Why do so many people drop their kids off at school now?

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JohnnybeGood-@reddit

I always got other things to do after drop off, mainly parcel pick ups and fucking free shit from facebook my wife “needs”

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Safe-Championship-18@reddit

What changed? Well in London kids get stabbed nowadays

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KeefsCornerShop@reddit

Well I'm childless and I still manage to drop my kids off at the pool every day

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My guess would have been the opposite, that if you are driving to work it's quicker to drive to school and drop off your child then continue to work, vs walking to school, walking home, then driving to work.

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Same_Adhesiveness_31@reddit

I think the assumption is that the alternative to be dropped off is kids making their own way, not walking with their parents.

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shadowed_siren@reddit

A lot of primary schools don’t allow kids to make their own way. Or they only allow it in the final year.

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My brothers primary school was ,at most, a 10 min walk through a sleepy neighbourhood full of pensioners, mostly people we knew. I don’t really see the issue with allowing a 9 or 10 year old to do that walk.

When I was about 9 my mum would drop me off at a friends house and then we would walk to school together, it would only be a 10/15 min walk but it was nice to get a bit of independence.

Yeah our school set up the password as well when we fill in the yearly forms. But what about for drop offs? We don't have others who would be dropping off, so I never really considered much past the reasons I mentioned

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Karloss_93@reddit

We didn't have a process for drop offs. The schools responsibility is to safeguard the children whilst they're in your care, which includes making sure they leave the site with the correct person or in a manner they have permission to , i.e theyre allowed to walk home.

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HesitantPoster7@reddit

As someone who went to primary school in the 90s and had a sibling in primary into the early 00s, this wasn't a thing for us. The school required a parent, guardian or carer (incl childminders) to be there for drop off and pick up. In year 6, parents could allow kids to walk/cycle etc unsupervised but this had to be communicated with the school first and was not actually the norm.

Making sure children get to and from school safely is a priority and shouldn't be looked down upon. Nor should it be inaccurately designated as a generational difference re work and childcare

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corvak@reddit

The proverbial catch 22.

any_excuse@reddit

That’s the same thing. It’s the courts job to determine if there is a claim.

Somebody being willing to put it to the court to find out if the claim is legitimate is how our legal system works. People have no other recourse.

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Shaper_pmp@reddit

Somebody being willing to put it to the court to find out if the claim is legitimate is how our legal system works.

Right... only people are infinitely more likely to try their luck these days, on the off-chance of a payout rather than just going "shit, that sucked, better not do it again".

Also, merely being sued is a costly and harmful enough experience that people and organisations want to avoid it like the plague, even if you win in the end.

You're not wrong that "that's the way our system works", but "the fact that's how our system works and the fact people these days are so ready to take advantage of it" is exactly why everyone and every organisation is so ludicrously defensive and specific; because they're protecting themselves from people launching lawsuits over Little Jimmy running across the road in front of the school and getting hit by a car because mum and dad never taught him to look both ways and trusted him too much to look after himself, rather than them going "shit, ok, maybe we'd better pick him up from school ourselves instead of blaming the school for letting him go without a biometric passport scan and triplicate signatures in blood from the parent they released him to at the school gate".

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any_excuse@reddit

OK, the fundamental point is that you or I have absolutely no way of determining whether a claim is legitimate without putting it to a court.

Often, institutions and businesses should have taken more care, and upheld their responsibilities to customers and the public. They are quite keen to discredit any incident or loss as incompetence from the public, but as seen with the McDonald's hot coffee scandal, that should be for the court to decide, not public opinion.

passengerprincess232@reddit

I agree. I’ve commented elsewhere on this thread but as a teenager I got flashed MULTIPLE times on my way to school. I just can’t imagine putting my daughter in a position where that might happen

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That's ridiculous isn't it, I had no idea! It's completely understandable in these cases then. What a nightmare to be a parent currently.

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Iforgotmypassword126@reddit

Yup one of my friends was getting constant complaints from school because of lateness but she’s a single mum, low income and working part time around school hours. Both her kids were places in schools 20 minutes away from her home, but in different directions.

She literally couldn’t afford breakfast club so walked 20 minutes one way to one school, and then 40 minutes in the other direction to the second school. She just alternated which week the kid was late.

In her meetings with school they suggested she use breakfast club, or buy a car.

Well yeah, I guess so.

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abw@reddit

They end up parking in really stupid places.

I live near a school. There's a Range Rover that often parks in the same place during school drop-off/pick-up - right on the corner where our road meets the main road.

About a year ago the council put double yellow lines on the corner because it was downright dangerous. Mr or Mrs Range Rover still parks on the same corner, but now they park fully on the pavement "inside the yellow lines". Maybe they think they've unlocked the "traffic wardens hate this simple trick" cheat code. But I suspect they're just selfish wankers who think the rules don't apply to them.

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xPositor@reddit

A shame nobody comes out to enforce the restrictions - double-yellows apply to the pavement as well as the road, whilst in London it is illegal to park on a pavement full stop.

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abw@reddit

Indeed. We're a mile or so outside the town centre and I don't think I've ever seen a traffic warden out this far. That's probably why people continue to flout the regulations.

Perhaps if a warden stopped by once a month for an hour in the morning/afternoon they could hand out a few tickets and get their numbers up. That might encourage people to park more responsibly.

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Pebbi@reddit

If you have a local lollipop person you can let them know, they'll know who to contact to get it sorted. They don't take kindly to car risks to the kids, and a report from them has always seemed to carry more weight and get things sorted quickly.

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IllegalHelios@reddit

The ones I see just watch parents park up like clowns and do nothing about it. They are shit drivers, selfish and lazy. What a combo, and it's so many people. I watch them and I think "what moron hired you? Either hes a greater idiot or they dont even know you work for them." - towards the parents, not the lollipop personagez.

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chicaneuk@reddit

Range Rover. It's a given.

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CodeFoodPixels@reddit

My wife used to live in a close which was mostly populated by elderly people. It was right next to a primary school and was only accessible via a one-way road. Parents would start showing up about an hour before finishing time, clog up the close and the one-way road and cause chaos (Including parking on the little communal grass area).

The council sent people out a couple of times to try and manage it, but the next day people would go straight back to causing chaos. One time a fire engine had to come into the close at the same time, you can imagine how that went.

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RaspberryJammm@reddit

Yeah you've pretty much just described the situation where I live 😅

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Hamsternoir@reddit

As you say it's the case for a percentage but others are just lazy.

I have seen more than once a week a parent spend a while de-icing their car as I walk my kid to school. They will drive past me and park up, walk a couple of hundred metres to the school, drop the kid off, then pass me on the way home again and park up.

We're talking about 1/3 of a mile (if I'm being generous), they are healthy and their kid is totally capable of walking but they are lazy and it's not uncommon.

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Karloss_93@reddit

It's not just parents dropping the kids off at the school who are lazy, it's practically all of society. How many times do you see people take an escalator instead of the stairs? Or drive 2 minutes to a shop to get bread and milk when they could have walked or cycled?

I was camping near Mam Tor in the peak district a couple of weeks back and it's become a bit of a trend for people to go there for sunrise. The section of road closest to the trail was rammed full of cars parked in any space they could fit with no consideration for other people. From that spot it's a 5 minute walk to the top of the hill. Walk down the road 10 minutes and the roadside was empty. Even when going for a 'hike' people are lazy. I left the peak on the opposite side on the Great Ridge and despite the top being busy there wasn't a single person walking that way because it was 2 miles to the car instead of .2 miles.

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Due-Presentation4344@reddit

It’ll be a mixture of people having to work, laziness and simply living too far from the school to make it viable.

But it’s never been the case that children were expected to be entirely innocent child-friendly environments. They’re supposed to be raised to be little humans, exposed in little bits to being adults. Tribes would take their kids with them when they went to work even if on their back. Obv I’m glad we aren’t shoving them up chimneys but having kid centres environments all the time is relatively new.

It’s not purely adults or society coddling kids either, a lot of It is the lack of patience for kids being kids in adult spaces. Kids are unwelcome in a lot more adult spaces now unless they’re specifically family-friendly. And a lot of adults not used to having kids around will really get bent out of shape when kids are in public (and as an autistic only child I get it. I can’t deal with screaming much myself). Teenagers are practically not allowed in public spaces if there aren’t a lot of parks with places to hang out. People are scared of them. Sometimes for reasons yes but there’s little to do other than cause mischief outside. Kids services all shut down. But we all used to drink and smoke and draw willies in the kids park as teens too and we didn’t perceive ourselves as wronguns lol.

As for walking I think post Hollie and Jessica there’s just been a lot more awareness (and paranoia) about kids being abducted. Tbh in London quite a few young people (esp POC) do go missing so in big cities there’s probably some nuance.

But Halloween for example is mostly small kids being driven around to houses with decoration. Very few older kids unless they have young siblings. All with parents. Minimal walking.

I have to say working in retail around London/Essex my level of what age I’d expect a kid to be in my store without a parent is older than it used to be. I’d probably be inclined to ask anybody primary school aged where their parents were and get a bit annoyed if they’ve left them here to babysit as I’ll feel responsible (particularly if it’s not an appropriate shop, and also that we have so many stuff for kids get destroyed way before it’s sold. I don’t think kids behave much worse than adults and are usually better at putting things away, but a lot of the cheap toys aren’t made to last long and quite a lot go missing)

It’s like they are babied for a long time then suddenly expected to hurry up and be adults as soon as people might find them intimidating or annoying if they want to use public spaces. It’s not really surprising that doesn’t work well

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Low-Pangolin-3486@reddit

I don’t think that Halloween example is completely true. Maybe in some parts of the country? But definitely not where I live.

As a parent of kids in primary school, it’s not them being abducted I’d worry about - that’s not really a thing that happens much at all, and certainly not any more than in the past. It’s people driving like absolute dickheads when you’re trying to cross a road that’s the problem.

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someoneelse867@reddit

On the flip side of this, the amount of times I see parents taking their kid across the road dodging the cars, waiting in the middle of the road for the next gap - 20 ft from a pedestrian crossing. Both drivers and parents need to do better to keep the kids safe on and around roads. No judgement on any internet strangers, just on those parents that I see doing this.

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Low-Pangolin-3486@reddit

Ok, but that isn’t a reason I wouldn’t let my 9 year old walk to school alone.

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caliandris@reddit

Yes. Where I used to live in London it was the quantity of traffic which was the problem, although drivers would screech to a halt at crossings.

In Lincolnshire there isn't so much traffic but the car drivers are the worst I've ever encountered. They drive insanely fast, overtake on bends and don't slow down for crossings. If you expect them to stop (as I did when I moved here) you're in for a rude awakening.

I won’t hear a word said against Thundercats. Watched it with a mate hungover after a wedding and we cried with laughter at how stupid it was. It holds up as entertainment for all the wrong reasons!

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Graeme151@reddit

sorry i cannot allow it. every so often i'm reminded how duped i was

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Delicious_Opposite55@reddit

But they're on the move! They're loose!

Cheetara still a sex beast?

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My 10 year old nephew is obsessed with that show

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Jazzlike-Compote4463@reddit

Only if you let them!

There are tons of high quality, well written educational content on YouTube, just whitelist the good stuff and block everything else.

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I’m 35 and my secondary school was like this, so to me this is nothing new. You needed permission in class to not wear a blazer, then permission in the summer to not wear the blazer in general. You also couldn’t wear joggers in PE until it was deemed cold enough even though they were part of the uniform your parents had to buy- and how dare you wear that plain black coat inside for a moment when you’re coming in from the rain.

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mintvilla@reddit

Similar age so went to school at a similar time, none of our teachers cared if we had our blazers on, shirt & tie for sure, but not the blazer.

With the exception of one teacher. He'd stand in the doorway to great everyone personally, and then ask you to stand behind your chair, once everyone came in he'd he'd ask anyone who wasn't wearing correct uniform to be properly dressed, then he'd say ask you to take a seat and say if you wish to take off your blazer you may do so.

There's always myself and 1 other girl who hated wearing blazers so just kept them in our bags, was always annoying to have to take them out of our bags to put them then, just to then take them off again 2 minutes later lol.

Tundur@reddit

"in this day and age"

Crime is lower than at any other point in human history, or almost any other place on earth

I love how you guys took a safety measure and turned it into a boomer rant. Oh no, you can't send your children to school by themselves and now you know they made it there safely. Really putting those kidnappers out of a job. What a shame.

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czoxynai08@reddit

Agreed with your last point.. but like crimes against children are pretty much the reason why people don't send kids alone now. Kidnappings and what not generally happening when kids are coming back from school alone or playing on their own in the afternoon.

Erinnyes@reddit

Definitely trivial to spot it but how do they enforce it?
"Please walk your kid to school."
"No."

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Shaper_pmp@reddit

At the very least social pressure (you'd be a pariah amongst the other parents). The school might also report you to CPS.

Everything's a box-ticking exercise these days. Zero common sense is used, or even allowed.

We live a hundred yards from my son's school, in a sleepy residential area. At eight he's perfectly capable of walking himself there each morning, but if we let him we'd never hear the end of it.

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bee-sting@reddit

If you don't walk your kid to school, you don't meet the other parents.

Win win

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Shaper_pmp@reddit

Ask me how I know you've never had any school-age kids of your own.

Hint: your kid will have parents' evenings, school plays, birthday parties, play dates and a hundred other things you have to turn up for to be a good parent, that involve being around and interacting with other parents.

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nottonightbabe_@reddit

Not necessarily true. My son started Y7 this year, and our entire primary school career, I have one (maybe 2) I interact with. Other parents (especially in the area I’m from 🤮) are just the worst. The constant PTA social events were just awful. I tried to integrate, and just couldn’t.

