Teenagers being driven to and from school

What surprises me, is that nowadays, when most children have two working parents, how they manage to be able to do the school run. Dropping off children on the way to work I understand, I did that myself, but it does assume your route to work and to school are roughly in the same direction.

DGC's school is in the opposite direction to both their parent's work places and DS leaves home a good hour before they do. When the children were at primary school, which was very close, they were walked to school in the morning, but went home with a friend on days neither parent could collect them

Flexible working hours, Monica. That’s how my ds and dil manage it. Their two dc have been at different schools/nurseries for four years now, so there’s a lot of to-ing and fro-ing.

Times change - in Denmark some children do make their own way home from school by bus or riding a bike, but parents who can take time off to fetch their children from school, do so even with the teenagers, or if they are in one of the top income brackets have an au pair with a driving licence who fetches the children.

Our generation tends to see this as molly-coddling. The children's parents regard it as due care and attention.

I was driven to and from school due to being sent to a school that was some distance from home and not on a bus route - later I was driven to and from the train station to get to and from school.

When I left home at sixteen I suddenly had to walk, cycle or take a bus - it took quite some getting used to. I was quite cross that my parents hadn't made me face up to the reality of being grown up rather sooner and let me do more for myself while I was still at school.

There’s a new initiative in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, where adults stand in a spaced out chain along popular routes to and from the local school, so children who feel unsafe for any reason on their walk to/from school can approach an adult for safety. It seems to be receiving a good press so far. Clearly the school is within walking distance of homes. It does discouraging bullying and any potential mugging though. So far, so good.

I used to get one of the old rickety steam trains to college ( 50's ) after I'd left school but was always glad because if it was a pea-souper out I knew the train would only have to follow the track as opposed to being on the road where you couldn't see a hand in front of you. I remember the seats were like sitting on horsehair. No graffiti though and pictures still in-situ.

Imagine the moans and groans if it was the same today.

We had to walk to secondary school it was over half hour walk away. I walked my children to primary school fifteen minutes away. They took themselves to the same secondary school I went to which is over half an hour away. I only ever picked them up if we were going somewhere straight from school usually my mums.

Visiting Australia and New Zealand a while ago now, there was a Walking Bus. Children were taken to a specific point and joined what some might know as a crocodile. The children all then walked to school together with some adult supervision. It worked well especially for primary children.

I go to DDs every Tuesday and Wednesday, catching the bus back at about 5.00pm. The bus always has loads of senior school children so I suspect not all teens have a personal taxi service. Maybe because in the NE where I am fewer people live in multicar families. It may be different in wealthier areas.

Beswitched.
I agree it is frustrating stuck in a traffic jam but is it our business to question / pass judgement when we cannot possibly know the circumstances why a child is given a lift to school when that school, thought of by others to be but a short walk from their home.?
I relied on my MIL and her transport help due to my circumstances even though my children's school was but minutes walk from our home .

SueDonim when you work in education flexible working hours are frequently not possible. Neither of them has an office based job.

Mind you things have been easier in lockdown.

Blinko

There’s a new initiative in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, where adults stand in a spaced out chain along popular routes to and from the local school, so children who feel unsafe for any reason on their walk to/from school can approach an adult for safety. It seems to be receiving a good press so far. Clearly the school is within walking distance of homes. It does discouraging bullying and any potential mugging though. So far, so good.

What an excellent initiative!

Walking to school in 'our' day is a different kettle of fish to what is is now and I am not going to pass judgement on parents who drive their teenagers to school. There are certain routes and areas where I'd be doing the same.

I walked to school at age 6, but there was no bullying en route and the traffic on the main road I had to cross was nothing like it is now. There were, also, policemen walking around fairly - frequently it seemed.

Our cities and towns are quite different to what they were and if parents are worried about their children's safety for whatever reason I'm not going to criticise them.

... damn! "fairly frequently, it seemed"

Oh for an edit button - it appears to function without any problem on Facebook!

It's many years since my DSs told me about "taxing" which is stopping a younger/smaller child and demanding money from them. I would imagine it still goes on. The name indicates how acccepted it was as part of the culture. Bullying still goes on. Even if they are part of a group there's the danger of fights. I understand why those parents who can drive their children to school. Unfortunately it isn't even an option for some.

Daisend1

Beswitched.
I agree it is frustrating stuck in a traffic jam but is it our business to question / pass judgement when we cannot possibly know the circumstances why a child is given a lift to school when that school, thought of by others to be but a short walk from their home.?
I relied on my MIL and her transport help due to my circumstances even though my children's school was but minutes walk from our home .

I did make it clear that I understood there are some situations and circumstances where a lift was necessary. I was talking about the situation in general, which seems to be that a very high percentage of teenagers seem to be collected from sch by car nowadays.

You didn’t specify teachers in your post, Monica so I was answering your questions in general. Most parents aren’t teachers so there will be a variety of ways of managing.

Most schools here have some sort of breakfast and after school club so that’s another option.

Maybe this kind of thing is why some parents prefer to drive their children to school.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-60008985

I certainly wouldn't criticise parents for driving their kids to school on their way to work. A lot of them do that out of necessity.
What I was criticising is parents' inconsiderate parking which results in the school having to deal with angry residents, or even highways authorities over health and safety issues. It isn't the job of the school to sort out the parents in addition to teaching the children.

What we did when we were younger as in walking a very long way to school and back again is not necessarily what happens now, could be so many reasons as to why the parents drive their children to school.

SueDonim Not an everyday event, in fact a very unlikely event at most schools. Like the school that found a crocodile under the floor www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60009983

No, not an everyday event (I hope) but then we do a lot of things with an abundance of caution despite the chances of anything going wrong being very small.

The fact it was reported in the newspaper shows it is not a common place occurrence. I don't think reading that would prompt many parents to then decide they are going to start chauffeuring their 16 year old home from school everyday.

I knew a woman who would send her son by taxi if she couldn’t drive him to school, they lived under a mile from the school with an easy walk

M0nica, two of my grandchildren are dropped off early at 'breakfast club' on three days, so my daughter can get to work on time. Some kids are at breakfast and after school clubs - five days a week.

Yes, breakfast club at 7.30 am but you'd only have 4 or 5 kids dropped at that time. The question us how many REALLY need it when alternatives like walking are available. It mainly applies to the younger children anyway.

Pepper59

It might be easier for many parents to drop their children off on the way to work. If I collect my grandchild from school, we get the bus back to my home as I don't drive, they love getting the bus.

My Gdcs absolutely love going on buses when they stay here - preferably the front seats on top! I will take them on the bus or even 2 buses, when it would be quicker to drive, but it’s so much a part of the outing. And we have a fantastic bus service here in SW London.

They so rarely take buses at home, but do walk to school - luckily it’s only a short walk away.

M0nica

SueDonim Not an everyday event, in fact a very unlikely event at most schools. Like the school that found a crocodile under the floor www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60009983

M0nica
How did I miss that piece of news!

Even more reason not to go wild swimming in Wales