The kids walking to school on their own thread

[Steely Dan]

THE DREAM IS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

today, for the first time in a year, both of my young children went to school for an entire fucking day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My son has been going to a pre-school since January, which has been wonderful, but my daughter was still doing remote learning until today. She attended her first ever day of in-person kindergarten!

Allah, budda, jesus, I love you all!


And I finally got to realize one of the great joys of why we bought the condo we did 3 years ago: it's a very short and sweet one-block walk from our 3-flat to our daughter's K-8 school. Once my son starts kindergarten there next year, that will be our daily life for the next decade: a short little 2-minute walk to and from school. I've been waiting for this dream of mine for so long. I'm so close to never having to shuttle children around in a car on a daily basis ever again!

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

THE DREAM IS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

today, for the first time in a year, both of my young children went to school for an entire fucking day!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My son has been going to a pre-school since January, which has been wonderful, but my daughter was still doing remote learning until today. She attended her first ever day of in-person kindergarten!

Allah, budda, jesus, I love you all!


And I finally got to realize one of the great joys of why we bought the condo we did 3 years ago: it's a very short and sweet one-block walk from our 3-flat to our daughter's K-8 school. Once my son starts kindergarten there next year, that will be our daily life for the next decade: a short little 2-minute walk to and from school. I've been waiting for this dream of mine for so long. I'm so close to never having to shuttle children around in a car on a daily basis ever again!

Off-topic, but some friends and I were discussing kids walking alone. I did it so damn early but one of my friends was fiercely against it. So, being an urban dad, what age do you think it would be appropriate to let your kids walk to their school (obviously assuming the schools will be within walking distance)?

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Off-topic, but some friends and I were discussing kids walking alone. I did it so damn early but one of my friends was fiercely against it. So, being an urban dad, what age do you think it would be appropriate to let your kids walk to their school (obviously assuming the schools will be within walking distance)?

That's a good one.

I think kindergarten is too young.

But next year my daughter will be in 1st grade and my son will be in kindergarten. She's a pretty responsible and trustworthy 6-year old, so maybe if they walk together and she promises to keep an eye on him?

But my son still has some pretty heavy impulse control issues, so maybe the year after next when he might (hopefully) have a bit more sense than to chase a squirrel out into the street and get hit by a car or do some other idiotic thing like that?

[Pedestrian]

I remember walking to school quite a long distance—at least a mile, maybe several—in first grade but it was in the suburbs.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

That's a good one.

I think kindergarten is too young.

But next year my daughter will be in 1st grade and my son will be in kindergarten. She's a pretty responsible and trustworthy 6-year old, so maybe if they walk together and she promises to keep an eye on him?

But my son still has some pretty heavy impulse control issues, so maybe the year after next when he might (hopefully) have a bit more sense than to chase a squirrel out into the street and get hit by a car or do some other idiotic thing like that?

Nice, so about 10 years earlier than the average American parent would allow lol

I saw this mom who was about the cross the street with her little kid say "hold up, see that car has a red but they were still driving really fast, you need to wait until they come to a complete stop to finally cross"...shit like that is so valuable for a kid to learn and so many never do.

Good for you Steely!

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Off-topic, but some friends and I were discussing kids walking alone. I did it so damn early but one of my friends was fiercely against it. So, being an urban dad, what age do you think it would be appropriate to let your kids walk to their school (obviously assuming the schools will be within walking distance)?

Many kids aged 5 walk to school in groups in my suburban area. The urban form here isn't estate lots though, and the houses in general are on 30-45 foot wide lots, and a signficant proportion of the neighbourhood is semi-detached side-by-side houses.

There are crossing guards (both adults and kids) all over the neighbourhood at any place where kids could cross a street, in the morning, at lunch time (coming and going) and the afternoon.

The elementary school is in the middle of our neighbourhood, and all kids are within the 1.4 km (just less than a mile) radius that makes them "walkers" and not eligible to be transported by bus.

People might also find this "walking school bus" program interesting. It was started elsewhere in Quebec, and has been implemented in some parts of my city, but not in my area:

https://www.trottibus.ca/en/the-trottibus-in-brief/

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

Nice, so about 10 years earlier than the average American parent would allow lol

I saw this mom who was about the cross the street with her little kid say "hold up, see that car has a red but they were still driving really fast, you need to wait until they come to a complete stop to finally cross"...shit like that is so valuable for a kid to learn and so many never do.

Good for you Steely!

*sigh*

you know what is even more valuable?

if the dad is around everyday to do that too.

just sayin.

it's all i can think of when i see something like that.

its a huge problem in this country.

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

*sigh*

you know what is even more valuable?

if the dad is around everyday to do that too.

just sayin.

it's all i can think of when i see something like that.

its a huge problem in this country.

10000%

I will say my family from out of town noted that there were tons of dads alone with their kids walking around in Chicago. Its a great sight to see!

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by jtown,man

10000%

I will say my family from out of town noted that there were tons of dads alone with their kids walking around in Chicago. Its a great sight to see!

What happens when they go back to work?

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

What happens when they go back to work?

It has been mostly women who have lost their jobs during this time. But they visited on a weekend, so I don't know how that impacted the anecdotal situation they saw.