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stoopyface@reddit

I wonder if there's just a natural overlap at play between walking to and from school rather than necessarily something a school would enforce. I.e. if parents see the school being comfortable with children in Year 5 and 6 walking from school on their own, that might seem to the parents like a good age to start letting them walk to school on their own.

Particularly as almost no parents would be comfortable sending very young child to school alone (imagine a five year old sent off to school on their own) - so the starting position for parents is to take the children themselves, then they have to decide when to stop that. Then they see most parents letting Year 5/6s walk to and from school and go with that?

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Defiant-Ad1432@reddit

My kids went to two different primary schools and were not allowed to walk home even in Y6. Nor were their older high school siblings allowed to get them (again even in Y6). My youngest is 19.

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ChengJA1@reddit

Yes, it's OTT and nonsensical not to let parents decide (eg parents should tell school specifically that they want their children let them off, if they so decide). Why don't more parents boycott this practice?

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Ok_Young1709@reddit

Scottish schools aren't following that. I regularly saw what looked like a 5/6 year old leading his 3/4 year old sister to school, on their own, no parent in sight ever. School never gave a shit either, they say them arrive on their own every day.

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veryblocky@reddit

That’s interesting, I went to a first school (ends at Y4), and the Y4s there could walk to school on their own. Y5 I was in middle school, and had to catch a bus into the nearby town every day, which I walked to on my own.

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cankennykencan@reddit

Problem is nowadays you can't be held accountable for common sense and be liable for it.

It's a a shame really

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VariousNegotiation10@reddit

You know the school cant decide how your kids get to school?

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Fit_General7058@reddit

How can they demand the kid gets to school in a certain way?

Also, how can they monitor this?

By doing this they are demanding you pay for breakfast club, work odd hours, pay a child minder to deliver them to school.

What can they do if you don't, ting social services because your kud is arriving at school on time, we'll fed, clean and properly dressed with all their kit.

You'd hope inside there are teachers around for most of the day. Frankly schools do a shit job at dealing with bullying generally in my experience, but they can't be everywhere at once.

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Zanki@reddit

No, but I was waking up alone, heading to school where I was being treated badly all day, I had no one to talk to and nothing I did helped the situation. Then I'd come home to an empty house and have an hour or so of peace before my mum came home. Then she was always in a bad mood and a bad mood meant I was going to get hit or screamed at for no reason so I'd escape into my room asap.

My school had that rule. Still didn't stop my mum from telling me to walk to and from school when I was 7.

What exactly were the school gonna do?

Sure they sent letter, but she just torn them up. And if they call her she'd tell them off for the call not being an emergency before hanging up.

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Iasc123@reddit

Year 6 we're allowed to cycle in mine, if you took cycling proficiency, which I did! I had to walk from a young age, I think I was 6/7 year old, walking to school! No Biggie...

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dont_kill_my_vibe09@reddit

I'm in my 20s and me and my classmates would all walk/commute to school by ourselves or with classmates. We started doing that in Year 3 lol.

It's so weird to see so many children of similar or older ages being picked up and dropped off over here. Like the other commenter said, I don't get how the parents have time for this and also be working?

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Metrobolist3@reddit

Predictable "in my day" response but it is rather silly. I assume mum walked me to the front gate for P1 but I think by P2 I was walking there with my friend who lived on the route to school. It was 0.6 miles along five or six streets (through a suburban housing area) and didn't involve crossing any busy roads so was considered fine for 6 years old to do alone in 1986 I guess.

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Blaueveilchen@reddit

I walked to school on my own when I was 6 years of age. I am still alive, you know.

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BlockCharming5780@reddit

They only allow kids to walk to school at year 6?

What are they gonna do… suspend your kid because you sent them to school unsupervised? 💀

I feel like the odd one out all of a sudden!

Why can't the parents walk their kids to school up until y6? Went do they need to drive those couple hundred yards to the school gate?

Is there some undiagnosed medical condition that prevents modern humans from walking the instant their child is born?

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germany1italy0@reddit

What?

Of course some parents walked their kids to school. But of course others drove because it would have been a longer walk or they dropped kids off on the way to work.

The stipulation that kids can’t walk on their own caused the road congestion.

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germany1italy0@reddit

Yes in the old days everything was better.

And since nothing has changed it is the lazy parents and kids who are to blame.

It’s all going to help in a hand basket.

No exceptions, no common sense is a fantastic motto for a kite regulatory/bureaucratic bullcrap.

We all Praise The God of Liability

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Used-Fennel-7733@reddit

And if the parent isn't at the gate when the kid arrives? Do they just turn the kid away?

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germany1italy0@reddit

Spanish Inquisition.

I don’t know what the repercussions would have been.

Most probably not monetary or disciplinary against the child.

Given this was a small catholic primary school social pressure and tutting teachers were enough to ensure compliance.

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lewis153203@reddit

Plenty still walk to school. The problem is our roads can't cope with traffic at the best of times over here, they're too many cars to put if simply. So my town comes to a standstill for an hour between 2 and 3 everyday due to kids finishing school as they're no school buses that operate near me so they get home by car or regular buses which soon causes issues when you have questionable services that operate near you.

We need to adopt how the US utilities school buses to minimise traffic.

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Fun_Yogurtcloset8016@reddit

Are you a parent? Just curious coz this is either naive or just not quite smart. In the 90s id say it was alot more safer for kids. Now days uve got kids being groomed by gangs, pedofiles, terrorists and not to mention work place has changed alot since when, flexible working is a thing now.

The risks to children are alot and if you aren’t aware, where have u been lol.

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greylord123@reddit (OP)

In the 90s id say it was alot more safer for kids

Was it?

Now days uve got kids being groomed by gangs,

I'm pretty sure that's always been a thing

pedofiles

Half the BBC and people in positions of power, half the clergy.

terrorists

The IRA were still active in the 90s as were opposing loyalist terrorist groups. I grew up in the west of Scotland where random sectarian attacks unrelated to these groups happened too (my dad always told me not to tell anyone what football team you support). Terrorism was definitely more present.

The risks to children are alot and if you aren’t aware

Careful-Sort72@reddit

In my day we walked to school. When I had children they walked to school. But nowadays there’s so much bad things going on that parents just want to know their kids are safe. If I had a young child now I would take them to school. The need to protect your child is far more necessary these days with bullying and kids being nasty to one another for social media posts and there are people in our country (but not from here) will do anything for money. Even willing to kidnap children for slave or sex trade. The world is truly fkd up now. The sad thing is we’ve made it like this by letting to many immigrants in. There’s no work for them so they will do anything!

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greylord123@reddit (OP)

Is it actually that much worse. I'm sure bullying was still a thing, we had pedos and immigrants back then too.

I think people just have access to more fear mongering on the internet now that the world just seems scarier.

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Careful-Sort72@reddit

You’re possibly correct, and we are probably thinking things are worse because we read about things every day. The difference being we don’t think things were so bad years ago but that was because there was no social media back then and perhaps things were maybe the same as they are now we just didn’t hear or read about it

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grimboid@reddit

The excuse used to be because of all the traffic it would be dangerous to walk. Sadly when schools out there is no traffic but parents seem blissfully unaware of this.

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Muted-Assistance8327@reddit

My daughters are 5 and 3… I cant imagine sending them off to walk to school until the eldest is 12?

Drivers suck today People suck today Roads suck today Society sucks today..

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greylord123@reddit (OP)

I cant imagine sending them off to walk to school until the eldest is 12?

Really? 12 seems a bit old don't you think? That's like secondary school age.

Are you not allowing them to go out and play on their own or go on bike rides with their friends etc?

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Muted-Assistance8327@reddit

I thought that as i wrote it regarding going out to play..

But in my area at least right now, there is no way im comfortable letting my -12 year old navigate the streets, cars and everything else.

I would however be far more comfortable if there is a large group of them (we have friends and family with kids going to the same school)

Additionally, im far more comfortable with her walking to school than walking home from school..

Ive asked mum, she looked terrified at the thought, almost freaking out at the thought haha.

She said 12 too and I did not influence that choice lol!

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harristusc@reddit

When I went to school many years ago, I rode a bus that had an aide that sat in the back and made sure that everyone behaved. Now you have usually an old bus driver who’s desperately trying to keep the children safe while they are totally out of control behind him or her. One time, when teaching, I had a 10-year-old little girl come to me and ask what a blowjob was because while riding the bus a middle schooler told her that if she did not give him one, she would get beaten up. I’ve also had students complain about kids smoking pot and cigarettes on the bus and fighting. The bus driver probably smells the smoke and hears what’s going on but what on earth can they do? They have no control -they’re trying to just drive.

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nolamom0811@reddit

My daughter’s school no longer has school buses. My husband or I drop our daughter off at 7am for before care and she goes to aftercare. She is in 5th grade, and we live basically across the hwy from her school. I’m not comfortable her crossing 4 lanes on a busy hwy by herself yet. We will probably let her in 7th grade.

I know this probably sounds silly, but our daughter is a super sweet, friendly, really cute blond haired blue eyed girl and I flat out don’t trust people. She knows all about stranger danger, and I fully admit I am a helicopter mom.

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Quiet-Concept6844@reddit

I went to primary school in the 80s/90s and parents definitely walked us to school till Y4/Y5 and this was the norm in the suburb of a UK city. I had two main roads to cross in my 10 min walk but even people who lived on quieter routes were still dropped off.

My kids school won't permit till Y5/6 and I think this is fair. The roads are busier now and there are a fair number of people about now that I wouldn't be happy approaching a young child if they were alone. Maybe they are harmless but why give the opportunity? There are a lot of people in our communities who do not receive the support they should be receiving.

As for whether parents work. Arguably I think more families have two parents working now than they used to. Hence the increased number of car drop offs (due to time and onwards journeys). Flexible hours, home working and wraparound care (because it's also frowned upon to leave a 6yo home alone now) are all supporting parents to work and keep their kids safe.

Most kids are still getting themselves to high school, we haven't seen a total loss of independence!!! You also find that more kids walk to primary alone at a younger age in some smaller/semi-rural places as there isn't the same perception of risk.

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Bertybassett99@reddit

Its the "great sanitation" of life. All risks will be removed until there are no risks whatsover.

By the end poibt we won't actually do anything anymore. It will be deemed too dangerous.

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Montinator89@reddit

Shitty take.

The bar for what's considered "the bare minimum" when it comes to parenting is higher than it was 30 years ago. It was higher then that it was 30 years before that.

Taking risks on your own behalf is something you're more than entitled to do. Risking your kids safety for your own convenience is just shitty parenting.

I wouldn't be surprised if you're the kind of person who thinks hitting your children being made illegal is a bad thing too.

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Bertybassett99@reddit

Less risks are taken with kids as each year passes. Parents of yore took far greater risks. There is an end game.

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KaleTree888@reddit

My child's school won't allow year 6s to walk home alone. But to be honest, the two high schools surrounding my childs primary school have so many violent teens that I'd be too nervous to allow her to walk by herself.

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Angry_Hoolio@reddit

For me there are two reasons I walk my 8 year old to school -

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AubergineParm@reddit

A primary school I taught had a rule that all children must be accompanied to the gate by a parent or legal guardian, and the same for picking up - not a friend, not an uncle, no car-sharing with another student. Parents had to call ahead to inform the office if, as an occasional exception, their child would be dropped off or picked up by anyone other than them. The school kept pictures and ID photocopies of everyone registered to drop off or collect a child, and did regularly check.

It was a knee jerk reaction to kidnapping fears, but there were no exceptions made. The reception staff ran an extremely tight ship.

I think school policies have largely played a major role in the shift.

the rates of rape and sexual violence against women and kids is rising rapidly

Cultural enrichment

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KeelsTyne@reddit

Hilarious to see our down votes my friend.

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ElongatedMusket_----@reddit

It's a badge of honour.

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Acrobatic-Apple2028@reddit

My sons old school had a school bus which he was using from year 2, the school weren’t overly happy about him using the bus that young even though it picked him up from outside our house and went directly to the school gates. We moved house and his new school doesn’t have a bus service so I drive him there. There is limited parking so I usually have to park about a 5 minute walk away at a village hall then I have to walk him straight to the playground and wait until a teacher is present before I can leave.

Maybe they drop off their kids on the way to work?

Maybe they struggle to get everything organised in the morning to be able to walk to school and get there on time.

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Railuki@reddit

Im 32 nów and my primary school required adults at pick up and drop off, it wasn’t until I was 11 and in secondary that I was able to go it alone.

My mum had to pay a child minder for before and after school for pick up and drop off until then.

My kids primary school only let years 5 and 6 leave by themselves.

I was more addressing your housing estate point, obviously in the case of your daughter dropping her off is the sensible thing.

eairy@reddit

Be careful what you wish for - put up the speed limit and tell cyclists to drive instead

The only person suggesting this is you.

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PurpleTeapotOfDoom@reddit

I think you're mistaking me for another poster who seemed to be suggesting this.

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joe_fishfish@reddit

Unless you have are familiar with the traffic situation of the village in question you have no idea if the 20mph limit is ridiculously low or not.

Pretty much all parties who lobby for 20mph limits cite improved safety for all road users - cyclists, pedestrians, motorists alike - as well as reduced noise. Walking and cycling are more healthy and better for the planet than driving, the idea is to encourage people to travel like that rather than driving everywhere. So fewer cyclists is not really something people work towards.

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ClimbNowAndAgain@reddit

A 20mph speed limit shouldn't have drastically different speeds of transport. That only occurs if cars are doing 30/40 in the 20.

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eairy@reddit

That's a circular argument though. There would be less need to limit speed without the bicycles.

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LilacCrusader@reddit

I was on holiday in Portugal recently, and they've got a really nice system there where most villages have speed detection linked traffic lights on entry (and in the middle too, sometimes).

