Novel Concept: Kids Walking To School

Here's a practice that was once commonplace but now seems totally foreign—kids walking to school:

It's no surprise that fewer students are walking to school these days, especially considering the busy intersections near some schools and the ever-present parental concerns about "stranger danger" or child abductions.

But for the past year and a half, the pedestrian-advocacy organization Feet First has collaborated with Bailey Gatzert Elementary in Seattle to form a "Walking School Bus" program to get children exercise, promote alternative transportation and pedestrian safety, and better connect families — particularly immigrant families — with their schools.

On any given day, dozens of students will gather several blocks from Gatzert and walk to school with their parents and community volunteers, sometimes making stops along the way to pick up more students.

I used to walk to school all the time, even through high school. Of course as the article mentions, modern parents are so terrified that child abducters are lurking around every corner that they would hardly allow their children to walk next door without close supervision. Interestingly, the latest update from the carless family in Ballard addresses that very topic:

Well, to judge by others' reactions, the thought of preteens traveling to softball practice or drama on their own triggers the fear of "stranger danger"--the specter of losing a child to abduction by a pedophile, serial killer, or psychopath. Amy and I hear a lot of things like, "Bike all that way alone?" "Oh, I wouldn't be comfortable with them walking by themselves. I'll come get them." "The bus? Are you sure that's safe?"

In the age of Amber Alerts, JonBenet, Polly Klaas, sex offender housing (find it in your neighborhood here), and sensationalist TV news, most parents don't want their children ever to lack adult supervision. What's more, people we know don't even want our children to lack supervision.
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Parents' perception of "stranger danger" is catastrophically inflated. And the lock-down security regime that's resulted may do more harm than good.
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Of the 115 US children abducted in 1999, about 50 were murdered. That number is horrible. Even one case is too many. But the United States is a really big country. It's such a big country that even minuscule risks kill dozens of people. Tylenol, for example, kills about 150 Americans each year. Aspirin kills about 60. (Go here.)

So no, your kids do not face certain abduction if they go 10 minutes without your personal watchful eye upon them and yes, a little exercise and independence will do them good. Plus saving gas is always a bonus, too.

(Jessica Blanchard, Seattle P-I, 05.02.2006)
(Alan Durning, Sightline Institute, 04.28.2006)