In 1969, 41 percent of children either walked or biked to school; by 2001, only 13 percent still did, according to data from the National Household Travel Survey. … During the same period, children either being driven or driving themselves to school rose to 55 percent from 20 percent. Experts say the transition has not only contributed to the rise in pollution, traffic congestion and childhood obesity, but has also hampered children’s ability to navigate the world.
8 thoughts on “Why do kids even have legs?”
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Well, I admit, my kids all either take a bus (elementary school) or are driven (preschool) to school.
But, in our case, they have legs for all the soccer, baseball, basketball, flag football, swimming, running and triathlons.
Oh, and for playing drums on Rock Band.
It would seem to me that the drop in percentage of kids who walk to school must surely be offset by the huge rise over the same time in number of children playing organized sports, and participating in organized P.E. classes at school.
Parents won’t allow their kids to walk or bike to school any more. We live right next to an elementary school, and I don’t even bother trying to leave for 45 minutes in the morning and again in the afternoon. The congestion is insane.
I walked to school (uphill! both ways! barefoot! in the snow!) every day until I was 15. And participated in P.E. and played badminton and tennis and then for a few years was a cheerleader, with practice every day for two hours after school. My friends and I walked to go shopping, walked to the corner store (a good half mile away) for Slurpees, walked to Taco Bell for Pintos & Cheese. Summers, I spent every waking moment either on my bike or my horse. We were cowboys, we were pirates, we were Peter Pan’s merry band, we were airplane pirates and soldiers and sea captains.
Our parents complained that we were so skinny it looked like no one fed us.
The only teevee I remember watching as a kid was Saturday morning cartoons, and we couldn’t bear to watch those once the sun was up, because at that point, there were so many more interesting things to do.
I’m so GRATEFUL I grew up when I did. All that time for free play. All that exercise for my imagination. All those wonderful memories of adventure. Kids aren’t allowed any of that any more–and OMG, do I feel sorry for them.
The kids around here still seem to be playing and using their imaginations. My kids tend more towards imagining they are rock stars (my eight year old has a “band” with four neighbor boys) or NFL players than sea captains. But I’ve seen plenty of games of soldier, pirate and Star Wars.
Mine don’t walk to school because I don’t want them being hit by a car going 60 miles an hour, not because I’m trying to stifle their creative impulses.
As for P.E., yes we all had it – but it started in middle school. Before that we had dodgeball. Now they have actual physical education from the beginning – my three year olds’ preschool even has a dedicated P.E. teacher.
I agree we spent less time in front of TV and video games, back in the day. But kids are still kids and they still play and they still have fun. In fact, I haven’t seen one of mine since he left on his bike for his buddy’s house six hours ago. Maybe I should check on him…
It is a sad state of affairs, and even sadder is the fact that, for many, the reason behind this behavior isn’t as much about saving time, or coddling our lazy kids, as the fact that so many people are AFRAID to let their kids walk anywhere. The constant flow of “news” in our lives has us convinced that there is danger around every corner, and that the world is so much more threatening than ever before.
In another essay from Small Wonder, by Barbara Kingsolver, “The One-Eyed Monster, and Why I Don’t Let Him In” (referring to TV), she writes: “The overwhelming drive toward visuals in newscasting acts as powerful influence on which bits of information will reach us. It also influences what we retain. We are a predominantly visual species….our brains are carefully wired to put most stock in what they see, rather than what they hear.”
The brain takes in all those images of fires, floods, bombings, earthquakes, shootings, kidnapped children, pedophiles, drug pushers, snipers, etc., and we deduce that it’s a scary world out there, and we dare not leave our children alone even for a minute. It’s a very powerful medium, and not all of it’s effects on our society have been positive ones.
I, also, was one who walked to school (often carrying my trombone) and was actually hit by a car while in a crosswalk outside my school (5th grade).
I walked until I got my license (at 14, natch). It was good for me. But it was also Silver City.
I don’t think the world is any scarier now than it was when I was a kid. The fears are different, but the Cold War was a pretty good one.
And we had TV when we were young, too.
I don’t think the difference is that parents are suddenly afraid to let their children out of their sight. I think the difference is that our culture, as a whole, has become much more child-oriented. I don’t know if it was because so many mothers went to work outside the home and felt conflicted about it, or because it has become acceptable (preferable) for men to be more sensitive, or because chores have become less time consuming…or all these things and plenty others.
But life doesn’t center around the parents anymore. Life centers around the kids. No longer do the parents’ lives come first, with the children following along. Now we plan our lives around our children, their activities and their schools and their story time and their desires. If you don’t put your kids first all the time you feel guilty because that is the way things are done now.
Of the kids who are driven to our school I would guess only a handful are driven because their parents fear for their safety. Most are probably driven because the child wants to be driven, or the mom likes the extra time with the child, or thinks it makes life easier for the child. Which isn’t my M.O., but whatever keeps you sane, you know?
And, at least around here, I know plenty of moms whose only social outlet comes from their kids’ activities. So some of these “overscheduled” kids aren’t being trotted around to keep them off the streets as much as to give mom something to do. Which is kind of sad, but is a lot better than mom taking amphetamines.
Whilst doing hill training with some teammates we encountered a school bus stop in one of the safest and most exclusive areas in Tucson. We were all quite amazed at the number of cars parked there waiting for the bus. Most had their motors idling and the air conditioning running (at 7:00 AM). These were all middle school aged kids.
Maybe it was the 15% grade hills. Or perhaps, the extra 10 minutes the mom or housekeeper gets to spend with the kids. But one has to wonder why in the world these over privileged adolescents can’t walk to the damn bus stop?
Besides, when else are they going to get high before school?
Maybe some of those parents wanted to make sure their kids actually got on the bus rather than skipping school. Just because a parent drives a child to the bus stop doesn’t mean the children are over privileged. Maybe the parent is on the way to work and wants to make sure the kid is on the way to school before leaving the area for the day. That doesn’t seem ridiculous to me.
By the way, it’s not just parents who have created this change. For example, children are not allowed to ride bicycles to our school. I asked the principal about the fact that there was nowhere to lock bikes up, and she explained that the county won’t let her have a bike rack. I guess the roundabout in front of our school makes it too dangerous (according to the transportation folks) for kids to get to the school. There is no crossing guard, so the kids would have to cross the street on their bikes right in front of all the cars and buses.
By the way, well over 400 children walk to school at our elementary school every day. About 650 students ride buses. That means only about 50 are driven to and from school on a daily basis. It doesn’t seem ridiculous to me that 5% of the students are driven. And, most kids walk home from their bus stops. For some, that may be as far as 1/4 of a mile.