Zanki@reddit

I was two miles from my secondary school/sixth form and walked it. It sucked, mainly because the stupid school was built on the very edge of town (I lived the other side) and I was just inside their bus cut off, but the kids up the street could take the bus. It was also at the top of a steep hill. Fine usually, but it took me an hour to do a 20 minutes walk when I had a broken foot/toes (mum refused to believe I was in pain and wouldn't drive me).

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GrimQuim@reddit

My kids are too young, when they get to highschool age they'll be out on their ear come hell or highwater.

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FaeOfTheMallows@reddit

It's a 10 minute drive to my kids school, there's no direct bus so public transport is a 45 minute journey with two changes, and it's an hour's walk (there is a more direct route that would be quicker but would mean walking along a NSL road with no pavements).

There is a school bus that goes past our road directly to the school, but we live too close to be eligible for it.

It's a pain.

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gander8622@reddit

"There is a school bus that goes past our road directly to the school, but we live too close to be eligible for it."

CheeryBottom@reddit

Oh no. I feel for you.

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Loose_Acanthaceae201@reddit

We live on an estate that doesn't have an officially walkable route out - you can easily walk into the village through the narrow country lanes but that rightly doesn't count when you're considering children and dark mornings.

That means that children at the nearest appropriate schools get their transport paid for by the local authority. For my teenager that means a coach picks him up a couple of hundred yards along the road, but when he was at primary school a minibus taxi came to our front door.

My younger child doesn't get funded transport because we "chose" a different primary school (choice is contentious when special needs are in play). It would take half an hour each way to walk him along the lanes so we drive.

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KangFedora@reddit

All the murders and kidnappings have something to do with it I think

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Legitimate-Source-61@reddit

Yes, things have changed. I knew a rich kid, but he got the bus, then got the gosport ferry, then got the bus again. He could have been dropped off, I knew his dad had a Mercedes back in the 1990s.

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Ill_Spread2753@reddit

"Do parents not work" 😂😂😂😂 EVERYONE works because there's no option to not. If you want a decent job it means travelling into a city rather than working in your local town, there's more people and more houses which means schools are further away, some of us grew up seeing kids being kidnapped and murdered walking to school so we're more risk averse with our own children, there's been a breakdown in society more generally because people don't know their neighbours anymore...it's a multitude of things. But god do I ever wish it was because I didn't have to work. I wish for that luxury every day 😂

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These-Purchase-728@reddit

It’s a great thing to see, isn’t it? Parents taking more time to care of their kids, when they can.

What’s changed? Better education of parents, i think. Being more aware of safety and emotional needs.

Parents still have the same type of jobs as they did in the 90’s, they are just taking on more responsibilities for the kids sake.

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evenstevens280@reddit

It’s a great thing to see, isn’t it?

It's not a great thing to see 100+ SUVs clogging up tiny roads, driving dangerously, parking on the pavement, parking in other people's drives etc.

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These-Purchase-728@reddit

But aren’t daily commuters clogging up roads in the morning anyway?

I can see your point, if you’re saying that empty roads are better than congested roads. Of course.

But it’s tough, everyone has their reasons to use the roads. We’re are talking about parents who want to ensure their kids safety. It sounds as valid a reason as any other.

What’s your reason?

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bardenboy@reddit

Have you never noticed the difference when commuting during half term? It’s insane.

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Queen-Haggis@reddit

Exactly this. My drive to work takes half the time when the schools are off.

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takhana@reddit

I work roughly 10 miles from home.

In school time it can and does regularly take me over an hour to commute. One particularly bad morning I left my house at 7:10 and arrived at 8:30. I could actually have run there quicker. I regularly queue for at least 25 minutes on one half mile stretch of road for a roundabout to get to the much quieter back roads I take.

Last week in half term I left at 7:15 and was parked by 7:45 at the latest all week. Was out of the town and onto the backroads within 5 minutes of getting off my work site.

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evenstevens280@reddit

I mean, we have a car problem in the UK anyway - and that's down to poor quality public transport mainly. Most primary schools' catchments are usually within a mile in urban areas. How about cycling with your kid to school if you can?

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TheEmbarrassed18@reddit

how about cycling with your kid to school if you can?

No cycle paths and its A roads and dual carriageaways

Plus car means i can go home via the supermarket

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The roads dont have footpaths nor cyclepaths by them

If you want to cycle or walk to asda on a grass verge on a dual carriageway A road with a M speed limit then be my guest

Until the powers that be make my journeys possible without a car im going to keep using it. Its not like i want to drive everywhere, its theres no decent alternative. My office has two buses an hour, theres no footpaths to it as its in a trading estate and no safe cycle route unless you dont mind going on a grass verge by the M6

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_Red_Knight_@reddit

Why the hell would I want to get sweaty and tired before I've even started work? I wouldn't cycle any amount of distance to work.

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evenstevens280@reddit

Lazy bugger

Yes I had lots of attention from men in cars and vans when I started secondary (mum drove us to primary). I was sitting on a wall drinking a ginger beer when one was shouting "compliments" at me and then drove back around to do it again and then parked the van to get out and approach me! I booked it to hide in the nearest spinney. Probably he wasn't gonna grab me and force me into the van or anything as it was 3:30 in the afternoon but pretty sure he was gonna try to persuade me to go somewhere with him. I was so meek and afraid to offend people (ridiculous I know) that idk what I'd have actually done.

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InflationOdd9595@reddit

Reddit is weird, it's seen as a bad thing to do bc you're 'babying' them? I don't get it, I would not want my child travelling alone to school.

Have had several family members and myself who have experienced strangers trying to pick them up. A child is not as strong as an adult and can sometimes lack understanding of their intention.

But then you get these weird people claiming they walked to school alone 2 hours in snowstorms when they were 3 years old as their claim to fame. It doesn't make you a better person for it lol

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These-Purchase-728@reddit

I don’t think reddit likes kids in general. It’s really strange that reddit people have made a ‘kids vs pets’ thing. You have to pick a side, apparently. Note that OP is a dog owner.

What I find a bit disappointing is that there are adults who don’t understand parent’s concerns. You don’t need to be a parent to understand this, you just need to have been a kid before. You should know there are 100s of things that could go wrong with a young unattended kid in the streets.

Kidnapping, bullying, robbery, truancy, to name a few.

Yet when something bad happens, the same people will probably ask where the parents were.

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greylord123@reddit (OP)

I love the fact you assumed I hate kids because I have a dog.

I just think that kids should have more responsibility. People definitely mollycoddle their kids too much now.

When I was a kid we were responsible for getting ourselves to school on time. I think it's important to give children this responsibility.

We were taught road safety and stranger danger etc.

Walking 10-15 minutes through a safe residential area has minimal risk.

If it is a longer route or more dangerous route then it's understandable

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DogsClimbingWalls@reddit

My four year old has a 15min walk to school. And we walk it every day.

However, she could not do it alone. She has to cross the road twice and the road gets busy, with many cars not observing the 30mph speed limit.

We do give her independence. I let her cut vegetables when we cook. She can do put washing in the machine and turn it on. She is able to get out crafts and play sensibly with them. She gets dressed by herself. She has responsibilities to feed the dog, keep her room tidy and generally clear up after herself.

But walking to school alone is not possible right now.

Don’t assume that not walking to school means kids are being coddled or babied.

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pninardor@reddit

💯

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ThunderbunsAreGo@reddit

I’d never allow my young daughter to walk to or from school alone. Too many creeps out there. If that’s mollycoddling then so be it. You can teach responsibility without putting them in harms way.

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JB_UK@reddit

This is really false, it's not about hating kids in the least, it's about kids being able to have some kind of independent responsibility, then an independent life as they grow older, and also exercise built into everyday life.

And it's also about life being reasonable for the parents, two parents having to work full time, and also be responsible always for ferrying kids backwards and forwards, is very different from a life where one parent could choose to be part time or not work temporarily, and kids could walk to school, or walk to their friends houses.

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brothererrr@reddit

You’re so right ! I actually remember a thread from ages ago about a mum who was walking home with her child, her child was walking in front of her by a bit and they got knocked down. Half the thread was saying it was her fault for letting the child go off and she was actually there. If a 7 year old got knocked down walking from school alone these days people would be out for the parents blood

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The_Bravinator@reddit

The Reddit view is that all parents are simultaneously lazy slackers and overprotective helicopter parents. If a horrible accident happens they'll just pick whichever of the above narratives fits better to allow them to blame the parents.

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Yeah, I know right? Surely it's a good thing. I like walking my kids to school and chatting with them. It's nice.

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RedThragtusk@reddit

Making the morning rush hour miserable for everyone by increasing car usage, as well as limiting the independence of children is wonderful?

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These-Purchase-728@reddit

Firstly, let’s clarify what you believe.

I’ll help.

You don’t believe many parents who live within 15mins of school will choose to walk, rather than drive?
You don’t believe parents who drop off their kids by car will directly drive to work straight after?
You believe kids younger than Year 6 are allowed to go to school unassisted?

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Complete_Relative521@reddit

Parents can still walk to ensure safety.

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Electronic_End_6906@reddit

Knife crime, drug crime, crime crime.

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I was at primary school in the early 1970s. My mum only walked me to school a couple of times before I had to walk there by myself aged 5. This was the norm at the time and I’d say that 90% of primary children walked to school. In the mid-80s my younger sister also walked to school by herself from a young age. However I did notice that the younger parents of my sister’s friends seemed to be getting more wary of letting young children wander around by themselves. So it may be that child safety fears started to come on in the 80s and snowballed from there.

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caffeine_lights@reddit

I think the abduction of James Bulger was the UK watershed for parents becoming wary of letting children have independence, that was 1992 IIRC. There have been observational studies that show a change in behaviour around this time.

There was some high profile missing child case in the US at around the same time which changed social attitudes as well.

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mortstheonlyboyineed@reddit

I noticed a big change after Holly and Jessica as well. In that decade between there were a lot of high profile cases involving children and schools started making a lot of changes to their policies regarding how to protect kids (full fencing, named person's for pick ups, kids must be chaperoned etc etc). I do think something needs to change, though. I know people (lots of them) who live less than 5 minutes walk from their kids schools, who spend longer loading up and strapping their kids in the car and parking up by the school than if they'd walked around the corner and back home again to pick up the car to go to work after drop off. All the extra cars around schools are dangerous and inconvenient. A lot of these parents are thinking of only themselves and are pigheaded in how they drive and park. Especially when the schools are in a residential area.

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caffeine_lights@reddit

The fencing and security was in reaction to Dunblane and Columbine, I believe :(

Same. I left primary school in 1999 and it was a primary school in the middle of a fairly quiet council estate, so there were tons of kids who literally lived on the same street as the school. Nobody walked by themselves in year 1. They all came with their mums, dads, or maybe with a sibling who was at the very least in year 5/6. I started being allowed to walk home by myself in year 6, and pick up my younger sister in year 7. I think the kids who lived on the street were walking alone from year 4/5 - I remember one of them in my sister's year got hit by a car and broke her leg. That would have been around 2000/2001.

mariegriffiths@reddit

I thought you had a legal right. https://www.gov.uk/free-school-transport

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hypnoticwinter@reddit

It's a very long story.

We were half a mile from the boundary from his preferred secondary school. ( 3 miles away in total, but easy to get to, well lit roads with transport to the end of the street. ) Appeal failed multiple times - they refuted medical evidence, pediatrics etc )and they placed him in a school 12 miles away.

In a vague effort to make life easier, we moved closer to the school he was sent to. Unfortunately, I arsed up, and we're now.. 200 yards! from the catchment for this school, refuse transport, and say he should be going to a third school which is 15 miles away.. feels like I'm hitting my head off a brick wall.

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DramaticOstrich11@reddit

Jesus christ this is asinine. why are so many things like that these days? I'm really sorry, what a pain.

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Montinator89@reddit

especially now it's dark at both drop off and pick up time.

What hours are your kids in school for?! I get that it's winter now but it's not dark at like 9AM or 330PM lol.

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hypnoticwinter@reddit

Have you been to north Scotland?😂

It's still dark at 8.30 when we have to leave, though not very - yet! It starts getting dark around 4.15 pm atm.

His school releases them from captivity at 3.50 pm. It would take approx 2 hours to walk home from there, by which point, it's pitch black.

By mid December, it's normally dark by about 3pm, so I'll give you that im exaggerating slightly now, but in a month or so, we'll only have daylight from approx 9.am to 3pm, so I feel justified.

Again, there are no street lights for at least 5 miles of that road, no footpaths, but a lot of industrial farm machinery thundering down- would you be happy with your kids walking that far, in those conditions at dusk?

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Montinator89@reddit

Have you been to north Scotland?

No. But i'll take your word for it that it's darker, I live way further south haha.

Although just to clarify, I wasn't advocating that your child walk to school, I don't let my 8 year old walk in unsupervised and it's a far less arduous walk.

I just thought it sounded a bit mad it being dark at pick up/drop off times given most schools operate from around 9 to 330.

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hypnoticwinter@reddit

Sorry if it sounded snarky! Yeah, daylight savings is not our friend up here 😂

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hypnoticwinter@reddit

Also, they introduced stupid hours - the kids do an extended day from mon- Thurs, then finish at 1.20 pm on Fridays, which is a nightmare for anyone not on the bus routes, and attempts to have a 9-5 job 🤦‍♀️

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West-Ad-1532@reddit

Because it's £160 per month bus fares for 2 children. I drop and pick up after work.

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ReignOfWinter@reddit

I live in Birmingham. Do you think it would be safe to let my 8 year old daughter walk to school? Id rather ensure her safety then get to work myself.

