A walking bus in Cardiff, Wales
Municipality of Cardiff
Statistically, the most dangerous place to be as a child is in a car. But that is how so many kids get to school, or they get picked up in a cheesewagon and get bused. There are a lot of reasons for this; in America, the biggest is low density sprawl that causes the schools to service huge areas, too far to walk. Another, perhaps more significant reason, is parental fear, that it is not safe to let their kids out alone anymore. Even though statistics show that crime and abduction rates are down, those Amber Alerts and scary news stories make parents very protective.
But in fact, walking to school not only is good for the environment, it is good for the kids. Science Daily reports on a new study from the University of Buffalo that concluded:
A simple morning walk to school could reduce stress reactivity in children during the school day, curbing increases in heart rate and blood pressure that can lead to cardiovascular disease later in life.
The cardiovascular disease process begins in childhood, so if we can find some way of stopping or slowing that process, that would provide an important health benefit," says James Roemmich, UB associate professor of pediatrics and exercise and nutrition science and senior investigator on the study, which he completed with graduate students Maya Lambiase and Heather Barry. "We know that physical activity has a protective effect on the development of cardiovascular disease, and one way it may be doing so is by reducing stress reactivity."
But what is a working parent to do? Most are not going to let their kid walk or bike to school. In London, parents who let their eight and five year olds bike to school along a sidewalk were told by the head of school that if they didn't ride with the kids he would report them to social services.
One idea that is catching on is the walking school bus. The Partnership for a Walkable America is promoting them as:
a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. If that sounds simple, it is, and that's part of the beauty of the walking school bus. It can be as informal as two families taking turns walking their children to school to as structured as a route with meeting points, a timetable and a regularly rotated schedule of trained volunteers.
They explain how to set up a safe, organized walking school bus at walkingschoolbus.org.
Another option is the Bicycle Train, where kids ride to school under adult supervision. According to Saferoutesinfo.org, it is working well in Duluth, Georgia.
Riders are asked to bring their own helmet and lock, but the bicycle train leaders always have extra helmets on hand. As the group gathers, the leaders distribute bright neon-green reflective safety vests, provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation. The vests provide high visibility for safety on the road and have become the "signature" of the Mason bike train
A few years ago, bicycling to school was unheard of at Mason. The monthly well-supervised bicycle trains have shown families in the neighborhoods around the school that bicycling can be a transportation option and many have now incorporated bicycling into their own daily travel patterns.
I would suspect that in many parts of America, taking the bike train to school would be as fast as driving. Let's hope it catches on.
