Teenagers being driven to and from school

I find this culture of children being driven to school in the UK very strange.
My children went to school on their bikes in the Netherlands. I know that may not be safe over here but surely there are buses or they could walk like we did.

I think people do under estimate how many children at a particular school dont live locally. There are lots of moans about local children being driven to school in my village, people on Facebook constantly saying only a small minority of pupils will live out of the village, actually those living elsewhere are very much in the majority.

A friend of my DC lived just over a mile from school and was driven both ways for seven years. My own secondary was 2.5 miles and a lot of us walked as a group, collecting more along the way.

The bus pass is also very expensive if you don't attend the nearest school

Well I found my own way to school in London from the age of 5 and we didn't have a car so I wasn't driven anywhere. For secondary school I had a walk and a bus ride. Never once did anyone take me to school. I realise we live in a different time now, but it does seem rather pathetic anyone over the age of 13 can't get there on their own. If there is a bullying problem on the way to school then that should be addressed rather than having a bodyguard driving them.

I havent been on a bus since the pandemic. I would think it would be better for everyone at the moment for teenagers to avoid buses if theres an alternative.

My son, now an adult (32) had to get a bus into the local town and then had a ten minute walk from the bus stop to the school. He and his friends witnessed several muggings, one boy was beaten up badly. I was always terrified of all the kids carrying knives and it is much worse now. We live in London.

That’s why so many are driven. Parents are scared for their safety.

This is being discussed on the air pollution in London topic.
I know from experience that it is a perennial problem that plagues nearly every school in nearly every part of the country. The trouble is the school itself cannot police the streets outside the building, and termly letters from Headteachers to parents seem to fall on deaf ears. Parents want to drop their children off as close to the school gates as possible thereby creating traffic jams, toxic fumes and the potential for accidents. Let alone road rage where assaults take place. In addition parents' cars are now so much bigger than they used to be and their parking skills are rubbish.

Our son has to be driven because we are about 10 miles away the public bus was thousands per year, honestly it was an eye watering amount. Plus he would have to be driven several miles to get to the bus stop. It seemed pointless.

my husband drives him in a mild hybrid (volvo) fwiw so pollution should be as minimal as it could be, if that helps

We live 200 yards from our local primary school ,we're in Scotland so its a case of you go to the school closest to you,no one from outside the probably 1 mile boundary goes there.When we came here even primary one children walked in groups to school with maybe one mother to supervise ,Usually me , as my son screamed every day until we found a way round it .
There were no cars outside the gates ,now 32 years later you cant get past for 4x4's queued round the block and double parked.The school has a no park zone and its ignored.

The road would be no busier if it weren't for all the parents driving one child to school instead of walking and it would be perfectly safe .I dont see why schools like this dont just ban cars all together .
The secondary schools lay on buses for pupils who live more than 2 miles away.the buses are never full the mums, and its usually mums, do the doubLe parking thing there too. The catchment area is much larger my GC live around 16 miles from school ,yes it takes a wee bit longer by bus but think of the pollution at the gates with all these big engines running for over half an hour as they arrive earlier all the time to get a closer space to the gate .

also son is not dropped outside the school. He meets friends in town and walks there

Not to mention parking in local roads, with some blocking driveways, a bugbear locally.

Many teens here walk to the secondary schools if they’re near them but for some, it’s difficult, for all the reasons posted here. Bus pass £220 per term, children who don’t live locally and not near anyone they could meet up with then of course, fear.
I walked about 2 miles to school, when I was a child/teen, but few of us had parents with cars and the car usually went to work with the father, so I don’t know if I’d have been driven.

I am guilty of driving our children to school from day 1, apart from youngest who went to the primary school next door but one to our house.

It was easier to drop them off on my way to work and pick them up on the way home, incorporating clubs, play dates etc.

There have been a few ridiculous car adverts, Volkswagen if I remember. with the parent dropping the kid off at the school gates in some posh cool vehicle which was supposed to the envy of other drivers.

My children walked to school as did my grandchildren until they were at A level as they both chose not to remain at the school in the village. Daughter then drive them on wet days, other days they ride their bikes. Eldest GS at uni drives there either on his motor bike or car. No convenient transport from the village.

yes that advert was cringy, reminded me of the mums and dads who think they are still young nd cool

The cost of the school bus can be prohibitive! £750 a year per child in my GC’s area! Don’t forget the ridiculously heavy loads they have to carry these days, very different from our days at school when we could safely leave books etc in our desks!

It is the same in my area now. It never used to be like this. When my children (now adults) went to school you attended and most importantly allowed to go to your local school. Sadly not anymore. You are no longer allowed to attend your local school. The pupils are brought from a less well off area. this should not be the case. Children should be allowed to go to their local school. They can then walk and very importantly their friends are local so can get together very easily. No car journeys needed! Lobby your MP for children having the right to go to their local school. It is a nightmare on the roads where I live on from 2pm to 3.45 Monday to Friday because of this.

They do have lockers!

Pandemic, weather, maybe right schedules for activities after school....

Tight not tight

We walked to and from school, and home for lunch too, it was just what we did. Very few cars about. One of our classmates got the bus and was aghast at us, but then her dad had a car and I suppose walking seemed strange to her.

As a child I'd never heard of mugging or gangs. We live in different times now.