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greylord123@reddit (OP)

I live in Birmingham

Fair enough. Id still not feel safe doing the school run in an armoured personnel carrier

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sensual_cabbage_king@reddit

I personally don’t think it’s a case of parents not working but more of a safety aspect. The world is a lot less safer now than it was 20/25 years ago. I walked my eldest to school until high school and even then if I was in the area working I would drop her off/pick her up. I was keeping her safe and I do it with my younger two. It’s my job to ensure their safety. It’s the way the world is

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Screwballbraine@reddit

People's kids kept getting kidnapped and murdered when left unattended. That probably has something to do with it.

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spazz_monkey@reddit

A lot more houses are getting built than new schools, the schools that you remember were probably half that size so it seems like a lot more people as well.

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Zyrrus@reddit

Many reasons. Living far from school, unsuitable, busy roads, no cycling paths or safe crossings…

Also, imagine one of those kids went missing on their walk to/from school, or got hit by a car. The same people getting riled up in this thread would call for the “neglectful” parents to be hanged from the highest tree.

Parenting has changed. That’s the answer.

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AdCharacter1715@reddit

Where else do you want them to drop them ?

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Yes, it’s the done thing now - schools have safeguarding rules etc. that won’t allow them to travel unattended.

One reason I’m not having them, I don’t have time to do that before work and we can’t afford for one us to just quit their job purely to play taxi for some tiny dictator.

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violetgothdolls@reddit

I drive my daughter to secondary school because she gets bullied on the way in and it's the only way to get her to go to school, otherwise she just won't go. She's had 2 years of anxiety related non attendance/emotionally based school avoidance and it's been a really difficult time for the whole family. It's hard enough to get her in to school at all so I do anything I can to make it possible. I had to alter my hours at work to do this.

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New_Pop_8911@reddit

I'm sorry you're going through this. My now 20 year old daughter went through similar, as a parent it was horrible watching her go through it and dealing with a school that was very unsupportive. In the end I deregistered her, the college in the city I live near ran a home education GCSE course, it was only 16 hours a week, 4 GCSEs per year, they took children from 14. It was the best decision I made in a lot of ways (COVID happening in the middle means I can't have a full picture). She was much happier, smaller class sizes with other kids who mostly seemed to have similar anxiety issues to her. She'd catch the bus to and from town on her own and it gave her the ability to be away from me for more than an hour without a panic attack. Sharing in case it's an option for you.

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suckmyclitcapitalist@reddit

You should force the school to address the bullying. Or move schools. I'm not saying you should stop driving her; you should continue. I'm saying that I stopped attending school as much as I could because of bullying, and both the avoidance and the years of bullying severely fucked me up for life. As stupid as it sounds. I developed a serious eating disorder at the age of 11 because I was being bullied for being "fat" and my appearance in general. Lost 50% of my bodyweight in one summer. An eating disorder at 11 sounds ridiculous because adults don't understand children. Children can be just as deeply affected by "adult problems". My eating disorder was actually in some ways more serious because I didn't understand the risks of not eating for days or skipping every lunch at school.

An eating disorder is something that never leaves you. Serious anxiety that you develop as a child never really leaves you, either. Avoidance is a behaviour that escalates the more you're exposed to what's causing you distress. If she's getting bullied on the way into school, she's probably getting bullied around school as well, but doesn't tell you about that specifically. I hid my reasons for avoiding school for as long as I could. I didn't tell anyone I was getting bullied routinely at all, actually. I only mentioned one of instances when I was pressured into it. Children hide most of their emotional distress, in my experience.

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Zanki@reddit

I was a kid who went through this, also a girl. I have an anxiety disorder as well. I used to throw up multiple times every morning before school, every single day. Before then it was stress headaches every single Sunday. The only reason I went to school was because I was more scared of my mum than the other kids. Really not healthy... I remember being so scared when the older boys came after me I was literally shaking in fear and adrenaline every single day. I hated going to classed because my peers were awful to me, not all, but no one stopped the bad ones. Teachers were generally on the bad kids side or just ignored what was happening. Walking between classes sucked, couldn't be outside the computer room at break and lunch. Walking to and from school could be a crap show.

Is there no chance of moving her to another school in a neighbouring area? If you're already driving her that might help, unless she's struggling badly to socialise from all the crap going on.

Fighting isn't the answer, but look into martial arts classes to build her confidence, fitness and strength. It saved my ass so many times even after only doing it for a few months (I may have beaten up two boys with one hit each when they attacked me and teachers couldn't pull them off me).

Tell her to work hard and she's going to absolutely love uni if she chooses to go. Tell her she's not alone and I'm so sorry this is happening to another kid. She doesn't deserve this.

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This is mainly a US things. (I know as someone who’s from the US now living in the UK)

Can confirm most parents walk their kids to school. Sometimes the kids will be on their bikes or scooters but they just make their way on foot to school. Even in poor weather..

It helps that there are MULTIPLE schools in any given town making it around a 10-20 min walk for most people.

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SpottyMcDotty@reddit

I live 200 yards and across the road from my daughters primary school and walk her there and back every day and will do for as long as I can.

I do it because even though I could technically watch her walk there from my front room it just isn't safe due to inconsiderate parking and driving.

The sheer volume of near misses that occur when a parent spots a space and sharply steers across the road to drop off their child as close as possible (and on a bend) is scary.

And the speed that they'll go even in wet rainy weather with low visibility due to a line of badly parked cars

Our school had traffic wardens patrol for the first half term and didn't deter them one bit so quite frankly it's just not safe. That's why I walk her.

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pointlesstasks@reddit

My mrs drives my daughter less than half a mile to school, she's 4, but it's a case of drop off 1, then drive 4 miles and drop off 2, and then drive half a mile and drop off 3, then go to work.

I drive immediately from work to school, park at the end of our a road which goes directly from our house, walk 200 yards get daughter, I'm usually nearly last, then walk back to car and drive home.

When I was on other shifts I would walk to school with her and then walk and pick her up.

But it just isn't convenient to drop my car off.

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FebruaryStars84@reddit

My son’s Primary school requires kids to be dropped off and picked up by an adult, so there’s no choice there (not that I would want him going on his own yet anyway).

But that’s how I remember it when I was a kid too, at least up until the end of Primary school.

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imminentmailing463@reddit

Probably a few reasons. Generally, I think as a society we're less happy just sending children off on their own to do things. I think everyone has become much more conscious of the risks.

On top of that, more kids go to schools that aren't immediately by their house, due to the system changing to offer more choice over where parents send kids.

Maybe more people working from home means more parents are available to do the drop off.

Might even be something in the fact the average car size has gone up over time, so the drop off just looks more chaotic because all the cars take up more space.

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V0lkhari@reddit

the drop off just looks more chaotic because all the cars take up more space

Car ownership is significantly higher now so I don't think the size of cars makes it look any busier. There are just simply too many cars on the road, and too many folk driving short distances where a car really isn't required.

I went to school in the early 2000s and the majority of kids in the village walked from a fairly young age (maybe around 7). When I was in high school, anyone that didn't live in the village got the bus service that was ran by the school. Those same schools now have significantly higher rates of people driving now, because of apparent 'risks'. As many others have said, crime rates are much lower now and any perceived risk is quite unlikely.

If anything, you're putting your child at more risk by putting them in a fast moving metal box around other fast moving metal boxes, compared to them just walking to school.

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imminentmailing463@reddit

OP is comparing to the early 2000s though, and car ownership isn't significantly higher since then. The size of cars has markedly changed though, and I strongly suspect that contributes to the feeling of chaos around schools.

When I went to school in the 90s and 00s, there were plenty of parents who dropped their kids off. Even if that number didn't increase at all between then and now, it would undoubtedly feel busier now simply because the size of those cars has gone up.

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Strange-Yam4733@reddit

I remember when I was at schools, mum's doing the pick ups had Micras, Pandas and KAs. Now they have small-medium 4x4s / crossovers or full on people carriers. There has been a definite shift in thinking of what size car is needed when you have children. A friend of mine proudly boasts he managed with a 206 and lambastes our other friends who "NEED" an X5 or similar

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V0lkhari@reddit

Ownership rates certainly seem higher, and the number of overall annual vehicle miles in the UK has increased. Everyone is going to have different anecdotal evidence about folk either walking or getting dropped off, but I think the overall point from OP about more people getting driven to school now is still true.

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imminentmailing463@reddit

They may seem higher, but rates haven't particularly significantly changed since the early 2000s. In 2002, 44% of households had one car or van, in 2023 it was also 44%. In 2002, 30% of households had two or more, in 2023 it was 34%. In 2002, 26% of households had no car, in 2023 it was 22%. Source

Also, since the early 2000s, the average number and distance of journeys done in cars/vans has gently declined

I agree that more kids probably get dropped off at school now. I just don't agree that car ownership increases are a significant cause of that.

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prawn_features@reddit

Those stats only really work if the population stagnates.

Yeah that is a fair point tbh. Although regardless of time period and size, there are still too many cars on the road

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SnapeVoldemort@reddit

Why has car size gone up?

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coffeeandloathing@reddit

I'd agree with all this, particularly the first point around social changes, parents today where kids in the 90s and remember high profile cases.

That's very subjective though. Your 'paranoid' is someone else's 'sensible'.

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eairy@reddit

That doesn't mean there hasn't been a shift, one that isn't based on any increase in danger. Crime is down, but the fear of crime is up.

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imminentmailing463@reddit

Firstly, you're incorrectly assuming it's all about crime. I'd say that's not the primary thing parents are wary of. It's probably more the threat of being run over, having an accident of some sort, or just generally there being some kind of incident that the child isn't equipped to deal with.

Secondly, again as I said, what is 'paranoid' and what is 'sensible' are highly subjective. You may say a parent is being paranoid about the risk of their child getting run over. They would probably say it's just an sensible precaution to not take the risk. Neither of you are right or wrong.

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worotan@reddit

I’m amazed more people don’t know that the system changed to give people more choice, which is why so many kids don’t go to the nearest school anymore.

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No-Needleworker1782@reddit

I’m 35 year old mum with two children at the local school which is basically at the end of my road 5/10 minute walk from the house, I can stand in the back room and watch them both walk to school, primary 5&7 but the school doesn’t let anyone younger than primary 4 walk to or from school by themselves.

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No-Needleworker1782@reddit

I’m 35 year old mum with two children at the local school which is basically at the end of my road 5/10 minute walk from the house, I can stand in the back room and watch them both walk to school, primary 5&7 but the school doesn’t let anyone younger than primary 4 walk to or from school by themselves.

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carly598i@reddit

I live in a semi rural area, the primary school is on the same road as our house, we have no footpaths and the speed limit until 1-2 years ago was 80, my kids weren’t walking to school.

They now have to walk in the opposite direction to the bus stop, I will drop them off 3 mornings and pick up 4 arvos as I’ve managed to hold onto a school hours job even though the last just hit secondary school.

My child can walk home from school but not to school for some reason.

I need to be on meetings and if I walked them I'd be late for those meetings.

My sons’ school rules mandated that children must be dropped off and picked up at classroom door until year 6.

When my older son was in year 6, I had to write a letter to the head for permission for him to fetch younger son (year 4) from his class and walk home together. My mum was home but had mobility issues - we lived 5 minutes walk away, and there was a lollipop lady so safe to cross the only road between us and school.

If school permitted, I would’ve allowed my boys to go and come back from school on their own as soon as they felt ready to.

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remembertracygarcia@reddit

I kinda remember the British press going on an absolutely obsessive paedo blitz one year and since then every kid has been dropped off at school.

I blame brass eye.

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Macshlong@reddit

People can afford 2 cars now.

Weird huh?

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Ancrux@reddit

Honestly, walking my kids to school in the morning is one of the best parts of my day.
I'm able to make it work around my work commitments, but I wouldn't give it up for anything.
They are only wee for a while, make the most of it

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Real-Owl-5702@reddit

Here in America, specifically my area, the pickup line has been about the same level of craziness for atleast 20 years.

Just giving you a hard time with the spelling of mom.

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MapAdministrative718@reddit

I geuss peados are more of a outspoken thing nowadays to a point of some parents don't let kids out of their sight let alone walk half way across town to school on their own. Yes I know they were a thing in the 80/90s but it's become such a high thing nowadays.. that and technology, kids these days don't know what to so without phones etc they have never known the says of don't get ina van with a stranger cuz they're always on their phone. But it still stays with us older people and maddie mccann was such a big deal it's become a cultural thing sadly...

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sumbohdi@reddit

I was told to walk with my sister to school in pri4 onwards. Since we are in the same school, its better for me to learn the ways to school before my sis graduated and im left alone.

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AonghusMacKilkenny@reddit

Do parents work now?

I think a lot of it is down to the 24 hour news cycle and how we're bombarded constantly with news stories aviut crime or kidnapping or whatever, and it's led many to believe the world outside is dangerous, so God forbid little Timmy has to walk more than 100 yards or leave mum and dad's sight for longer than 30 seconds. Added on to schools treating kids like dumb morons and not letting them take any agency for themselves with things like stupid uniform policies, it's led to a lot of young people not being independent enough when they leave.

I feel lucky that a majority of my schooling was in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. I left high school in 2010, and that particular school still did lessons on how to function in the world as an adult. We had a lesson a week called global citizenship where we were taught things like how bills and bank accounts work, giving first aid, what to do if you have to call the emergency services, the dangers of drugs and alcohol, personal health, cooking and towards the end of high school, how to write a CV and apply for jobs etc and that really helped with learning about how life works outside of school. Sadly, that's not offered now, and i think it should be. Way more useful than learning about ww2 400 times. I began to walk to school with my sister some days when mum was working and sometimes walk home, stopping in the town centre with friends on occasion for a McDonald's or a nose in the shops or spend some time on the beach. Of course, my mum still kept tabs on me, and I had to text her to let her know where I was, but it let me become a functional adult. When I went to college, I had to walk 2 miles to the train station and then get a train 4 stops to the college. Very occasionally, my mum would give me a lift, but a majority of the time, I was fully responsible for getting myself to and from college, which set me up well for commuting once I started working.

