Published: 15th May 2023
Updated: 11th March 2024
Years ago it wasn’t uncommon to see kids walking to school. However, nowadays people are far more wary about children having to walk to school alone. This is because there is far more traffic and the media convinces us there is an increase in danger.
With all the worries around safety, should children walk to school? Walking to school can have some extremely healthy benefits. As your child grows older, accepting responsibility and being given chances to earn trust can nurture independence. Walking to school is a great opportunity to pose this challenge to your child.
Walking to and from school gets the blood moving around the body, meaning more oxygen reaches the brain. This helps to dissipate the stress hormone, cortisol, leading to a calmer child before school. It also releases endorphins and dopamine, which give your child a sense of reward and feeling of happiness as they embark on their school day.
Our nation has an epidemic of child obesity, causing a myriad of health problems. Walking to school encourages exercise, helping to strengthen muscles in your child and keep them healthy.
With your child walking to school, you no longer need to spend money on petrol for driving or public transport.
As you no longer have to accompany your child to school, you don’t have to worry about managing car rides. Instead, you can focus on your day to come, or enjoy a coffee to yourself!
Kids need to learn road safety. Children need to know how to cross roads unaccompanied and navigate their way to certain locations. Walking unsupervised forces them to watch out for danger, helping them to learn the skills through practice.
Petrol-based travel is very bad for our environment. By walking to school, your child learns eco-friendly habits that are transferrable in life.
Children need to learn responsibility, which means as parents, you need to let them have responsibility. Letting your child walk alone grants them trust, enabling them to develop a sense of accountability and personal responsibility. This could even provide a reward mechanism for you to recognise them as trustworthy.
Technically, the law doesn’t state a minimum age limit for children walking to school alone. That said, most councils and local authorities recommend eight years old as a good time to start the process of learning to walk to school alone.
Some councils employ statutory walking distance, which entitles children to free transportation if they’re outside the suitable walking distance. This is a good measure of suitable walking distances for your child. Appropriate distance is outlined to be two miles for children up to eight years old and three miles for eight and above.
Ultimately, only a parent knows if their child is ready to walk to school alone. To test this, give them small tasks like walking to the shop or fetching something from an aisle in a supermarket. Have your child walk to a friend’s house or collect dinner from the local takeaway. That way you can get a measure of their readiness.
In 2021, there was a 29% decrease in the number of child road casualties since 2001, according to the Government. However, there has been a recent increase in the number of children being run over in the UK. This is likely due to a number of factors, including distracted driving and increased traffic congestion, but it’s important to note that roads are generally safer now than they were in the past. However, there is still a risk of children being harmed in road accidents, so it’s important to take steps to keep children safe on the roads.
When considering the prospect of letting your child walk alone to school, you’re probably scared to death about the possible dangers that can occur. Preparing your child for dangers ahead of time will help to ease your mind, and you can also relieve some pressure by researching walking home from school safety tips.
Here’s a list of our top ten walking home from school safety tips:
While a black coat might be ideal for keeping the dirt at bay, it may stop your child from being seen by traffic. Make sure that you purchase a coat that can be seen by cars at night time. Choose a bright colour and try to opt for something with reflective material. Alternatively, if your child’s school uniform denotes a dark-coloured coat, you can sew on reflective patches or add reflective and luminescent accessories to your child’s bag.
If you’ve never run through road safety rules with your child, now is a good time. If you’ve already been teaching these, run through them with your child to make sure they understand.
Make flashcards for the different signs, like a green man, zebra crossing, pelican crossing etc. Test them on what they know and fill in the gaps of what they don’t. If they’re unfamiliar with anything, showing kids always works best – take them for walks around the neighbourhood to show them what to look for and how to behave.
To instill confidence in your child about walking to school, walk the route with them several times beforehand – use the summer holiday as a chance to do this once or twice a week. Point out landmarks, notable houses, memorable businesses, and other unforgettable features. In doing this, your child starts to know the route off by heart but also knows how to correct themselves if they’re wrong.
Why not try a few different routes to see which is the quickest or easiest to remember?
Of course, it seems obvious to choose the safest route, but this allows you to monitor your child’s road awareness too. Having walked the different routes together, talk with your child about which one they think is the safest. Run through the different tasks they’ll have to complete on each route, such as crossing busy roads or finding a zebra crossing.
Try to pick the walkway with the least number of busy crossings. Try to look for crossings that have traffic lights and opt for streets with fewer cars. Seek out roads with streetlights and ensure that your child isn’t using pathways with low lighting or few pedestrians.
If your child does get into trouble for any reason, or can’t follow their regular route, you need to have a backup in mind. Make sure your child knows the alternative walk home as well as they know their primary route. You don’t want them to get confused if they’re already having the stress of taking a detour. Make sure you set up a system where they alert you if they have to take the other route. The NSPCC recommends making sure your child knows your phone number and address by heart, in case they get lost or lose their phone.
If an adult talks to a young person in the street, it can be confusing for the child if they aren’t so savvy on which adults to trust. Talk through different scenarios with your children and give them safeguarding measures if they feel unsafe around another adult: never go with a stranger, call if they are worried, go back to school to find an adult etc.
The mobile phone debate goes back and forth, but having a phone certainly gives you a point of contact for your child. It also means they can call you or the police if they feel threatened. If you choose to give your child a mobile phone, give firm instructions on usage as not to run up the phone bill. Explain that it is their responsibility to keep it charged and to notify you if they need topping up.
Install all emergency phone numbers into the device and put them on speed dial just in case your child needs help in a hurry. Run through the procedure of dialing 999 for a real emergency.
It’s important to remind children to put their phones down and look up when walking to school. Not only does this allow them to be more aware of their surroundings, but it also helps them develop better posture and avoid potential accidents. Encourage children to engage with their environment, interact with their peers, and enjoy the benefits of walking to school without the distractions of their devices. Check out our “Look Up!” campaign all about this!
If your child gets in trouble on their way home or they’re having difficulty contacting you, they may need a safe place to go to ask for help. On the way home, make sure you point out some safe places that your child can seek help – this relieves them from having to ask a stranger. Try speaking to your local newsagent, cafe, coffee shop etc. They will no doubt be happy to help your child if they’re in a fluster.
Listening to music and walking can be quite meditative, which is exactly the reason it’s a bad idea for children. Road safety demands a good working order of all senses and for children to stay alert. If they’re listening to music or podcasts on headphones, they won’t be able to hear oncoming traffic, which can be extremely dangerous.
There is indeed safety in numbers. Having children walk together helps them to remember the directions more clearly, and they can watch one another’s backs. It also means that if your child goes missing, it’ll be noticed immediately. Find neighbours who also have children walking to the same school. Group the kids up together so they can be responsible for one another.
Another idea to start is a walking bus. This is especially good if you’re worried about the walk being completely unsupervised. Parents take it in turns to walk large groups of children (up to ten) together in pairs. Children are picked up from their houses along the way. That way you only have to do the school run once a week.
Allowing your child to go to school on foot can be a real privilege, fostering independence and trustworthiness. However, if you want your child to walk to school safely, you’ll need to not only ensure they know road safety rules, you’ll want to pick a route that sets them up for success.
Identifying safe routes to school can be tricky. Luckily schools are often hot on walking to school safety and can give you local information on streets to avoid when planning your route. If you’re planning a course to go to school on foot, consider these points:
In general, when councils rate the ‘suitability’ of a child’s walk to school, they suggest considering traffic flow, the presence of adequate footways, visibility, and opportunities for road crossing.
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