I had a great conversation this weekend with a friend who also has three school aged kids. She was telling me that originally, her kids would take the bus home from school but they would be on the bus for almost an hour, each way. Last year, she started allowing her kids walk to school which was about 15 minutes at child speed, and it was becoming a pretty big deal for the family. Now into the second year, there are about 9 kids who walk together and keep each other on track (they are kids after all, there’s bound to be butterfly chasing) not only that, parents along the route have been messaging each other letting one another know that they saw the kids. I think this is an AWESOME idea! We had discussed how teaching our kids to walk mindfully, aware of there surroundings, was helping to build their self confidence and how having groups watching out for each other and getting each other to school was really about conquering fear. Not only the kids fear of crossing the street, or walking alone, but the parents fear that anything could happen on the street. It’s a little bit about building self confidence in the kids, a little bit about getting parents to let go of the ‘reins’, and a lot about ‘taking back the streets’. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about ‘packs of children’ walking each other to school in town and I really think it’s a great idea. Over the last year I’ve really fallen in love with walking to work and the kids have recently begun asking to go for walks in the neighbourhood with me. Not JUST to go the playground or to the store, but to actually just get out and walk. They really love it, they are starting to learn our neighbours names, the names of their dogs, and where the Caragana Hedges are in case they need a snack in the springtime (my kids have developed a real liking for those little yellow flowers). I think this neighbourhood familiarity is something that so many of us grew up with but have been depriving our kids of. I used to walk myself to school in Kindergarten and Grade 1 (by Grade 2 we had moved to the country and I had no choice but take the bus) and it was definitely farther away than my kids live from school now.
My friend and I also had a great talk about busing and the bully culture that our kids are being subjected to there. Now, before anyone gets upset, I’m not blaming bus drivers and I’m not saying that busing is bad! Not at all. First off, bus drivers can’t monitor every conversation or see every movement on a bus and still be expected to monitor traffic. It’s not realistic. I have stories about experiences I was subjected too all throughout school, and I’ve got stories from my kids. My friend had stories as well and some of hers were truly horrifying. We both found ourselves having to pick our jaws up off the floor a few times during the conversation. I definitely would rather have my kids ride to school on -40 days than walk the 6 blocks to school, but I think that if I can avoid them being bullied or threatened on a regular basis, I’d like that as well. Of course, bullying on or off buses is an entirely different conversation.
Times have changed, I completely get that. It’s scary out there for parents and I’m not advocating for parents to allow their kids to walk to school alone. I like the ‘pack’ idea, having a small group of kids walking each other to school. I also really like the communication between parents along the way. Not only does it give the parents a little peace of mind, it starts conversations and familiarity between people who might normally just be a ‘nodding’ acquaintance in the hallway at pickup time. It also gives the kids a chance to get to know the neighbourhood: the routine, the people who live around them and the traffic flows. It’s knowledge that we all grew up with but have started to deprive our kids of out of fear, and convenience. I know this isn’t the 1950’s and we may never get back to not worrying about our kids staying out all day playing without calling us, or without being able to see them. I do think that having this fear of our own neighbourhoods conquered would do all of us, parents, kids and teachers, a lot of good.