My grandma lives on the same street as a school, and the cars everywhere at drop off and pick-up times are ridiculous. Her driveway gets blocked off constantly and when my grandad was alive it was a nightmare because parents would park in his disabled bay if they were out and then get pissy if they came back and asked them to move. My grandad had no legs, so he wasn't able to just walk up to his house from another parking spot. Just move further down the street, and little Timmy can walk another few metres without dying from exhaustion! I think letting your kids walk to and from school on their own at an appropriate age does help build independence, and maybe stop entitled behaviour learned from parents like that getting out of control.

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ButtholeAnomaly@reddit

The 24 hour news cycle has made it so that people think a kidnapping rapist serial killer is around every corner.

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Ronaldog@reddit

Because our parents own the same houses that we used to walk to school from, since they're now worth 5x or more the original cost.

Meaning those of us who now have kids can't get anywhere near those schools or villages to purchase without spending a fortune.

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jelly10001@reddit

I was at primary school in the late 90's and early 00's and even my classmate who lived across the road didn't go to school on her own.

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orangesapplespears@reddit

You went with your parents in reception year and then walked on your own from year 1, so like age 6? That sounds crazy. Having said that my partner lived literally next door to his school so he could have done that. I lived many road crossings away. I think some jobs give their employees school-run time off, depending on what the job is and if it can be flexible. I work in a uni and I have to schedule committee meetings to finish at 3 because I know a lot of the academics do school run to get their kids then.

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Alternative-Emu-3034@reddit

I don't want my 10 year old daughter walking to school by herself. It's dangerous. She's a smart kid academically.. less street smart though. Not taking any chances.

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caliandris@reddit

A lot depends on where you live, but many parents drop their kids off at school because they work and have to make sure their children are in school before taking off for work.

Trying to have a system where people could be granted exemptions would be impossible. So many parents would be upset and arguing about whether they should be exempt or not, and it would be very complex to define good rules for what was and wasn't OK. Leaving it up to the judgement of random individual teachers is a terrible idea, because they could all have different opinions, and there'd be no way to check it was being done well.

Nowadays schools and teachers hold far more legal responsibility to keep students safe, and this is a very good thing. Having a child killed on the road would be awful, and if it was found that the school had allowed it to happen without appropriate risk assessment and mitigation, people would lose their careers and possibly go to prison.

Yes, there's good things about letting children be free, but it doesn't take many road deaths to make that not worth it. They can be given opportunities for risky activities in a controlled environment, where the risk might be a broken arm at worst. Not on the roads where a bad decision can kill instantly.

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ThatArsenalFan7@reddit

Maybe some of us want to spend time with our kids? Maybe some of them WFH, do shift work or choose to be stay at home patents. Sensing a lot of judgement in your comments.

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MalcolmTuckersLuck@reddit

I went to school in the 80s and absolutely nobody got dropped at school. You got the bus or you walked.

By that logic you shouldn't leave him around open windows incase he jumps out.

I'd also recommend a tag around his ankle so you know his whereabouts at all times.

Motor_Line_5640@reddit

I prefer dropping them off at the pool.

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Geoffstibbons@reddit

People worrying about child's future, getting them into school miles away so child has a better future. When I was at school the only people waiting was a lollipop lady and a few nonces.

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busbybob@reddit

People are lazy as fuck. The high school near me has year 7 and above getting dropped off and picked up daily. Living 10 min walk away.

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roadtrip1414@reddit

No more work from home means parents need to drive to get to work after

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We live in the next village over so we have to drive, it's not easily walkable as there is a major road between with no walkway across it. However we are looking at possibly moving into the village school is in, but it depending on where we would move it would easily take 20 minutes each way to walk it (and go do the nursery pick up as well) and when we have to get back to work from home it just isn't plausible.

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wellyboot97@reddit

A lot of schools physically do not allow students to walk to or from school alone these days until they reach a certain age. It's to do with safety. Also a lot of kids no longer live close to the school they go to so walking isnt always viable. Parents likely use the car as they don't have time to walk there and home again, so go straight from school to work.

In an ideal world all kids would be able to just walk to school safely by themselves but sadly that isn't the case in a lot of places these days.

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X0AN@reddit

Not physically 😂

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Curious-Term9483@reddit

For my household the only time I dropped mine at primary was when I used to drop them at breakfast club on the way TO work. (Towards the end of primary when they could be trusted to leave a little after me and lock the door behind them on the way to school then they no longer got a lift.). Then dad worked earlies and was home in time to pick them up end of the day.

Secondary is 2 miles away so I do end up providing lifts to school once in a while (ie when PE and food tech are the same day! Or someone is borderline ill, and can probably manage the day if they don't have to start it by walking 2 miles in the rain.). Pick ups from school are much rather because even when they ask I am often not available.

Not in the UK, but during the 60s I was walking to school in grade 1 (6 year olds), a distance of 600 m. Switched schools in grade 5 and took a bus for half an hour each way, with a transfer (regular city bus, not a school bus).

choppypigeon01@reddit

Most parents have to go straight to work afterwards nowadays, when I was little mom could stay home while dad worked but now both parents probably have to go to work.

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Valuable-Disaster567@reddit

I take my son to breakfast club early because I can’t stand the chaos.

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Snoo_said_no@reddit

I'm 40, and 35 years ago the rule in my school was year 3, which is also the same rule as my 5 year olds school. Whose in year 1.

And my mum has plenty of stories of drivers being knobs round the school back then too! There was two schools at the end of a cul-de-sac, and the police were a quite common feature as people came to blows over blocking drives.

What's changed since the 90s/early 00s? When I was a kid your mum maybe walked you to school for the first year of primary school. After that you were just expected to walk yourself or get a bus or cycle.

Where on earth are you from where 5 and 6 year old children were travelling to and from school on their own as recently as the 00s?!

I can assure you that was not the norm in most areas!!

I finished primary school in 2000 and even year 6 kids weren't allowed to leave school without an adult!

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withnailstail123@reddit

I had to cross 3 busy, main roads to Infant school, only 1 had a lolly pop lady. It was a 15 minute walk.

My kiddo wasn’t allowed to walk 5 doors down, no roads to cross, in a tiny village until year 5 and I had to write a letter to ask permission.

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greylord123@reddit (OP)

I remember we got bombarded with road safety and stranger danger etc at school and adverts on TV etc.

I've noticed now that road safety amongst kids has declined in recent years like kids crossing between parked cars etc.

We had that discipline from an early age.

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nsfgod@reddit

Many drop the kids off on the way to work. Walking then to school if often the preserve of those who don't have to rush off to work.

Also school rules have changed. Less so about drop off, but certainly many schools will only realise kids individually to a specified adult. No more latch key kids.

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Theres3ofMe@reddit

Why do parents have to drop the kids off? Are they disabled or blind?

Laziness, plain and simple. Parents bend over backwards for their kids and don't allow them to be self-sufficient nor independent.

More people have cars now, than over 25 years ago. People even drive to the shop, which is a 5 min walk....

In scotland, kids are told they can walk once they are in primary 4 (about 8 years)

Two reasons.

1) safety 2) we have to get to work

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Iammildlyoffended@reddit

Unlike my own parents I love my children and care about their personal safety. We will be escorting them to and from school until year 7.

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AdElectronic9349@reddit

They might not have lots of time to walk and may need to get to work/back to work if they work from home. it's tricky.

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PrawnQueen1@reddit

Safety

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HmNotToday1308@reddit

My daughter's primary school doesn't allow it until Y6 so I walk her to and from every day.

My oldest is in secondary and it is the best all girls school in the area which only has one bus route which we happen to live along so she gets the bus but a lot of the kids are picked up and dropped off due to the distance.

Tbh what I don't understand is my next door neighbour who literally spends more time loading and unloading the kids into the car and driving to the school than I do walking there and back. He doesn't even continue on to work, he just comes straight back home. It makes no sense.

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cant_dyno@reddit

I always remember their was a girl in my class who's parents said it was too far for them to walk her to school so they had to drive.

Glad-Introduction833@reddit

School admissions chaos. Poor school transportation.

I moved house and was told to send my three children to three different schools or leave them at the school 4 miles away. Obviously I had to leave them where they were as logistics would be impossible. The school said it was my fault/choice and I couldn’t apply for any transport until my kids went to secondary school. My youngest child was in year 1. I have had 6 years with no choice but to drive, I always parked round the corner when they were younger as outside school was awful, I do agree with that part. Then later on I parked a few streets away so they could have the walk home experience.

It’s not always the parents choice.

I won’t mention the obvious that mums need to drop kids off at 8:40 and be at work straight after.

I truly think I was blessed with flexible bosses when mine were young and could work from home before the pandemic. Not all mums are that lucky.

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freefallade@reddit

My 2 girls go to a school about a 15 min walk away but then my son is with a child minder a 15 min drive away.

If I was to walk woth the girl I'd then have to walk home and then drive for another half hour then come back and walk the dog.

It takes my morning from about 1 hour 30 to over 2 hours of running around.

When he isn't in childcare, I always try and walk with them, but sometimes it just isn't practical.

When he's in the same school I will walk as much as possible.

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ras1187@reddit

In my city (Chicago; I don't have kids), I read about bus driver shortages putting some schools in a position to prioritize limited bus services for younger/higher need students and offer public transit vouchers to everyone else that did not qualify.

Folks exposed to that naturally are going to be a bit more jumpy and protective. Esp of their kids. There is an inclination in a lot of parents to consider even mild risks to the welfare of their children as more severe than they are and conversely to downplay other risks like stifling them or sheltering them too much. They would prefer to pick a 10% chance of developmental issues rarther than roll the dice on a 0.0000001% chance of being murdered. The whacky risk assessments of parents is a pretty large area of psychology research but in an economy of attention parents will watch hundreds or thousands of ads if the site promises a way to keep their kids safe. The incentives are all messed up - quite intentionally.

So they take their kids to school personally. But they do have jobs and walking there and back takes too long so they drive. They see the fucking chaos of a small army of cars descending on a school not at all designed for them to all be showing up and decide they don't want their kids hit by any of the slow moving cars in said chaos largely because driving in that circumstance is stressful for them. Which is an additional aspect of weird parental risk assessments. Morning and afternoon walking is a great form of exercise for kids. The risks of a long term more sedentary lifestyle are considerably higher than the risks of being hit by a car near a school. But I'm their heads their kid smeared across the road is considerably more scary than them getting a bit fat and lazy so they often don't have a very accurate perspective on things.

It just all spirals honestly and we end up in a situation like two local schools near me where they turned half of the kids playground area into a sort of turning circle pick up drop off drive thru situation. All while the school has stayed the same physical size but now has far more kids than it was ever designed for.

Schools are also collapsing into one another to make giant mega schools meaning any given persons local school is further away, assuming they even get sent to the local one. Parental and administrative effort seems to think it's wiser to send kids to further away better schools then fix the local ones which then ultimately fold because nobody wants to go there and we wonder why classroom sizes keep growing.

It's genuinely an issue with a lot of factors. When I walked to school the only thing I was doing was walking to school. I didn't have a phone so unless I brought some handheld toy from home (which I typically forgot along with an assortment of other stuff) really all there was for me to focus on was navigating myself from A to B. I don't know if not being able to track or contact your child is more dangerous then them being distracted by it and thus unable to recognise hazards and I doubt such a study has been done but if one is - do you really think a parent would listen to it if it meant sending their kids out into the world without a way to contact them at will in this day and age? When you have kids on their phone stepping out into the road without looking and other people on their phones while driving nobody sees anyone else and the first they know of an issue is when there is the thump. It's a genuine concern.

The issue really comes down to a online ecosystem crafted to prey upon the most dramatic aspects of parenting (venture not into the mommy groups lest you never get back out and start smearing potatoes on your kids to draw out assorted unstated toxins) paired with technology advances that do pose genuine risk r/fuckcars and we get into a cycle where the school is too far away and the roads are too dangerous to walk so they drive and then wonder why there are so many cars oblivious to the fact that eveyone else made that same risk assessment and drove too.

Fixing it really will take radical changes that barely anyone will be willing to accept. As we slowly slide towards the car dependant panic focused communities that our friends across the pond already are dealing with.

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B23vital@reddit

I used to live next door to a woman that would drive to the school to pick her kids up, its literally 3 roads away, turn right, straight across, turn left. She’d probably be half way there by the time she starts her car.

When i take my son swimming we walk, another parent drives. They live no more than a 5 minute walk from my house. I live on the same road as the school 3 minutes away.

Honestly it boggles my mind, like its just pure laziness, my son benefits from riding his bike and its healthy. Theres literally no reason why every week you drive to say a swimming class or school thats no more than a 5/10minute walk. People have become LAZY.

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Cola3206@reddit

A lot more traffic now, with bigger and heavier cars, as well as fears over abductions or other crime.

It infuriates me when I can get to work during half term in around 15 minutes, but it takes nearly 25 during term time.

I'd understand if the school was enforcing some silly rule as has been mentioned in other comments, but I see plenty of other students walking so that clearly isn't the case.

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Novel_Structure8833@reddit

My Mum is now a school nurse, and was recently based in the school I went to 5 minutes walk.

I knew where everyone in my class lived as a kid and we would go round to their houses all the time. It was a very local school.

Now that same school has children from 5 miles away and kids from the local area are going to schools 5 miles away. The local council basically places children, rather than being based on locality and it is causing issues and anger amongst parents.

This is the main reason for lots of car drop offs near me.

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Zestyclose-Motor-581@reddit

It’s people that literally park their car on the pavement so you have to walk in the road with your child 🤦‍♂️

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DecentPrior2988@reddit

You walked yourself to school from 5/6 years old?! Really?!

