Is it so wrong to let my kids walk to school?!
Answered 3 years ago
I have 3 children between the ages of 6 and 11, and we live a kilometre away from the school. I realise to some people that may seem like a long way, but we regularly hike longer than that as a family, so I'm confident the distance isn't an issue for them. We live in a nice suburb, where everybody knows everybody. This year I returned to work, and thankfully I can work from home. Although I still have strict deadlines to meet. So some mornings (since the start of the year it's been around 10 times) I let my children walk to school on their own. My eldest has a phone to call me, and I have friends check on them as they pass their houses, just to be safe. We don't have a car at the moment, otherwise I'd just take the 5 minutes and drive them.
Usually I'm confident in my parenting decisions. But there's one woman who just keeps commenting negatively about letting my kids go to school alone. Honestly, I don't really like this woman anyway, but everytime she talks to me lately she brings it up. I usually try to avoid her, but lately she seems to be everywhere I am, and I'm too polite to ignore her.
Am I completely insane to allow my children this? Most days we enjoy walking together, but every now and then there's work that needs immediate attention that I can't do en route. Is it so horrible to let my kids walk?
My husband says we're fine, and the children are learning independence. But I'd appreciate your insight into this.
I've since scaled back my work, and am now walking them everyday again. But was it wrong to allow it in the first place??
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You monster, how dare you let your kids walk
24% -
It's fine, let them walk if necessary
71% -
Some other third thing
6%
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Answers
There’s sick people out there regardless if it’s obvious, why risk these terrible experiences for your kids?
Maybe ask said woman if she’s able to run them to school on days you are busy, let her know you have no car. She sounds like she would possibly call the police.
You sound like you know it’s wrong, you’re looking for justification.
Putting the responsibility of a 6 year old on an 11 year old is unfair! The most an 11 year would do is hopefully get a car description if some sick pedo came along.
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It doesn’t make it okay though.
The community there was definitely more raise a village.
And him and his sister walked from her being in year 1.
We then moved 3km away when they were year 5 and 3 and they rode their bikes.
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I think I need to tell this woman to fuck off.
They'd walk/bike/scooter together when they were at primary school (so one in Yr 3 other in Yr 6) then alone when my son went to a new school at Yr 7. Its not illegal for kids to walk to school before 12 where I live....... 🤦♀️
Exact same position here. My girls are 11&8 and walk to and from school when I'm working. Maybe just over 1km. No main roads, 11 year old has a mobile phone. I don't see an issue with it at all.
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So, moral is, I personally think most primary kids are not responsible enough to walk or understand consequences as they get distracted. I don't judge because it's so commen but I think most parents would rethink if they saw the near misses their kids had. All parents who use the route seem to use heightened awareness but there's a lot of idiots who use those roads as well. It's just not worth the risk for me.
I also call BS on friends checking on the en route!
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We all used to do it when we were kids and we had no way of contacting our parents either so I don’t see what the big deal is.