Lazy parents drive me nuts...

buxtonrabbitgreen

My kids' school is about a mile away and the only time I have given them lifts is if they have somthing really big/heavy to carry. Usually they bike or walk. I used to walk 3 miles to school when I was 4 with the nearest neighbours older daughter and it didn't hurt me.

gregg1

Miss_Penny_Pincher wrote: »

I can only go off your brief summation and perhaps I have jumped to the wrong conclusion! If your son chooses to walk then I admire him but that is NOT what you said.

I quote: "I pass directly by the front gate of my son's school and never give him a lift (He's thirteen he'll get fat if he doesn't walk)". This statement suggests that YOU believe he will get fat without this walk which I find questionable unless he has an otherwise inactive liftestyle and is fed an unsuitable diet.

So have you offered him a lift? I apologise for misunderstanding you if you do and was condemning your apparent attitude, not your son. I myself used to feel the benefit of walking home after school occassionally which was around 3 miles.

I trust that you have checked why he does not use public transport. This is not always out of a desire for morning exercise but can sometimes be due to children wanting to avoid bullies who may also use the bus.

Ben500 if you are genuinely concerned about lazy parents and the school run have you considered taking a different route at these times so as not to contribute to the problem?

In your defence, I also interpeted the post in the same way that you did and assumed the poster left her son to walk 3.5 miles. Easy assumption to make from the first post.

webitha

it takes me and 3 kids 35 ish mins to walk to their infant/primary school which i do every day except on mon and tues after school i admit that im a "lazy parent" but that is jsut becoz my kids have swimming at 4pm and daughter has gymnastics at 4 pm on tues and they finish school at 3:20pm so cannot get them to their various clubs in time if i walked

ben500

Quote:
Originally Posted by ben500
I drive seven miles to work, I pass directly by the front gate of my son's school and never give him a lift (He's thirteen he'll get fat if he doesn't walk) which is about midway on my journey and snarl up number four of seven schools all of which result in congestion, my journey can take between 30 and 45 minutes, during school holidays the same journey takes 9.45 minutes exactly. Slash their tyres I say.

You drive directly past your son's school every day but refuse to give him a lift and expect him to walk THREE AND A HALF MILES every morning?? You are moaning about your travel journey in a warm car yet have you thought about how long it takes your son to walk this distance which is in all weathers, I presume? I find this attitude disturbing and wonder if it is symptomatic of other things you expect your child to endure!

Your opinion/interpretation not mine
As it's all in your head your quite right to feel disturbed about it.

At my school free bus passes were allocated if a pupil lived over 3 miles away as that was the Council's recommended maximum a child should have to walk to school! Personally I think 1 mile a day each way to school should be adequate to keep fit. Does anyone else have any views on minimum / maximum a child should be made to walk when alternatives ARE available?

My interpretation of this sentence for instance would be "Come on everyone let's have a go at him" again followed up with the assumption alternatives were available.

Have you considered slashing your own tyres and seeing how you would like it?




Quote:
Originally Posted by ben500
A bit judgemental of you given you only have a brief summation of the facts, my son does indeed have the option of public transport but does not avail himself of it, would you now given that knowledge condemn him for being irresponsible and ignoring government guidelines on the maximum walking distance? I hope it's not too cold for you at your altitude.

I can only go off your brief summation and perhaps I have jumped to the wrong conclusion! If your son chooses to walk then I admire him but that is NOT what you said.

I quote: "I pass directly by the front gate of my son's school and never give him a lift (He's thirteen he'll get fat if he doesn't walk)". This statement suggests that YOU believe he will get fat without this walk which I find questionable unless he has an otherwise inactive liftestyle and is fed an unsuitable diet.

So have you offered him a lift? I apologise for misunderstanding you if you do and was condemning your apparent attitude, not your son. I myself used to feel the benefit of walking home after school occassionally which was around 3 miles.

I trust that you have checked why he does not use public transport. This is not always out of a desire for morning exercise but can sometimes be due to children wanting to avoid bullies who may also use the bus.

Ben500 if you are genuinely concerned about lazy parents and the school run have you considered taking a different route at these times so as not to contribute to the problem?

I think you will find the subject of the op is the school run and the adverse effect it has on traffic, not the commuter run and the adverse effect it has on the school run, is there anything you don't interpret to meet your own prejudice?

Hootie19

I live very close to a lower school and am amazed not just that parents who I *know* live 5 mins walk away will drive to school, but the inconsiderate nature of the parking I see, just so they can get that few extra feet nearer the school gate.