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Gadgie2023@reddit

The Sun and Daily Mail fuelled hysteria of strangers, nonces and terrorists ready to snatch little Tilly and Rupert off the street has resulted in so much risk aversion that nobody walks anywhere.

Primary schools round here don't allow the kids to/from school unaccompanied by an adult; at collection time, the children queue up and get released one-by-one to the adult collecting them.

My child is now in year 7 - the first year of secondary school - and is neurodiverse, so there's no way he's walking to/from school on his own. The journey to school is on a busy road, and the school itself is on a busy road; with neurodivergence involved, it's not a journey my son is yet capable of making safely alone. I'm disabled, so walking isn't on the cards. I get to school earlier than the gates open at 8:15, and I'm allowed to park in the school car park with my blue badge displayed, as - unlike the primary school - the secondary school doesn't give out parking permits to parents, disabled or otherwise. Likewise, in the afternoon, I'm already in the car park before school finishes, and my son meets me there.

Personally, I'd rather ensure my son's safety to the best of my ability, so I drive him there and back.

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aerialpoler@reddit

Would you trust a 6 year old to walk to school alone? That seems absolutely insane to me.

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JibletsGiblets@reddit

I did it because I work from home and I prefer my family to my colleagues.

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agnesb@reddit

It's often about needing to get to worm after the drop off. It's only a 10min walk, but if I then had to walk back home and then commute I'd never make it on time. Same on the way home.

Was how I had to live my life when I had a commute. Work was squashed in-between school hours. I donnow wfh and so while work is still squashed into school hours I can walk for drop off and pick up

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Equivalent_March3225@reddit

Safety.

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SojournerInThisVale@reddit

It’s always been this way. We used to walk to the next village for school, the people within the village when in the car

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likealittledeath@reddit

This post has blown my mind a bit as a 30 yr old with no children - I think I was walking to school alone at 6 or 7

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middlet365@reddit

I work nights and skip sleep to make sure I'm there to take my 5 year old to school and back. My mother took me to primary school and picked me up everyday.

I don't know where your opinions based in but it's typically the norm where I was raised.

People now living further away.

People now much busier to walk.

Families where both parents have to work these days mean drop off and pick up needs to be done in a timely manner.

We live literally 2 minutes door to door from my little ones school.

HirsuteHacker@reddit

Schools generally allow Y5/6 to walk themselves, it's basically kids 8 and under who aren't allowed to. Which is completely fair.

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djwillis1121@reddit

I see people in tvhs thread saying they won't let their kid walk half an hour to school??? I used to do that every day no problem.

When you were primary school age? I went to primary school in the early 00s and I'm pretty sure we weren't allowed to walk to school on our own.

Since then the safeguarding stuff has got even more serious, there's no way they'd let young children walk to school on their own now.

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januscanary@reddit

There's always one parent not in work around those times on any given day in our house. We walk them 10 mins to school. Year 5 and above can cycle/walk in by themselves, they do and get to feel grown up.

I enjoy walking my children to school, we have a nice park walk in the process, they appreciate not everything requires a drive and we get to have a natter.

I am n=1 however, so that's my personal anecdote.

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vikatoyah@reddit

Reception class is age 5. Year 1 is age 6. Do you really expect 7 year olds to walk to school alone? Negotiating traffic, not getting lost/distracted, getting there on time? Never mind the danger concerns.

As others have said, parents who walk work around the drop off. Parents who drive are on their way to work. It’s not helicopter parenting, just being a parent. People can’t win, if they take them to school their kids are snowflakes, if they let them go alone they are feral little delinquents.

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HirsuteHacker@reddit

Reception class is age 5.

Reception is age 3/4

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Master_Bumblebee680@reddit

Definitely not a 7 year old, no

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vikatoyah@reddit

That’s what OP is suggesting. Mum walked them when they were 6 then at 7 they went on their own.

My two youngest kids went to primary school in the early 2000s and it was a village school. It was a tiny village - the furthes you could have lived from the school was 2 streets away. Only my 2 and another kid came from a different village so myself and that mum had to drive our kids to school, no choice. But the lane the school was on and all round it was full of badly parked Chelsea tractors and for sure, every single child could have walked/been walked to school in ten mins tops. It was a tiny school in a posh estate village.

Very few of those mums worked, so needed to be in a car to get straight to work after, either. Most would be in gym kit. Drop kids off, then drive straight off to some gym or other for their morning workout. Got to the point (and still is, I notice) that they even had coppers put bollards everywhere to stop the crazy 4 x 4 parking all over the pavements and across people's drives on the lane where the school is.

I was a kid on the 70s. And grew up in a much, much bigger village where we had a half hour walk to school every day. People would have laughed at you if you went to school holding a parent's hand after age 7.

My brother "took" me to school. (Stayed near me til out of sight of our house then ran ahead with his mates, leaving me to the tender mercies of walking alongside the Great North Rd which in those days had most of the heavy traffic on its way to the A1).

In the 70s, the school would have been concerned if a parent did walk their kid to a (rural) school beyond a certain age...

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BastardsCryinInnit@reddit

Maybe they do work so actually they need to drop their children off pronto?

Jonnyporridge@reddit

It's security from the schools part. On a personal level I wouldn't want my kids walking to school alone due to the sheer number of distracted, idiotic and entitled drivers.

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Lastaria@reddit

I went to school in the 80’s and yes probably was only walked to school by my Mum up until first year of primary then I remember walking myself. Despite being a two car family when my Mum was taking me we walked instead of driving.

When I got to senior school which was further away. A few miles I was given bus money which I kept and just walked to school anyway.

I don’t think it is any more dangerous now than it was then. But you get more things reported in the media so parents are more paranoid. Plus maybe lives are more hectic. When my Mum used to walk me to school she worked part time so had time to walk. Maybe now both parents work full time so cannot walk their kids to school.

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MattyLePew@reddit

I live opposite a school, but couldn't get my kids into it, for that reason, we have to drive my kids to school and pick them up every day, fighting against the traffic from the school opposite, and then fighting the traffic at the destination school. Seems insane to me but we don't have much choice!

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I used to walk or cycle to school from about 8 years old I reckon.

Actually this was back in the days when Genette Tate disappeared and that was pretty close to our village. Was very common.

Where I am now (Cumbria rather than Devon) you do still see kids walking to school - one of the farms locally also has kids in the nearest school and the girl of probably is no more than 11 even drives herself in on the farm quad bike!

But back the day it was really common to walk home even a couple of miles each way. There was also a school bus in one school which cost 10p IIRC although it wasn't much quicker than walking due to all the drop offs.

I think people are a bit lazier though, because some people will drive 1/2 a mile to buy a paper and its basically quicker to walk that once parking time is factored in.

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Dissidant@reddit

Either policy related or the public transport is just that naff

I walked and/or cycled depending if I had paper rounds that day but the 90's were a different time

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CN8YLW@reddit

Safety issues. Streets aren't safe enough for kids to transit on their own to school.

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Valuable_Jelly_4271@reddit

I think our kids walked to primary school everyday bar one. And that was because they stayed with my Mum that night.

We don't live far from the school. Family two doors down would drive theirs if there was 1% chance of rain and another family in a house we walked past also drove theirs. With the traffic the way it was they would leave around the same time as us and I would walk past them on the way back to house. Stuck in traffic not even made the school yet.

The school also did some scheme if you walked/rode/or scooted to school you got a card stamped. People who lived local were parking maybe 50yds form the school and lifting scooters and bikes out of their boot.

My favorites though were the ones that said they couldn't walk the kids to school because of the traffic. No dear YOU are the traffic. If all the people who lived in the village stopped using their cars the traffic would decrease massively.

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willynipples@reddit

My parents never once (that I can remember) drove me to school. I had to do the half hour walk myself and parts of it were along roads with no pavement.

One occasion I do remember very well was walking home in the rain and my mum beeping and waving as she whizzed past.

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Appropriate-Bad-9379@reddit

I was 11 before I was allowed to go to school without a parent. It was 1960’s. Manchester . Moors murderers about…

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thesavagekitti@reddit

School policies and worries about being reported to social services. It's excessive and will stop children building up independence.

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RainbowPenguin1000@reddit

Our primary school recommends walking with your kids until at least year 5

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turbo_dude@reddit

you have to walk your kids to school until they are 10 years old?!

do you also have to tie their shoelaces and wipe their arse still?

meanwhile in europe, kids walking to school aged 5

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Master_Bumblebee680@reddit

Age 5 is ridiculous, I’d say 8 is fine to walk alone at the youngest

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PurpleTeapotOfDoom@reddit

I walked alone to school aged 4 in the UK back in the 70s. Increased traffic is the main extra risk since then.

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Master_Bumblebee680@reddit

Traffic is one, another is play fighting with other kids, and another is being taken by creeps

I personally would not take my eyes off a kid under 8, when I worked with kids I determined that

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turbo_dude@reddit

and yet it works fine in europe

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That's crazy. Why is this do you think?

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RainbowPenguin1000@reddit

Safety.

Safety from other kids, safety from the huge number of cars around schools and safety from any wrong-uns on the streets.

Our kid is pretty switch on and we’re close to the school so will probably let them go alone before year 5 but really I’d say it’s on an individual basis.

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BigFloofRabbit@reddit

Not sure this is a good reason. I was walking home from school around ages 7/8 and it was pretty usual. There was sometimes a scrap going on with other kids on the way back but that's just the life of being a kid, you can't really avoid that!

My wife used to have to get two different buses to get back from school at that age, then go back and look after her younger siblings. But that is a bit too much imo

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RainbowPenguin1000@reddit

“Safety isnt a good reason, I used to see fonts on the way back but that’s life!”

It doesn’t have to be, that’s the point.

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BigFloofRabbit@reddit

The problem is, that safety does not last forever. Whether it is in their teenage years or adulthood, it is inevitable that those kids are going to get into aggro of some kind and if they've been kept in a sterile environment they won't be prepared for it.

Spottyjamie@reddit

When I lived at home in the early 80s i had 4 primary schools within 15 minute walk and the buses were every 11 minutes to a city centre where most of the employment was so walking to school then parents bussing or even walking to work was the norm.

In 2024 i now live in a new build where i have no school within walking distance, the closest school where the crow flies involves going to the next motorway junction. The second and third next closest schools dont have footpaths for the bulk of it so you’d not walk on a grass verge by an A road unless you were a bit silly. The bus is now two an hour 10am til 3pm. Employment has moved from a city centre to arse end of nowhere trading estates.

Increased car use to work/school/leisure is a symptom not a cause. Its because its a necessity.

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RareSiren292@reddit

Car dependent infrastructure. When you design your cities and towns to be completely unwalkable and unsafe to pedestrians and bicyclist people won't walk or bike. Some people think their town is walkable but 99% it's very much not. Most people don't feel comfortable walking across the street to a sidewalk that just ends next to cars driving 40mph.

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TheMightyKoosh@reddit

Really? I was a kid in the 90s and we had to be dropped off and picked up by an adult.

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dwair@reddit

That's fine if you live closeish to a school but a lot of people live too far from a school to walk (or the route involves very dangerous roads) but too close to be awarded a place on school transport.

If I didn't drive them in, they would have to walk 3 miles each way up a very busy duel carriage way that has no foot path. Even as an adult I wouldn't cycle the route because it's too dangerous.

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Comfortable-Bug1737@reddit

You can only walk to and from school once you hit juniors where I live. Plus, most schools are on a main road, and there's God awful people out there.

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cdh79@reddit

No busses

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Lewis19962010@reddit

Seems like a pain for anyone working now, I had my own house key before I was out of primary school and walked to and from myself daily since about primary 2 or 3, all the roads at that time had a lollipop person at them though and multiple traffic lights for crossings, now same area there is not 1 crossing guard and majority of the traffic lights have either been removed or just don't work anymore. So it's not safe for that to really happen now, it's pretty dicey for even adults trying to cross the road now

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Donsbaitntackle@reddit

This was my walk to primary school think I stopped getting dropped off in like year 4

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txteva@reddit

I would say I was normally dropped off to Primary school - less so for the last year but I was on the same road as my school.

Likely a lot of kids are being dropped off by car so parents can drive on to work.

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piyopiyopi@reddit

There’s no way on gods green would I trust the general public with my children during a walk to and from school

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My kids' primary pulled a classic. As most these days they required parental permission for kids to leave by themselves. We walked ours there and back until part way through y5 (busy junction to cross, no crossing supervision, the school discouraged independent travel until y5) then gave permission.

First day of y6, I got a call asking me to collect my child at the end of the day. Why? We need your written permission to let them go by themselves. I gave you that last year? But you need to give it again this year. Why didn't you tell us? ...

There were about a dozen kids kept behind. I don't think they told us at all, or if they did it was really easy to miss.

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Cosmicshimmer@reddit

I drove mine to school on the way to work. Once they was old enough to walk safely by themselves or with friends, they walked.

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lenajlch@reddit

COVID and work from home/flexible work have probably made it even bigger

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External_Ratio9551@reddit

Thinking back to my own childhood in the late 80s/early 90s, I think with primary school all the kids from one or two streets would be clumped together with rotating couple of parents shepherding us the mile or so walk to school. So everybody walked, but generally each adult would only have to take a "shift" once every few weeks.

I suppose this sort of thing was either unusual to begin with, or is just less common now. There's a primary+secondary academy on my street and the road is fucking pandemonium whenever school is in. The buidling even has a gigantic car park attached in the grounds - space that presumably could have otherwise been set aside for facilities for the kids. It's pretty sad tbh.

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SamVimesBootTheory@reddit

In some cases it's parents who don't really allow their kids to go anywhere on their own

Other reasons are probably distance, a lot of people can't just send their kids to the nearby local primary school near their house anymore and so it can be quite a distance from home to school.

Safety I did walk to my primary school as I lived close to it but my mum would walk me because of the fact I had to cross the main road and go over a railway bridge to get there, and the railway bridge could be sort of dodgy.

