deleted]

The bus comes a few miles out of the way to get my son and turns around in our driveway, so DS gets picked up less than 10 feet from the garage door.  He can see the bus coming when it's still about 2 miles away too, so it works out nice. 

But, when he goes to his Dad's after school we make him walk if it's not pouring rain or sub zero.  They won't allow alternating busses, so that isn't an option and he gets done at 2:15 so even though it's not far from work, leaving to get him is a pain.  It's about a mile and a half walk, maybe more.  Takes him 45 minutes.  Definitely won't kill him.  I told him he's walking tomorrow. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

In my kids' district, Kindergarteners are not allowed to get off of the bus unless a parent/guardian/designee is at the bus to get them off the bus. 

[ponomo]

I'm so guilty!  I live across the street from the high school.  I drive my freshman son to school.  My only excuse is coyotes, they scare me and we have a ton of them.  There is a creek and pond in back of our house and school where they love to congregate.  I had a neighbor get attacked by one  a few years back.  I still feel stupid crossing the street in my car.  

[Ryan]

I don't know, but 8 seems pretty young to be walking home by themselves depending on how far it is.  I know my parents had me walking home at that age, but there seem to be more weirdos these days.  

[busymom]

It's pretty typical for there to be at least one adult at each bus stop around here, either standing with the kids, or waiting in their car. I suspect it's because we've got a level 3 sex offender (who has been convicted of molesting BOTH boys & girls) who lives nearby.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2014 21:37:50 GMT -5 Ryan said:

I don't know, but 8 seems pretty young to be walking home by themselves depending on how far it is.  I know my parents had me walking home at that age, but there seem to be more weirdos these days.  

There's not more weirdos these days.  But there are lots of 24 hour news channels, and weirdos get great ratings.

[Ryan]

Sept 4, 2014 21:44:31 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Sept 4, 2014 21:37:50 GMT -5 Ryan said:

I don't know, but 8 seems pretty young to be walking home by themselves depending on how far it is.  I know my parents had me walking home at that age, but there seem to be more weirdos these days.  

There's not more weirdos these days.  But there are lots of 24 hour news channels, and weirdos get great ratings.

Have you heard of population growth?  22% population growth in the US from 1990 means there actually ARE more weirdos.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2014 22:02:57 GMT -5 Ryan said:

Sept 4, 2014 21:44:31 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

There's not more weirdos these days.  But there are lots of 24 hour news channels, and weirdos get great ratings.

Have you heard of population growth?  22% population growth in the US from 1990 means there actually ARE more weirdos.

Yet child abduction rates continue to decline every year and violent crime dropped for nearly 20 years straight (the past couple years being the exception). 

So, more people doesn't necessarily mean more weirdos. 

[Deleted]

It's now normal for the kids on our road to be driven to the bus. This because we have cougars and a number of registered pedophiles living near us.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Sept 4, 2014 21:37:50 GMT -5 Ryan said:

I don't know, but 8 seems pretty young to be walking home by themselves depending on how far it is.  I know my parents had me walking home at that age, but there seem to be more weirdos these days.  

8 is too young to be walking 1-2 blocks by themselves?  This is a closed housing development, with only one road into it.   At that age, I was roaming the neighborhood playing

There are no more weirdos than there ever were, but there is a 24/7 hour news cycle where every time someone goes missing (and statistically, it is more likely to be a family member than a weirdo), we hear about it.

I really think it is sad that you can't trust a child to walk a couple blocks by themselves.

[bobosensei]

Sept 4, 2014 23:40:26 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Sept 4, 2014 21:37:50 GMT -5 Ryan said:

I don't know, but 8 seems pretty young to be walking home by themselves depending on how far it is.  I know my parents had me walking home at that age, but there seem to be more weirdos these days.  

8 is too young to be walking 1-2 blocks by themselves?  This is a closed housing development, with only one road into it.   At that age, I was roaming the neighborhood playing

There are no more weirdos than there ever were, but there is a 24/7 hour news cycle where every time someone goes missing (and statistically, it is more likely to be a family member than a weirdo), we hear about it.

I really think it is sad that you can't trust a child to walk a couple blocks by themselves.

I agree Mich.  my first thought was, well if they don't even go that far for the bus then they definitely aren't outside playing on their own.  I grew up in the country and when we rode the bus most kids driveways were more than 1/4 mile.  Even in the pouring rain almost no one's parents were waiting for them with the car.  We played all over the place even when we were 5-6 years old.  The few kids that lived on the street were always up and down at different houses and in the woods.