We have them parking two wheels on the pavement, both sides of our road (which is directly opposite the school gate, ON the pavement opposite the railings (which is a wide corner pavement, and to come out of our road, you are onto a blind bend - this parking REALLY helps us to drive safely at school time :rolleyes:) and across driveways. I will never understand how it is that a child hasn't been run over outside that school.

I do get so frustrated with them blocking my driveway. One day, my neighbour from across the road and I got together when a car was blocking her driveway. Her husband (who arrives home around school out time) parked almost touching the front bumper of the car blocking them, and I parked my car with my bumper almost touching the rear bumper of the blocking car.

And then we went to another neighbour's house and had a social cuppa. I've never seen that culprit parked across another driveway since then. I hope she has improved her language skills since that day, as I am sure my ears are still ringing from the shrieking .

I know that a lot of parents shove out the "I'm on my way to/from work" / disabilities excuses for driving, but let's not beat about the bush here. The vast majority of school run traffic is because the parent is just too damned lazy to walk. I wouldn't mind betting that most of the kids would like to walk. It's just the parents who have become car-bound.

My youngest is 15 and most days he rides his bike to school, which is a couple of miles away.

On a couple of occasions when he's not taken it, I've driven past him on the way home, walking with a few friends, and offered them lifts. I've always been turned down, as they prefer the social side of walking, no matter what the weather.

I've never driven my kids to school on a regular basis, on the grounds that I managed to walk or bus to school every day with no ill effects, so why shouldn't they

pinkfluffybabe

ben500 wrote: »

I think you will find the subject of the op is the school run and the adverse effect it has on traffic, not the commuter run and the adverse effect it has on the school run, is there anything you don't interpret to meet your own prejudice?

Well said! At the school near me they park all over the zig zags, pull in and out without indicating and force walking children to have to walk between parked cars. What a relief it is when there are school holidays.

ben500

pinkfluffybabe wrote: »

Well said! At the school near me they park all over the zig zags, pull in and out without indicating and force walking children to have to walk between parked cars. What a relief it is when there are school holidays.

Absolutely! ZigZags Put there to protect their children from irresponsible and inconsiderate idiots like themselves, drive anywhere in the country and you could be under the impression that there has been some kind of misprint in the highway code book identifying zigzags as parking spaces!!

sticher

Hootie19 wrote: »

I've never driven my kids to school on a regular basis, on the grounds that I managed to walk or bus to school every day with no ill effects, so why shouldn't they

This is the reason I do not collect my eldest from secondary school. However after Penny Pinchers post I checked the distance from my home to school when young and from our home now to school and his is 2.1 miles - I felt a bit guilty. Then Queenies post made me feel better. :beer:

I too get very irritated by the school run parents who drive on the pavements outside the primary my two younger children go to. I have seen at least 3 children almost run over by parents driving on the pavement! The school regularly sends notes out, but a firmer approach is needed - on the spot fines for example.

We only live half a mile from the school but i always walk - at one point I was doing this journey 4 times a day (1 in preschool, 1 in school and me working there at lunchtime). I also took my eldest with my two youngest in a tandem buggy ( or 18 month old - who wore calipers walking) and when my middle one was in a wheelchair at 7-9 years. My children have never been late for school and it irritates me when people use feeble excuses for driving a tiny disctance.

tanith

It seems that most people find in favour of children walking but I wonder if those who are guilty haven't posted... I think the idea of taking pics and printing in a weekly mag is an excellent idea and also putting notes on the cars of those guilty of inconsiderate parking , my vote goes to 'on the spot fines' and I might just bend the ear of some of our newly appointed community police force to see if its possible... or even if they made their prescence felt at the optimum times and at least put people off the middle of the road drop off point...:rotfl: thanks everyone its nice to know I am not alone.....

MarkyMarkD

ben500 wrote: »

I drive seven miles to work, I pass directly by the front gate of my son's school and never give him a lift (He's thirteen he'll get fat if he doesn't walk) which is about midway on my journey and snarl up number four of seven schools all of which result in congestion, my journey can take between 30 and 45 minutes, during school holidays the same journey takes 9.45 minutes exactly.

Assuming you are not exaggerating the time differential, have you not considered that by leaving the house 20 minutes earlier, you'd save 20 minutes (or more) of driving time?

Why not save all this time and congestion and get to work earlier, and do something useful with the time when you get there?