Or like if you're a working parent, could be a case of the school is on your way to work so might as well bundle the kids into the car with you, or if you have multiple kids at multiple schools also easier to just bundle everyone in the car

Also school policies a lot of schools don't just let kids show up or go home unattended, I think this was less of an issue when I was at primary school but I think we still had some sort of policy in lace.

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AvatarIII@reddit

my kids are at a school that we as parents moved too far away from for them to walk when we broke up, their mother lives about an hour walk away or a 10 minute drive, i live a 2 hour 20 minute walk away or a 20 minute drive.

I bet we're not the only family where the kids go to a school that the parents don't live walking distance from for some reason or another.

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katiehasaraspberry@reddit

My kids school only allows children to go to school unattended from age 9.

Im 45. Fro aged 5 I started to walk to school alone, 30 minutes walk. My mother walked me back and forth for a year and then after that I started to walk my self to school, teacher and then later home as well.

I find today.a lot of parents try to use their children as an excuse not to go to work themselves and stay on benefits. "Oh he cant walk to school! Its dangerous!" Meanwhile the child lives 12mins walk away. Or they will say ,"oh but there will ne no one there to let him in" meanwhile the child is 10, and should be more than capable of making himself some basic meal and been alone in the house for a few hours

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DoookieOuh@reddit

Anyone with a EE mobile contact? Willing to help me?

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buy_me_a_pint@reddit

In primary school/first school we got a lift back so far and was allowed to walk the rest of the way home, no roads to cross, this was back the 90s.

Junior school sometimes me and my sister had to walk home on our own, since my Mum was a childminder at home,

Secondary school, if we got a lift it had to be done away from school grounds ,

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d3gu@reddit

Do parents not work now?

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Lenniel@reddit

Personally my children's school isn't within walking distance of my house. For them to get the bus it would cost me £152 per term and I have 3 of them and they would need to get 2 buses it would take the best part of an hour if the buses are on time, so not exactly cost or time effective so I drive them, it takes me 10 minutes door to door.

Also as I take a country lane route, there isn't anywhere safe to drop them so they can walk until I get near their school, it's then bedlam as there is a primary school next door.

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evuljeenius@reddit

I remember going on a school trip once in primary and I must have only been 6 or 7 and mum would normally come and pick me up after school but she wasn't there this time. So I ended up walking home on my own.

To be fair it was only a 10 minute walk and didn't need to cross any roads. But I used to walk to school with an adult up till when I was about 9 or 10. I remember having a key to let myself back in when school finished because mum had changed jobs by then and couldn't pick me up any more.

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LanguidLoop@reddit

I walk my daughter (Y6) to and from school because of the car chaos. Deal with that and I would be happy for her to walk alone.

I actually wrote the school and local councillors about the parking outside the school - people parking on the zig zags at the crossing was the final straw for me. We got wardens for a day and a new sign up. Within a week it was back to normal chaos.

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Brutal_De1uxe@reddit

My wife says I drop our dau off because "I'm too soft on her" haha

But really it's because I work away a fair amount and I'll drive her to get that 5 min to just chat with her with no distractions.

Not always that intuitive though. My sister lives round the corner from her closes school, kid had that as top choice. Still didn't get in. A primary school with 3 classes per year. She drives her kid 15 minutes to another school, and passes 2 more on the way.

pinnnsfittts@reddit

Weird, I'm currently looking at schools for my soon-to-be-4 year old and it is all about proximity.

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you_wanker@reddit

My partner and I both walk our 5 year old son to school then walk back home and drive our 1 year old daughter to nursery (it's not within walking distance). We both work from home with flexible jobs.

We both drop him off because we like to give him a kiss & hug before he goes into his classroom, the roads around the school are very busy (and even with a 20mph limit and a raised zebra crossing it's still dangerous. I've lost count of the number of times people don't bother stopping for him at the crossing or are clearly speeding), we catch up with parent friends before the doors open, teachers can pop out and speak to us if needed and it's a nice start to the day. If that's babying him then I'm fine with it, but we have the flexibility in our jobs to enable us to do that with him, it makes him happy and we're happy to do it. We'll continue to do it as long as he's happy, our circumstances allow it and until we're confident of him going alone.

I think a lot of parents drop off on their way to work which I've no problem with generally, whatever works for them, but with our school in particular it's pretty annoying as there's literally a big free car park at the end of our road that they could park in, but so many of them just can't be bothered so they clog the streets up instead. They're constantly being reminded of it and asked to be considerate in the school newsletter but no-one seems to care. Obviously it'll be different for every school in terms of available parking, road safety and so on but some parents can be lazy as shit, so I get your frustration in that regard.

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Mistabushi_HLL@reddit

This is seriously stupid question to ask.

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AttersH@reddit

Flexible working is FAR more prevalent. Before Covid, drop offs & pickups were a lot of grandparents, childminders & the odd parent. Before/After school clubs were heavily over subscribed. Our school had 2 of them that were completely full. It’s very different now. One after school club closed & the other is half full. Parents do drop off & pick up. And it’s because so many of us now work flexibly. I work full time but from home. So I can drop off at 8.45 & drive back home for 9am. I have the flexibility to take 30 minutes out my day to pick up as well. I just make the time up at lunch or end of the day. My husband has the same flexibility. Lots of hybrid workers with similar set ups. Kids can just play/watch TV while you finish up work at home. Obviously, you do still get grandparents & childminders but there is so much more flexibility in a lot of jobs these days. The emphasis really seems to be on considering family life (at least, if you work for a decent employer)

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TotallyTapping@reddit

Most (if not all) primary schools only allow Yr 6 children to walk to & from school unaccompanied by an adult. So that will be the reason.

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Do parents not work now? I remember my mum rushing me out the door to get to school so she could go to work

This is probably why parents drive them, rather than walk with them. Saves time on the commute, or getting back home to WFH.

Ok-Charge-6998@reddit

Maybe the parents work from home and want to spend more time with their kids as working from home gives you a bit more flexibility.

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street2party@reddit

I walk everyday to pick my youngest girl up, I feel like the only parent that's does this at her school. She's just turned 10 and I've only got maximum 2 more years to do this and I will miss it when it's gone. Will miss our silly talks, our trips to the village shop after school, collecting conkers etc.

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cheesefestival@reddit

I used to walk a mile across the fields or up the lanes and play on the huge swing up the gorge which was hanging on by a tiny branch. I also used to ride my pony for hours and hours and miles and miles and just had to be back before dark. I wasn’t allowed a cellphone even though I legitimately had use for one. This would probably be considered child abuse now

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Narrow_Turnip_7129@reddit

You're probably far more mistaken in your memories than you realise. I know for my school in the time period you describe maybe even a little bit earlier(siblings all at same school) you definitely weren't likely to be going to and from school until at least midway into juniors. Absolutely no way you had year 2s walking to and/or from school without an adult unless there was some sort of super magic and special exemption.

Source: ~military~ me literally being a kid waiting on the playground for years upon years as other kids got picked up as my parents got out a little bit later so I 100% know which kids came and went and that they all had to generally have adults come collect them sort your old man self out bro

More traffic now

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J4ffa@reddit

Because the parents like to be controlling they dont like knowing their kid could doing something without them.

I live near a school and the school has free bus services but parents still bring there children which is crazy as hell as the same ones complain about others doing it and some will even get to the school 1hr+ before it finishes just so they could pick their kid up.

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EllieEllie25@reddit

I was at primary school starting '94. I was accompanied to school by an adult until year 6 in 2000.

It was nearly 2 miles along busy roads, I'd not consider letting a 9 year old do that now, especially in the dark in winter.

We'll be a 10 minute walk through a quiet village when my child starts primary school, but I'll still walk her there and back every day as I want to spend time with her and ensure she gets there safely. I'll set my work schedule around that.

Don't get why this is seen as a controversial take.

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ProblemSavings8686@reddit

With too many cars it’s seen as too dangerous to walk or cycle. So more people take cars.

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SkipperTheEyeChild1@reddit

No way I’d put a 6 year old on the bus or let them walk to school on their own. You do you.

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louisbo12@reddit

Because kidnappers, murderers and pedophiles are apparently as common as a rainy day

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JJoycee420@reddit

What’s changed since the early 90’s? Everything..

Not everyone is as organised and awake fully. Some people are driving straight to work after dropping all kids off at school.

There are far too many pedos and kids going missing to be just letting them walk by themselves.

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ThePolymath1993@reddit

My daughter is 5. No chance in hell she's walking to school by herself even though it's only 15 minutes down the road.

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baddymcbadface@reddit

The school boundary system.was changed to stop wealthy people buying houses close to good schools and hence create a 2 tier system.

I spoke to my fiancé about our daughter making her own way to school and she looked at me like I had 2 heads.

Either people didn't care enough back then or we care a little too much now.

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SilasMarner77@reddit

Rain, shine, sleet or snow I had to walk to school. This was the late 90s/early 2000s. 45 minutes walk. Uphill both ways of course!

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kimb08@reddit

Daughter is in primary 1 and we have to drop off and wait until the bell rings and they close the playground gate before leaving. At collection time they aren't allowed to release a child unless there is an adult there for them. While I would love to walk her to school every day, I work and have to run for the car once the bell rings and already get into work ten minutes late. My boss is understanding, but I don't want to be taking the piss by ambling in about an hour late everyday.

Our local council also cut lollipop men/ladies and the traffic around the school is nuts so I don't know when I would be comfortable letting her walk home herself when she gets older.

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BellaRoe89@reddit

Because they are kids? You’re about to dump them in school all day, the least you could do is walk them there? I don’t agree with how many drive when they don’t need to, but I don’t agree with kids under 10 walking themselves to school either. The world isn’t the same as it was when we were kids, there is no community keeping an eye on each others kids. Thats the difference and the reason we were fine - because someone’s mum was always keeping an eye. You were always supervised, you just didn’t always know it.

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glasstumblet@reddit

It's a different world now. Many Moms now work and it's more convenient to drop the children off. Also it's a lot safer.

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I can only speak from my own experience and observations.

There's two unattended roads to cross to get to our school. Our kids are 5 and in P2. We've been building up toad safety with them but took a huge step back when one was hit by a car a couple of months ago.

More people walk their kids to school because there are more cars on the road. There are more cars on the road in my town because there are fewer jobs in town and more outside the town. We've been fortunate enough to have a lot of houses built in my area in the last few years. That traffic typically has to pass our school route. We are one street over from the main road out of town, and it is very heavy traffic between 8-10am every day.

I, and a lot of parents I know, fit work around the school schedule. I drive to work 25 miles away twice a week, get the bus twice a week (partner has the car), and work from home once a week. I start later on every day except my WFH day so that I can walk the kids into school because of the aforementioned points.

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bonkerz1888@reddit

Laziness and mollycoddling.

Funnily enough I was talking about this on here a couple of days ago.

Folks live by a school, parents all mob the private residential car park, park in or across reserved spaces before getting pissy when my folks tell them to gtf coz they need to park up or leave their spot.

The most egregious bit is that I know most of these parents and so many of them literally live 50-200 yards from the school. Honest to god there are people who live on adjacent streets to a couple that pass the school.. who still drive to the school to pick their kids up.

Then the country wonders why kids are getting so fat and struggle to be independent.

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mariegriffiths@reddit

I was walking by myself from year 1 I'm sure in the 70s.

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Not_Good_HappyQuinn@reddit

My mum walked me to school when she wasn’t working everyday of primary school, in the late 90s.

My daughters primary school, unless you are in Year 5 or 6 you need to be dropped off by an adult and picked up by someone over 16 (parent or someone who parent has said can collect like older sibling)

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WatermelonCandy5@reddit

Sometimes there’s creepy dog walkers who follow people home to see how far away they live. And then they get really angry if you live outside his radius and drive. So we take them to school because he’s obviously a diddler. Who else stands outside a school often enough to recognise people and how far away they live. But doesn’t know any of them to ask.

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Delicious-Cut-7911@reddit

What's more concerning is that paedophiles will buy houses near schools.

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garyk1968@reddit

I think its partly down to being able to choose a school vs 'catchment area'. When I went to school (80s) you went to the school in your catchment area because a) it was the closest and b) if it wasn't walkable then buses would be provided. I think alot of parents now choose which school is best, not necessarily closest and therefore will have to get the kids their by their own efforts.

Compared with when I went I think there are probably alot more working mums now than there was when I was a lad. (Might be bs ive made up but feels like there is!).

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paulmclaughlin@reddit

What's changed since the 90s/early 00s? When I was a kid your mum maybe walked you to school for the first year of primary school. After that you were just expected to walk yourself or get a bus or cycle.

Your school was not typical. Primary school children would not normally have been walking to school at that age then.

everything is fine and dandy until little Jonny trips over on a kerb and bangs his head and then it was the schools fault for letting him go unsupervised.

Roads are busier. Also increased parental choice has meant that kids on average go to schools further away meaning they need accompanying until a bit older as it's more of a journey. People used to be more likely to just go to the nearest primary.

Plus we do give kids less independence. Anyone can see that. And we probably have fewer horrible accidents because of that, but I do wonder about the less documentable effect it has on stuff like problem solving, belief in your own ability to fix things, working out social issues within your own peer group etc.

https://medium.com/@manufernandez/the-shrinking-world-of-childhood-free-ranging-9ca11c202064 This map is quite sobering in terms of what we trust children to be capable of. It shows how eight year olds' roaming range has dropped over the years.

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worotan@reddit

Also, Blair’s government changed the way kids were allocated to schools, to eliminate the ‘postcode lottery’ as it was called, where kids would automatically just go to their nearest school, and could go to schools much further away to access better eduction provision.

