Mammy dropping kids to school in the car

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118203956#Comment_118203956

And even if they could, it doesn't mean they should.

mariaalice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118204049#Comment_118204049

Where I live they could it's about 800 meters to the school walking through this and another housing estate then there is a crossing lady bringing them across the road to the school. That is the crux of the matter is it safe to walk or cyclen to school.

Just wondering are there any men dropping children to school or is it always mammy?

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118203956#Comment_118203956

The goalposts moved for the 6 year olds this time as they're now cycling and walking to school "on their own".

Fever Dreams hand wringing and anxiety for the trildren is at fever pitch now.

JimmyVik

Do people have a problem with just parents dropping their kids off in SUVs or with them dropping them off in any kind of car. Because SUVs are mentioned so much here it sounds like the problem is that they diont like SUVs.

Also for anyone who has a problem with parents dropping kids off, why dont you just take another route to wherever you are going and avoid the traffic altogether. Thats what I do when im not driving the kids to school and then on to work after dropping them off.

Macy0161

It's a significant proportion of motorists that at least create the perception that it's not safe for children to walk and/ or cycle to school. Speeding, close passes, not respecting pedestrian crossings, not yielding to pedestrians already crossing a road, in rural locations not driving to a speed to which you can safely stop in the distance you can see.

On top of this, the constant "Hi viz" messenging has dangerised walking and cycling. Other European countries seem quite able to go about their business on foot or bike without dressing like bob the builder.

Driver/ population attitude is the key obstacle to more active travel in the state.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118203956#Comment_118203956

They absolutely can.

Now whether any given child should or should not do so should come down to the child, the route, the distance, the parents and all the other individual attributes of their situation.

In fact some countries encourage it. Like in Germany where it is considered part of allowing children to develop their own autonomy and freedoms. I see in one report (Link below) that by age 7 over 50% of parents in Germany report their child walking alone for school compared to under 5% for the UK (https://rethinkingchildhood.com/2013/01/14/children-freedom-england-germany/). It is also noticeable that german schools start much earlier in the morning so at this time of year they are doing it in heavy darkness.

That said though "on their own" could mean a couple of things. I would take it to mean "without adults". Quite often kids walking to school do it with a friend. In my experience two kids is the best way to do this. One really is "on their own" and three or four usually ends up in things getting boisterous and silly. For whatever reason I find three to be the worst.

But if we are talking about capability to do it and nothing else - children of that age absolutely can walk some very decent distances.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118204833#Comment_118204833

I was told "the car doesn't matter" and I was "part of the problem" because I said I would drop off or collect my as yet unborn grandchildren if ever needed, in my 1 litre micra.

So, its any car. (Though I do hope to get a EV next, if that makes any difference to those concerned about the climate aspect).

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118204818#Comment_118204818

Weirdly hostile and rude in response to non hostile posts. No goalposts moved. The person who posted that said a six-year-old can walk or cycle a mile but omitted that they can't/shouldn't do so alone.

This is a topic that is very broad (children aged four to 12 and how they get to school) so all eventualities will be brought into the discussion - not just the ones that you like.

billyhead

The crux of the matter is that that it's a combination of laziness, habit, convenience which is the problem here. If people got into a routine of walking or cycling either with their kids or let the kids to it on their own it would cut down on obesity issues and heath problems and reduce carbon emissions. The weather is an excuse. You dress for the weather and when it's dark you light up i.e wear florescent clothes etc and a helmet if cycling.

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118204947#Comment_118204947

I think the problem might also be that you are a woman. And if you are a woman drivoing an SUV well you are like a red rag to a bull in this thread :)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118204724#Comment_118204724

I know one Daddy I work with who drops the kids off on his way to work.

He's in double trouble, because he parks once at the creche to drop off his toddler, and then at the school to drop of his senior infant.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205156#Comment_118205156

Oh grow up and stop with the whole "I'm so offended" act... If they didn't say the kids were on their own don't put words in to their mouths and move the goalposts. The person is correct, a healthy six year old child CAN walk a mile!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205435#Comment_118205435

I'm not offended - I just dislike needless rudeness. You're the one who needs to grow up if you can't engage without being civil.

Yes a six-year-old can of course walk a mile but this is being used to argue that they shouldn't be driven to school, however if they're on their own, they're too young to walk or cycle to school by themselves, so driving them to school is not laziness or mollycoddling.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205293#Comment_118205293

The parents who'd send their children out make their own way to school by themselves, sound more like the lazy parents who are taking the convenient way out, to me.

School runs are not fun for anyone. Nobody does them for the joy of it. Parents do it because they want to see their children to school safely, warm and dry (particularly in our minimally heated schools).

Imagine having such crappy parents.

Well as one of those parents - I can assure you that one thing I have never been accused of in my adult life and especially as a parent is laziness or taking the easy way out with my kids. If anything it is the exact opposite given the sheer level of time I put into my kids every day.

So the rule does not hold for me at least. Perhaps I am just the exception to the rule :) Or perhaps the rule is simply wrong.

