R
Rick Warner
Guest
"Steven M. Scharf" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<5xc6c.27193$%[email protected]>...
> otherwise? The factors are really the inflated fear of
> abductions, the general decline in the quality of
> drivers, and both parents working and the kid going to
> after school care.
>
Bing, bing, bing!!!! We have a winner! Yep. It is not that
kids are not riding their bikes to school, it is that a
large number of kids are not allowed to go to school except
with parental escort. And the parents are much more willing
to walk their kids (if close) or drive their kids to school
than to bike themselves. One two lane road I could use in
the mornings is impossible to ride on because it is blocked
with cars and SUV's dropping kids off at school, even though
most kids live within a half-mile or so of that school.
Another school I do pass 3-4 mornings a week has a constant
parade of parents walking, driving, or (rare) riding along
with their kids to the school. Extremely rare to see a child
travelling unattended to that school. And this is in a
'safe' affluent community! When I grew up and went to
school, circa a half-century ago, parents never escorted
their kids to school; I could count on one hand the number
of times my parents dropped me off at school, and that was
only after some appointment or other event to which they had
to transport me. There has been a shift, a shift towards
fear and parents are driven by the fear that their child
will be abducted, molested, hit by a car, etc., and feel
they must be the constant protector.
- rick
> otherwise? The factors are really the inflated fear of
> abductions, the general decline in the quality of
> drivers, and both parents working and the kid going to
> after school care.
>
Bing, bing, bing!!!! We have a winner! Yep. It is not that
kids are not riding their bikes to school, it is that a
large number of kids are not allowed to go to school except
with parental escort. And the parents are much more willing
to walk their kids (if close) or drive their kids to school
than to bike themselves. One two lane road I could use in
the mornings is impossible to ride on because it is blocked
with cars and SUV's dropping kids off at school, even though
most kids live within a half-mile or so of that school.
Another school I do pass 3-4 mornings a week has a constant
parade of parents walking, driving, or (rare) riding along
with their kids to the school. Extremely rare to see a child
travelling unattended to that school. And this is in a
'safe' affluent community! When I grew up and went to
school, circa a half-century ago, parents never escorted
their kids to school; I could count on one hand the number
of times my parents dropped me off at school, and that was
only after some appointment or other event to which they had
to transport me. There has been a shift, a shift towards
fear and parents are driven by the fear that their child
will be abducted, molested, hit by a car, etc., and feel
they must be the constant protector.
- rick