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Puzzleheaded_Drink76@reddit

I think it came in earlier, under the Tories, but the effect is the same. I don't have the stats, but I'm pretty sure the average distance from primary school is now longer.

Plus schools are bigger (implies consolidation, so further away).

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Puzzleheaded_Drink76@reddit

From a Google:

The 1988 Education Reform Act for England and Wales strengthened parents' rights to choose their child's school.

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Kolo_ToureHH@reddit

I went to primary school in the early 2000's and I was always dropped at school by either one of my parents, a grandparent or a friends parent.

It wasn't until I started secondary school that I started walking to school myself/with mates.

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Mister_Sith@reddit

It will all be about risk and safeguarding. I don't work in schools but I volunteer in a youth association and the drumbeat on safeguarding and risk assessment is nuts. I don't remember any of it when I was younger but it's completely different now. If anything happened between home and school I imagine the school bears some brunt of the liability. I also imagine a lot of parents drop their kids off for other reasons, whether it's on the way to work or they don't trust them to get to school, etc.

If there's any dumb rule or something that doesn't feel like common sense to do with schools or kids, it's probably something to do with safeguarding and risk assessments.

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Montinator89@reddit

When I was a kid your mum maybe walked you to school for the first year of primary school

I don't think this was the norm for most people to be honest mate. Walking to school alone after the first year of primary? Pretty sure either one of my parents or grandparents was walking me to and from school up until I was heading in to comprehensive - and I lived within a few hundred yards of the school I went to.

You're like 5 years old going in to year 2 of infants, I'd say that's borderline child neglect leaving a 5/6 year old walk the streets alone to and from school. You have a duty to care for your children and you simply can't do that if you're leaving them commute totally unsupervised.

My boy is 8 and I still wouldn't leave him navigate busy roads unsupervised, nor is he simply allowed out and about on his own.

The walk to his school is probably around 25 minutes and involves crossing several busy roads, I just wouldn't feel comfortable leaving him make that trip alone at his age.

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Goats_Are_Funny@reddit

Meanwhile in the Netherlands, pretty much all children cycle to school. The difference between here and there is the transport infrastructure.

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SnooDogs6068@reddit

Generally, people live further away from their schools now and with both adults working it can be difficult to walk there, back and then onto work.

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Front_Scholar9757@reddit

Do parents not work now?

With the cost of living, I presume more parents work now.

Unfortunately the world isn't viewed as safe as it was back in the 90s. Things have changed. As such, many parents don't want their children to walk to school unaccompanied. Likewise, many schools will not allow that.

As for the cars, many working parents have a commute. Other parents may not live within walking distance.

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TheDragonDoji@reddit

The late 90's PaedoGeddon convinced every parent in the nation, that drooling paedos lurk around each & every corner.

Also, the mum's realised that school drop-off was another avenue to form cliques.

It's not like the good old days; when my Old Man had to walk 12 miles to school, barefoot up a mountain, through fields of broken glass and pissed off wasps.

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slf67@reddit

I heard it was uphill both ways, and snowing?

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TheDragonDoji@reddit

With swarms of locusts and roadside harbingers riddled with plague!

It was a Catholic school so this is very apt.

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Ok-Day8183@reddit

Too many nonces around

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K1mTy3@reddit

Our school only allows Year 5 & 6 students to walk alone; until the end of year 4, either a parent or an authorised adult must collect the child. (An authorised adult would need to be known or easily identifiable to the teacher, and the parent would need to given written instructions - for instance my 5 year old is collected by someone from an outside after-school club, whose staff are wearing a uniform.)

When my eldest was in Year 1, she raced ahead of me one morning & met her teacher at the door. I heard her teacher's very confused "where's your mum?" before I had made it round the bush at the end of the path into the playground - as soon as she saw me pushing the pram through the gate, she gave a very relieved "Ohhh, there you are!"

We live close enough to walk and our 10 year old usually does walk by herself, but we will usually drive our 5 year old to school as we drop her off and bolt off to work ourselves. We stagger our working hours so that one goes in for 8, finishes at 4 & collects 5 year old from after school club, while the other drops off at school then works 9:30-5:30 & gets home to dinner waiting in the oven.

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RadiantCrow8070@reddit

My child wont be walking to school until they are at least 15. And only if there is someone who walks with her.

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Not really the same thing is it.

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RadiantCrow8070@reddit

Just word slurry werent it

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RadiantCrow8070@reddit

What a strange comment.

Not walking a mile to school along busy roads will result in attachment / insecurity issues. You are a genius

Ours had lollypop ladies that would go back and forth from the top of each street to the school with us, not just to cross the road.

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My_sloth_life@reddit

I lived in a city and walked to school myself.

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ShineAtom@reddit

I used to walk my son to school in the late 90s until I felt he was responsible enough to go on his own. My main worry was the roads even though we are in a residential area. One road is a rat-run and people do not drive as carefully as they should. I had very little worry about stranger-danger as it is far less common than idiot drivers.

When he went up to secondary school, which was over a mile away, I would often drive him and his friend to the school. I would be passing it at the right time and it was on my way to work plus they wouldn't be drenched with rain plus I knew they had actually got there. His friend's parents did the days I didn't work. They always walked home.

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School buses for primary don't exist anymore I don't think. I haven't seen one in a very long time.

I used to remember waiting on the playground for the school bus to pull in with my friends who lived too far to walk.

If there was a school bus for my kids to get on and I didn't have to drive to drop them off then I would happily pop them on it.

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theocrats@reddit

They still exist.

My daughter gets a bus to primary school every day. The council also provides buses for secondary school too.

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Remarkable-Wash-7798@reddit

That's cool, I wonder why they are gone in my area.

It's funny because my kids and 4 others in my street go to a school slightly out of my local area and they are under subscribed. Whilst the schools closest to me are over subscribed. It would make sense to me to pop a bus on to bring kids in from slightly further afield.

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theocrats@reddit

It's down to local council funding.

The bus service is amazing. it's packed with kids. There's at least 30 kids, so potentially 30 cars removed from the road.

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Many children being taken by predators has sort of changed things, so nowadays it is expected of parents to drop their kids off at school and pick them up. Furthermore, they are required to announce or register anyone, other than the registered parents, who may come to pick them up from school.

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MaxLevelYutyrannus@reddit

Because we don't live in a high trust society any more. It was nice while it lasted.

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poshbakerloo@reddit

I went to primary school in the 90s, we all got dropped off by parents and a teacher would stand at the gate! In high-school during the 00s we'd walk or take the school bus, but a lot were still dropped by parents in a car.

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Substantial_Egg_4660@reddit

Primary school I can understand parents picking up and dropping off kids….but why the senior groups need to be picked up is beyond me…laziness I guess

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ghodsgift@reddit

I live in a residential area, there's zero tricky spots within the catchment area (but i don't grudge those living near the extremities) and would agree - there's absolutely zero reason outside of freak weather were its unreasonable to either a) carpool or b) walk your kids down to the school.

Drop off's are an absolute wild example of everyman for themselves, abandoned cars everywhere on narrow roads where even the school bus struggles to navigate. Rushing parents, running with their kids infront of traffic - its absolutely wild the things you see. My particular street raises a concern where parents abandon there cars on the road on a blind corner - arent you supposed to park a minimum of 10m from corners for safety reasons?

I do believe that the councils alongside the architects need to take responsibility for not accounting for drop-off zones within the school grounds. I wouldnt be surprised if the school staff get inundated with complaints about drop-offs juding on this thread.

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yourmomsajoke@reddit

When I started school 30 odd years ago you could walk alone by p3, my oldest had the same rule I think maybe p4, by the rime my wee one started fit was walked or dropped off til p6.

Seems a huge culture change but I don't know what's caused it. Over nannying? American culture slipping in in new and more annoying ways? The rise in social media so we're trying to protect our kids from shaming videos or stop them from making them?

I honestly have no clue, idgaf either way except the parking can be infuriating when you live near a school (done it, twice! More fool me) and as a parent trying to park (I'm allowed in the school car park because of disabilities but park a good half mile away instead, no way I'm getting in that scrum at 8.40am.)

I suppose at the end of the day as long as they're safe is what matters even if it comes in the way of what I consider slightly stifling. Being a bam with your mates on the walk to school is a huge social learning experience and kids are missing out on that.

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ChelseaMourning@reddit

Safeguarding. You need written permission to let your kid walk to/from school alone now. My daughter is in year 6 and while she’s been allowed to leave the school to come meet me in a side road since year 4 (we live across town and I work, so it’s often quicker to drive - esp if I’m dropping other kids off too), she’s only started to walk to/from school with a friend since late summer term. She now comes to meet me in town after school and we walk the last 5 mins together. We live off a very busy main road with a complicated crossing system, so that last 5 mins is for my own peace of mind. When she starts secondary next year, she’s on her own.

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Whulad@reddit

Quite a lot of kids don’t actually go to their local primary school anymore not always through their own choice some live quite away from them. It’s a bit naive nostalgia to think your kids primary school is just round the corner nowadays.

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Own-Solid-5035@reddit

If my 2nd grader rode the bus, she would have to wake up an hour and a half earlier ro catch it which would mean my wife would also have to wake up that much earlier. There's no good reason to make them wake up at 5:30 in the morning.

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spaceodditea@reddit

20 years ago when I was in primary school, it was the rule that you had to be in year 4 or older to walk to school without a parent. Because I had younger siblings I only walked to school without a parent once I was in high school, and that was pretty normal.

I think the roads are more dangerous, especially in the winter months, because of an increase in cars. However, if you're using a car to drop kids off to school - you are the traffic you're worried about. Better infrastructure around school buses might help.

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Upstairs-Pension-634@reddit

Me and my partner work - kid has just started pre-school, we walk - 15 minutes away. We are in the vast minority of parents who walk. Sad really.

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Agreeable-Dot-9598@reddit

So glad I grew up in a village. 5 year olds took themselves to school.

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jimthewanderer@reddit

Probably because people are being forced to live increasingly far away from the nearest school.

Successive failure of right wing politics of any party to properly provision for school buses for students who live far away.

Our school requires an adult to be present at drop off and pick up

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Dry_Action1734@reddit

Do parents not work now?

No, the entire family starves. /s

But in all seriousness I was at school 90s/00s, and my mum and all my friends mums were stay at home mums.

But there’s more flexibility since Covid with start/finish times and more hybrid roles which allow some working from home. No commute = no rush.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

Do parents not wNork now? remember my mum rushing me out the door to get to school so she could go to work. My dad had already gone to work before woke up.

As others have said, easier to drop kids off on their way to work.

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Ysbrydion@reddit

Our school sends out nasty letters if you let your kids walk there alone. It's only 'allowed' for the oldest children in the final term. Anything else is 'a safeguarding matter' and they insinuate they'll call social services on you.

So, no one lets their kids walk to school alone. That's just off the table.

I walked with mine. Cars would frequently mount the pavement to overtake one another. It was really unsafe. They speed through red lights. Twice, we watched a car lose control, leave the road and smash into a garden wall. Twice feels unusual, but that's how people drive around here.

So, yeah. Mine walk. I don't think it's common anymore, though.

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Iamleeboy@reddit

Me and my wife walk our kids (5 & 8) to school in a morning and then usually one of us will go get them when they finish. We both mainly work from home now, so it is pretty easy for us to do this. We will both go when possible because it gets us some fresh air and a bit of movement.

The only time we drive is when it's raining, as it usually takes us longer to park up than it does to walk! Plus I like the walk to wake them (and me!) up in a morning.

The older kids around us tend to start going on their own when they go into secondary school in y7. If I remember correctly, I only started walking on my own in either y5 or y6. But there were loads of kids who all lived near me and would walk together. I think if my kid did this, there would only be 2 or 3, as things are way more spread out now

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Rasty_lv@reddit

my kid is in year 5. Only from year they are allowed walk alone to and from school IF they live nearby or get permits to walk to school gates/local park. We live little bit afar from school and my kid is not ready to use bus to get home yet, hence pick up and drop off from nearby park (still 5min walk to school). He does walk from park to school and after school to park. Me and my wife both work opposite shifts, hence one can always pick up kid.

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Breaking-Dad-@reddit

Can't comment for everyone but our school only lets kids leave without a parent in year 5 and 6. You could probably let them walk to school from about year 2 or 3 as they don't expect a parent to be there at that time. Schools are much more wary of just letting kids wander in and out (or anyone really).

Also, parent were given more choice over which schools they could use (I believe in 1988) and this has gradually caused a situation where kids go to schools a little farther away (so they might not be at the closest school to where they live) meaning everyone is driving around or if they are walking it's possibly a bit farther than they might like.

This feels like a bit of a vicious cycle but traffic has increased by 30% since 1990 too, which makes the walk to school more dangerous. So parents are more likely to drive. You get the point.

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Simibecks@reddit

Crime and awareness have changed. Yes it still happened in the 90's but we are living in a hyper vigilant decade

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AlpsSad1364@reddit

Primary schools won't let kids leave without a recognised adult to collect them.

Gremlin_1989@reddit

So you mean just driving or walking? Mines 6, there's absolutely no way that I'd let her walk to school alone. There's no busy roads that she'd have to cross but there are roads and the one we walk along (but don't cross) is busy. That and you don't know who could potentially pick her up on the way.

If a parent was found to be letting their child walk to/from school alone (up until year 5/6) there would also be consequences. Schools won't allow a child to go with an adult the child knows, but the teachers don't recognise as a responsible adult for that child, let alone a child walking alone. It's all about safeguarding.

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Peter_Sofa@reddit

Let's face it, some are lazy and don't want to walk.

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Agreeable_Fig_3713@reddit

In our case it’s that our local village school was shut along with three other villages and the kids are bused into the nearest town 30 mins away for school. Kid misses the bus? That’s you, kid doesn’t want to go on the bus coz three girls keep calling them fat head and fish eyes? You’re on the school run.

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