As I said in the post above this one - countries differ on how they view this. They see sending kids walking to school from age 6/7 as part of their personal development and autonomy. They actively recommend it in places like Germany. And with 50% of parents sending their children out in this way by age 7 - it just seems a little too convenient to think that they all must just be lazy people taking the easy options in life.

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205674#Comment_118205674

Kids need to toughen up. As alluded too in this thread kids nowadays are pampered. Look at kids of previous generations who walked or cycled to school throughout the year in all sorts of weather.

JimmyVik

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058218483/mammy-dropping-kids-to-school-in-the-car

Just been told ive to go into the office tomorrow.

Im not a mammy, i wont be driving an SUV.

Not a rugby player in sight.

Is it ok if I drop the sprogs on my way in and collect them on the way home to go get a takeaway?

Just checking with you.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205912#Comment_118205912

What ever you can do to make the problem worse is appreciated...

notAMember

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205293#Comment_118205293

And those that have to pass three schools on the way to the school they are actually forced to attend by stupid entry criteria? 25km out of the city on a motorway isn't cyclable for primary school children, no matter what age they are.

Which one of your three do they fit into?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205831#Comment_118205831

Yes, as I posted previously, I was one of them, and I vividly remember arriving into school freezing cold and sitting uncomfortably in damp clothes in a classroom where more often the not, the heating wasn't on. It was miserable.

Just because something was more common in the past, doesn't mean it was always better.

Which is part of the reason why I have no issue with any parent who drives their kids to school. If some see that as "pampering" children, so be it. If you feel the need to "toughen your kids up" you are free to make alternative choices for your own kids.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205731#Comment_118205731

I also think its lazy (in terms of debate) to summarily dismiss the views of those posters who have already given various reasons why they drive their children to school, without adding anything except to label them all as lazy parents, with bad habits, and are doing it out of convenience. (not accusing you of doing this, but others here have.)

beggars_bush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118204008#Comment_118204008

kids in our area get a bus in Junior Infants to school!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118203956#Comment_118203956

course they can!

they shouldn't under any circumstances though.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118205468#Comment_118205468

Cry me a river.

Back on topic, you know adults can walk that mile with the 5 and 6 year old kids?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118204724#Comment_118204724

I drop the kids to school & creche (dad), it's about a mile so takes me half an hour on foot, similar if I drive but it's easier on foot or on the bike to drop in too the bakers, maybe the butchers and the coffee shop on the way home. The older ones come home... wait for it ON THEIR OWN!!!!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118206511#Comment_118206511

You will have to take it up with the posters who have done that. Since I have not done that - I am not sure why you are taking it up with me.

There "extreme" views on this from both sides seem like nonsense to me. The users declaring that 6 year olds simply cant or shouldn't walk to school alone under any circumstances for example is living in a fantasy just as much as anyone who might think they all should be and no reason justifies driving a child a mile. As I showed - by the time kids in Germany for example are 7 50% of them are doing just that. Unfortunately the link did not have data on 6 year olds.

One wonders how many of them even have kids themselves :)

But suggesting that parents who do let their kids walk are doing it because they are too lazy to do the school run - is not much better either.

For me it is context context context. How far is the school? What is the route like? What is the kid themselves like? Will they be entirely alone or walking with friends? And many other factors. As I said earlier to the horror of one single person - my kids walk quite a distance to school but they have the option of bikes and bus too if they want it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118203933#Comment_118203933

This is nothing to celebrate. A 12 year old should be mature enough to mind themselves and depending on the person, mind younger kids too. Parents, in general, are doing their kids no favours by raising them to be so helpless.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118206657#Comment_118206657

I responded to you, because you responded to my post. (I miss selective quoting).

Sunny Dayz

When the young lad was in national school we drove him and collected him. There was no bus service near our house. I actually went to the same national school and "in my day" more kids walked and cycled but the road by the school has definitely seen both an increase in traffic and speed since I was young. With secondary school for himself, it's a lot nearer, 2km away. He used to be dropped off as my husband passed the front of the school on his way to work each morning and he walked home. Now he's in 5th year and he walks down and back himself with some friends most days unless it's bucketing down. Call me a snowflake but I'm not having him sitting in wet trousers all day and risk getting a sniffle or a cough and have to stay home from school as a covid precaution. I don't know how he walks it with the weight of his bag some days. I used to cycle to the bus stop to get to secondary school and there were a couple of times where I toppled over with the weight of the bag. No one saw me except for my brother thank God although the boll!x never helped me!!

BurgerFace

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118203956#Comment_118203956

A 6 year old CAN. Me and all my classmates did. Me, David, Michael, Darragh, Seamie, Anita, Lorraine, Michelle, Alan, Sarah, Feargal, Barry, Danny.

Flinty997

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118206839#Comment_118206839

Most teens won't wear a jacket even if its raining.

But if they did you can by cheap over trousers and foldup jackets to stop you getting wet. Not that I think kids will wear them.