But I do think parents are probably scared to be the only one not going to get the kids because of who might turn them in to child protective services or it is some sort of suburban peer pressure.

[ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ]

In the neighborhood I currently live in, the school-bus picks up and drops off the kids 2 doors down. While a lot of the older (high school) students walk to the stop - or drive themselves to school, the younger kids' parents line their cars up & down the street and then wait for the bus to arrive, before their kid gets out of the car, then wait again til the kid is on the bus.

Then in the afternoon, it's a repeat performance when they pick them up. I've had my driveway blocked from cars waiting for the bus twice a day.

I can understand it for the little ones, since the school is too far away to walk, and I wouldn't want to see them walking to school, unless accompanied by an adult.

But the bus stop locations could be better-placed so the cars delivering the kids to the stop weren't obstructing residences. There's a park a block away. The buses would be better off picking up the kids on the street by the park, where houses/driveways aren't an issue.

In the dark ages, when I was a kid, the elementary school was about 5 or 6 blocks away. We walked to school - uphill both directions - in the snow.

Jr High was even further.

For high school, we got student bus passes for the City Transit - and rode that - if we didn't drive or have friends/siblings with cars, or a car of our own.

[giramomma]

Sept 5, 2014 0:09:44 GMT -5 bobosensei said:

But I do think parents are probably scared to be the only one not going to get the kids because of who might turn them in to child protective services or it is some sort of suburban peer pressure.

This is part of it. When we went on vacation, we let our older kids play unsupervised on playground equipment that was clearly visible from our cottage.

Another family had a child that looked to be of similar age to my middle child (6-7) and the mom was out there watching her child. I felt a little weird and was worried about being judged because we weren't out supervising our children.

Children's schedules are also another issue. We schedule all of our kids' activities for weekdays as much as possible. Normally, we can do that and still have our kids be able to  play outside after school for a half hour or even longer. DS is in Fall Ball (it's little league lite). Earlier this past week he had a game at 4:30. Warm up time was 3:40. School gets out at 3:17, and it takes about 10 minutes to get from school to the LL fields.  The only way to manage that commitment was to have DH drive and leave immediately after school was done.

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2014 23:40:26 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Sept 4, 2014 21:37:50 GMT -5 Ryan said:

I don't know, but 8 seems pretty young to be walking home by themselves depending on how far it is.  I know my parents had me walking home at that age, but there seem to be more weirdos these days.  

8 is too young to be walking 1-2 blocks by themselves?  This is a closed housing development, with only one road into it.   At that age, I was roaming the neighborhood playing

There are no more weirdos than there ever were, but there is a 24/7 hour news cycle where every time someone goes missing (and statistically, it is more likely to be a family member than a weirdo), we hear about it.

I really think it is sad that you can't trust a child to walk a couple blocks by themselves.

It's not the kids we don't trust.

[thyme4change]

Our bus stop is just down the street, and I have had my car there many times - especially in the afternoon.  I would come home from work and not go home, park and walk back up.  The elementary school required someone be there to pick them up (although there were times I was late and my son just walked home.  Our bus driver wasn't strict on the rules.)  I wasn't the only parent that would screech in at the last second from work.  

But, now that they are middle school - my kids walk - rain or heat stroke.  In fact, my daughter walks a half mile across two hugely busy streets from the train station to the house.  We drive them over in the morning otherwise they would have to get up so early.  We are softies on that one.

[alabamagal]

And we wonder why childhood obesity is a growing problem.

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2014 8:31:45 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

And we wonder why childhood obesity is a growing problem.

True. A simply solution, one that would also improve the parents health...take walks with your kids.

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2014 8:34:53 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

Sept 5, 2014 8:31:45 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

And we wonder why childhood obesity is a growing problem.

True. A simply solution, one that would also improve the parents health...take walks with your kids.

any maybe they do....what that has to do with walking to the bus stop is beyond me.  in middle school I drove my kids to the bus stop because I passed it on my drive to work.  In HS I drove DD to the bus stop when it was pitch black out - yet she still managed to play soccer, tennis and be on the swim team. 

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2014 8:43:27 GMT -5 @singlemominmd said:

Sept 5, 2014 8:34:53 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

True. A simply solution, one that would also improve the parents health...take walks with your kids.

any maybe they do....what that has to do with walking to the bus stop is beyond me.  in middle school I drove my kids to the bus stop because I passed it on my drive to work.  In HS I drove DD to the bus stop when it was pitch black out - yet she still managed to play soccer, tennis and be on the swim team. 

It has nothing to do with walking to the bus stop. I was merely responding to the post referring to obesity.