[ChrisLA]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

I remember walking to school quite a long distance—at least a mile, maybe several—in first grade but it was in the suburbs.

My Twin sister and I walked to our elementary school in the first grade and this was in the inner city of South Central Los Angeles/Watts near the Jordan Downs projects. The same school as Flo Jo, in fact she was in class with my older brother, and we were just fine. In fact we walk to school every day throughout elementary and not once had some stranger come up to us. Actually we walked part of the way to school in kindergarten as well, my mom would walk to the corner and then watch us walk two blocks over to the school by ourselves.

From what I remember most abductions happen in the suburbs back in that day this was in the early 70s. Today I would never let my child walk to school by himself and I live in the suburbs now. Honestly I would feel more at ease with him walking to school in the inner city, but in this day and age it will still be no.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by ChrisLA

My Twin sister and I walked to our elementary school in the first grade and this was in the inner city of South Central Los Angeles/Watts near the Jordan Downs projects. The same school as Flo Jo, in fact she was in class with my older brother, and we were just fine. In fact we walk to school every day throughout elementary and not once had some stranger come up to us. Actually we walked part of the way to school in kindergarten as well, my mom would walk to the corner and then watch us walk two blocks over to the school by ourselves.

From what I remember most abductions happen in the suburbs back in that day this was in the early 70s. Today I would never let my child walk to school by himself and I live in the suburbs now. Honestly I would feel more at ease with him walking to school in the inner city, but in this day and age it will still be no.

There have been a number of studies that show that there is no more risk from abductions or that sort of thing now than in the 1950s and 1960s. The modern media just gives what happens a lot more publicity. And when it comes to inner cities vs suburbs, I’d guess there could be less in inner cities. Such places have a lot of crime but not that kind.

I was thinking more about traffic in the city vs suburbs.

[SIGSEGV]

Cars are the danger for kids, not abductions.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Cars are the danger for kids, not abductions.

For real.

My mind conjures up the ironic image of a parent saying something to the effect of "I'd never let my kid walk somewhere by themself, it's way too dangerous, they might get kidnapped" as they load their kids up in the back seat of the car.

Chance of random kidnapping: pretty damn small

Chance of car wreck: an order of magnitude greater

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

For real.

My mind conjures up the ironic image of a parent saying something to the effect of "I'd never let my kid walk somewhere by themself, it's way too dangerous, they might get kidnapped" as they load their kids up in the back seat of the car.

Chance of random kidnapping: pretty damn small

Chance of car wreck: an order of magnitude greater

Coincidentally my friend’s mom just got carjacked with his son in the back car seat. So just because a child is in a car doesn’t mean he or she is any safer from a kidnapping.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Coincidentally my friend’s mom just got carjacked with his son in the back car seat. So just because a child is in a car doesn’t mean he or she is any safer from a kidnapping.

yeah that's probably the most likely way for a child to get kidnapped

[jtown,man]

Kidnappings are mostly estranged parents or something like that, almost always someone familiar with the victim.

My only fear of a child traveling alone would be cars...hitting them. My friend lets her 10-year-old daughter take the Red Line a few stations north to go to camp...or whatever it is during the summer. I was stunned when she told me this because she is usually super protective and its the Red Line, but she told me "she has to get used to navigating on her own." Amen.

Sorry for steering this off topic.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

There have been a number of studies that show that there is no more risk from abductions or that sort of thing now than in the 1950s and 1960s. The modern media just gives what happens a lot more publicity. And when it comes to inner cities vs suburbs, I’d guess there could be less in inner cities. Such places have a lot of crime but not that kind.

I was thinking more about traffic in the city vs suburbs.

Both are still low-density SFH suburbia, but to me in terms of safety, there is still a difference between kids walking alone here:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.49993...7i13312!8i6656

Versus here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1794...7i13312!8i6656

The former is not my street, but it's got a very similar typology to mine.

As for the latter, I don't mean to pick on the US. There are areas where I live that look like that too.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Both are still low-density SFH suburbia, but to me in terms of safety, there is still a difference between kids walking alone here:

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.49993...7i13312!8i6656

Versus here:

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1794...7i13312!8i6656

The former is not my street, but it's got a very similar typology to mine.

As for the latter, I don't mean to pick on the US. There are areas where I live that look like that too.

Neither has sidewalks, so they seem about the same to me. I wouldn't let a 10 year old walk alone on either street.

[mrnyc]

^ uggh -- i really dislike those suburbs that do not enforce building sidewalks. that's asking for trouble.

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

There have been a number of studies that show that there is no more risk from abductions or that sort of thing now than in the 1950s and 1960s. The modern media just gives what happens a lot more publicity. And when it comes to inner cities vs suburbs, I’d guess there could be less in inner cities. Such places have a lot of crime but not that kind.

I was thinking more about traffic in the city vs suburbs.

this is it exactly. there are a lot more media outlets all over the place online now than there were when people used to get their news from tv news, newspapers and magazines, all of which had fact checking and vetted reports. not that those were perfect, but they were not the unvetted online free for all we have now. sites are hungry for content and many will put out any sensational headline no matter how ridiculous. we have to be very cautious as you get what you paid for!