Letting kids walk to school alone

[sbehr]

I read Robin's and Alena's recent posts about leaving kids at home alone and it made me think of this question. At what age do you all think is OK for kids to walk/ride bicycles to school rather than being dropped off at school? For this example the school is less than a mile away from the children's home, they only cross one neighborhood street

Comments

[tea_cantata]

Totally uninformed ramble here :) I walked to school and back by myself in the States by age 8 or so - certainly by the end of second grade, can't remember exactly when this started. It certainly wasn't far, and there were lots of other kids walking (approximately) the same route, and there were crossing guards for the large intersections. In Germany, in 3rd and 4th grade, I would certainly walk alone or with my friend at whose house I would have lunch, but that was nearly in line of sight of the school, no more than a few hundred yards away. By 4th grade (so age 9/10) I was taking the slow train back to a different town (long story - about a 20 minute ride, anyway) on a weekly basis, either making my own way to the station or getting a ride on the back of a friend's bike. I realise my situation is probably pretty different to your kids' situation, and I probably had a lot more experience of Going Places By Myself than most kids my age, and also this was about 20 years ago. So, not sure if my datapoints are all that useful

[brodyjen]

For me, it would be all about the traffic situation, if there are lots of other kids and parents walking, and if there was a way that I *knew* that the child had reached their destination. Well, and how mature the child was. How close is a helpful house/business if they needed one (and would they know how to get there)? What happens if they somehow have to walk in a different direction, or cross to another sidewalk - would they know what to do

[tzf_frenchfry]

First, you are not too protective. Is there such a thing

[tdcsnowwhite]

We're in a situation where the school is about 6-7 miles away, and the only route to the school is a busy "highway." (I put highway in quotes, because it isn't an interstate, and the road only has 2 lanes, but it is a state road, and extremely busy, especially during morning rush when the entire county makes a mass exodus toward NYC.) And the kids would have to walk about a mile down a street with no houses, only woods (the home to wildlife, which can be dangerous) to get to the highway. So there is NFW I am letting anyone walk to school, ever. It is extremely dangerous, and it would take about 2 or 3 hours to walk that distance

[eiramanit]

I walked/rode my bike to school from 1st - 3rd grade. We lived about a mile from school and the way there was through our development so no major roads. I was always with my older brothers who were 3 and 4 years old than me. From fourth grade on I had to take a bus because the school was too far away.

I'm not sure what I'd do with a 8/9 year old. Times have changed, and I'm constantly amazed at what my parents let me do growing up. First, a lot would depend on the road conditions to the school. If it was a mile of all neighborhood roads (no major roads) I'd probably be ok with it.