Let's walk to school, kids tell parents
By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 2000-05-31
Is it better to drive the kids to school or let them walk? In many areas, particularly in the USA, that sounds like a ridiculous question. Apart from the distances involved, there's frequently nowhere to walk except on the highway itself.
It is easier in the U.K. where walking habits are more ingrained. Even so, about 40 per cent of children there are driven by mom and dad.
But what about the kids themselves? What do they say? Well, a survey of children's attitudes toward the question by the Department of Environment, Transportation, and the Regions shows that most of them, aged 7 to 11, want to walk. Of those questioned, more than 38 per cent who go by car would rather walk or cycle. Almost one in three who are driven live within a 15-minute walk to school.
The worst things about going to school by car, according to the children, are: getting stuck in traffic; cars cause pollution; lack of exercise; not meeting classmates; and "it's boring."
The best things about walking to school include: meeting and talking to friends (53 per cent); getting some fresh air; getting some exercise; going to the sweet (candy) shop; spending time with mum, dad, or grandma. When asked which adult they would most like to take them to school, mum was more than four times more popular than dad.
In the wake of the survey, the transportation department has issued a free "School Travel Resource Pack" designed to give parents, teachers and school governors all they need to develop safe and healthy alternatives to the car. The pack shows how schools can involve pupils, and work with local businesses and the community to make the journey to school safe and pleasant.
Transport Minister Keith Hill says: "We all want to see our children travel to school in safety, and to be offered greater choices and healthy options. We are keen that children should be free to walk to school, accompanied by adults where appropriate, and our research shows that youngsters want to walk."
Almost one in five cars on Britain's urban roads at 8:50 a.m. during term time is taking children to school, and over the last 10 years the proportion of car journeys to school has almost doubled. The research was conducted in April 2000, interviewing 769 children aged between 7 and 11.
In a similar survey on the environment, primary school children across England have told their parents they "could do better" in looking after the environment. Nearly 50 per cent of the kids questioned recommended more recycling as their top green tip for mum and dad.
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