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Home Articles Child Safety Blog Letting your child walk to school
Letting your child walk to school Print E-mail
Written by Evin Hunt   
Saturday, 11 August 2007 17:16
The school year is rapidly approaching... actually it starts next week!  My oldest son, who is 9, is starting the 4th grade, and a popular conversation at my house is whether or not he's old enough to walk to school.  I, having walked to school since pre-school, through pouring rains, snowstorms, and dinosaur invasions, always made it just fine.  So naturally, I want my son to have the independence and adventure of the trek to school.  My wife, on the other hand, is your typical worrisome overprotective mother... but that's what makes her such a great mom!

We live about a mile from the school.  Our neighborhood is a typical newly-built suburban development with middle to higher income families.  So one would think that our neighborhood is fairly safe.

What I've described is a fairly common scenario in our American lives.  So who is right?  My wife, or me?  Well actually, we both are.  Our kids need to learn to navigate, manage travel time, stop and pick dandilions and chase toads.  They also need to be aware of potential safety hazards and safe spots along the way.  With a good plan and some communication with the school and other neighborhood parents, we can make this trek both exciting and safe.

Steps that can make the walk to school both fun and safe:

  • Get to know several parents of other kids at the school
  • Every morning, parents can take turns being at predetermined "safe spots" along the route
    • In a subdevelopment with many routes to school, parents can be strategically placed on the different corners.
  • Get a cell phone that has GPS alert capabilities -- Sprint recently announced a phone that can be tracked via a website, and send you alerts when a child has left point A and arrived at point B.
  • Have the kids draw maps of the routes to school, and put a star on the "safe spots".  This not only enhances their route awareness, but other navigational skills as well.

These are just a few points that work well.  Many other parents are going through the same contemplations, and will be willing to work together to make the walk to school safer and worry free.
 

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