"Active travel to school" is one of 10 priority areas proposed by the Australian Health Policy Collaboration and more than 70 leading chronic disease experts to fix the growing obesity and chronic health crisis.
Experts estimate that the additional congestion costs generated by school trips in cars is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.Good pedestrian infrastructure, pleasant walking and cycling environments and safe crossings are critical, of course. on a notice published in a school newsletter bearing the Queensland Police Service insignia telling parents that children under the age of 12 cannot walk to ride to school alone.But parents' thoughts and perceptions on official guidance and social norms are important.found parents were more likely to restrict their child's independent mobility if they were worried about being judged by others.
It's understandable — the urge to keep kids safe is hardwired in parents. But when we choose to drive to school, we only add to the real traffic dangers and risks even as we continue to frame it as a problem created by others. But it would be hard not to celebrate their independence, confidence and ability to successfully navigate the outside world for themselves.
Llib7 Some places are badly designed and hence too dangerous to walk or cycle.
Back in the day parents could afford to buy a house and not have to have both parents working themselves to death to be able to afford to feed their families. If we were paid right, or one parent could stay home like in the old days then you would see more parents walking kids
I'm not sure the point of this article....Didn't see any suggestions on how to address the many very valid reasons parents are dropping their kids off at school more now than 40 years ago.
The paragraph regarding safe ways for kids to negotiate traffic is something I recognise. Primary aged children don't have the attention and judgement to mix with cars - they need safe separated paths and cycleways and crossings.
Parents are generally too protective of kids today to let them walk to school. So solve the way bigger problem of unfit kids by adding 1 hour to the schools day and having 1 hour of compulsory exercise: walking, running, ball sports etc. Simple/cheap/effective stuff
School bags were not heavy once upon a time. No one had to carry water, a laptop, text books and sport equipment. This is why many students are driven to school.
One positive to Covid-19 and working from home is I walk my son to school now everyday.
I wish the ABC would stop telling us how to live.
We do walk our kids to school, but one extra pedestrian crossing would mean that we could use backstreets more