Milton: School bans parents from driving kids to school

[Mapleson]

Absolutely and those times are more likely occuring at set schedule times, such as walking to or from school, than when unsupervised.

This school year, I went to pick up my nephew for a doctor's appointment for my sister. As much as I disliked the inconvience of it, my nephew's school insisted that they speak with his parent first. Ideally, I'd like a law that requires child custody be maintained between interested parties (e.g. Parent to Walking Bus to Teacher and back) with liability for 'loss'. I don't think it'd work in real life very well though.

Marketing a school as "walk only" is a good gimmick to get more people active, but unless there is school support like the walking bus or classroom discussion/mapping of the neighbourhood to remove barriers, it's going to fizzle as people live further from the school. Maybe I'm just pessimistic.

(EDIT: If you are interested in reading more. Of $140,000 in funding over $100,000 goes to the nurse's salary)

 

[W. K. Lis]

From an article at dc.streetsblog.org:

New Analysis Tracks 40 Years of Changes in How Kids Get to School

by Elana Schor on April 9, 2010

The percentage of U.S. students between ages five and 14 who walk or bike to school has remained stable over the past 15 years but remains three-quarters below where it stood 40 years ago, according to a new analysis of government data by two groups working on the Safe Routes to School (SRtS) program.

Crunching numbers from the U.S. DOT's National Household Travel Survey, the National Center for SRtS and the SRtS National Partnership concluded that between 1969 and 2009, school transportation habits essentially flipped -- with auto use rising from 12 percent of the student population to 44 percent, and biking or walking going from a 48-percent popularity rate with kids to just 13 percent.

Despite the fact that the share of students choosing to walk or bike to school has remained around 12 percent since 1995, the SRtS groups saw a silver lining to their findings: Their efforts appear to be making headway when it comes to shorter trips from home to school. When the data was restricted to students traveling less than one mile to classes, 38 percent walked or biked last year.

“There is a real opportunity to change the car culture and make school campuses less congested if more of the parents who are driving shorter distances let their children walk or bike to school, and those who driving further distances let their children ride school buses,†Lauren Marchetti, director of the National Center for SRtS, said in a statement.

SRtS directs federal transportation dollars to help localities build dedicated infrastructure for kids up to age 14 to walk or bike to school. Members of Congress from both parties have endorsed legislation that would expand the program to high schools as part of the next six-year federal transport bill.

And people wonder why kids are getting so obese? They are being chauffeured everywhere, to the point that walking is becoming a chore.

 

[Mapleson]

And parents are obese because they have a part-time job as a chauffeur? I'm not sure what kids you're around, but most that I know are fairly active (definately more active than teens/adults). We eat more than twice the junkfood than in 1969 (1977 to 1995 went 236 to 351 kcal per day). That's equal to 1 pound of fat per month. Stop giving your kids 1 "treat" a day and they'll lose 1 pound a month.

There's generally more than one reason things are they way they are, and generally more than one way to improve them. However, if people don't see things as a problem then they don't get fixed. Growing up my little brother was always chubby, but around middle school he started to get fatter. Our mum started only buying Caffenine-free Diet Coke and three years later he was a bean pole and has been pretty well ever since (he has 'normal' adult muscle->fat pudge). We have fat kids because we have fat parents that allow their children to be fat (I'm excluding the small portion of people with glandular disorders, big boned, etc. from this).

 

[blooknight]

You're all missing the point as usual....what with the media, schools and everyone extolling the horrors of stranger danger, which only accounts for about .001 per cent of the things that can happen to your kids......the real reason we take our kids to school by car is that during that 1 1/2 mile walk there are 30 minutes of opportunity for other students to prey on your kids.......students who face no punishement whatsoever from the justice system in Ontario....they beat and rob our kids at knife and gunpoint a thousand times a day all across Ontario....you can check the stats online.........and nothing happens..your kids live in fear and horror of walking to or even going to school because the school admininstators and police fail them at every turn and even if one has the balls to step up to the plate the court systems lets the thugs go and you know who they are lookig for when they hit the streets again free and clear.......so remember this when your child comes home beaten and bleeding and no one will help.......and to the school board, remember this....you implimented this ban therefore you will be responsible for the injuries and trauma that the students suffer and you will face court costs because you insisted on making students walk to school.....final thought.......while this may work in some rural areas of Ontario, this will fail with tragic consequences with inner city schools where the thug and gang mentality rules over teacher authority.

 

[Northern Light]

You're all missing the point as usual....what with the media, schools and everyone extolling the horrors of stranger danger, which only accounts for about .001 per cent of the things that can happen to your kids......the real reason we take our kids to school by car is that during that 1 1/2 mile walk there are 30 minutes of opportunity for other students to prey on your kids.......students who face no punishement whatsoever from the justice system in Ontario....they beat and rob our kids at knife and gunpoint a thousand times a day all across Ontario....you can check the stats online.........and nothing happens..your kids live in fear and horror of walking to or even going to school because the school admininstators and police fail them at every turn and even if one has the balls to step up to the plate the court systems lets the thugs go and you know who they are lookig for when they hit the streets again free and clear.......so remember this when your child comes home beaten and bleeding and no one will help.......and to the school board, remember this....you implimented this ban therefore you will be responsible for the injuries and trauma that the students suffer and you will face court costs because you insisted on making students walk to school.....final thought.......while this may work in some rural areas of Ontario, this will fail with tragic consequences with inner city schools where the thug and gang mentality rules over teacher authority.

Such Hyperbole angers me

I went to public highschool only a bit over a decade ago and heard such nonsense then.

I have a niece in public school now.

I've walked by and near schools at various times, including before/after school in my journeys to wherever......

Never have I see this climate of violent hysteria.

The 1990's is not another era, and in my whole time in a City of Toronto High School, with 2,300 other kids, I saw 3 fights in 5 years. No guns, no gangs ....

Let's be clear I'm not suggesting their aren't thugs or gangs or victims of crime; but to suggest its somehow rampant is preposterous.

This is a safe city for people of all ages, on the whole.

Most schools are orderly, most of the time, most streets are safe, most of the time. And really gangs of 8 year olds? beating each other up? I mean for the purposes of the article in this thread....it was 5-14 year olds. Not 15-18 year olds.......

 

[blooknight]

Yeah, that would be the politicians saying that since their primary interest is to bring tourist dollars into the city and telling the truth has never been a liberal strong point........call your local police division and ask them about school crime stats.....they will hum and huh and then speak the party words because they fear for their jobs..or you will be transferred all over to people doing the same song and dance.......you live in a candy coated world with bright sunny skies when you should be seeing the reality you are forced to live in.I suspect the police have stopped publicizing all the guns they seize and reporting all the crime stats publicly at the behest of the politicians and spin doctors........did you know that all those gang bangers can live wherever they want? and it's usually right next door to you.....how do I know....I got it when they took down the biker house on my street that no one knew was there.......why weren't we told? None of our business and they have rights to!!!!

 

[blooknight]

I don't get this obsession you have with childhood obesity.....in my neighborhood there are dozens of kids who eat anything and everything and are as thin as rails because they are out and about running and playing whenever they are not doing homework. In our house, fruits and vegetables rule........The kids with weight issues are usually dealing with something medically diagnosed or the parents promote poor eating habits and a sentient lifestyle..............and another issue is that most kids live so far from school that walking is time prohibitive...........also there is no guarantee that your child made it...for example....off goes your little blond haired, blue eyed daughter at 7:45.........school starts at 8:15.....roll call at 8:30......roll call goes to the main office so they can call the parents and advise them of the absent child........you go grocery shopping.......at 9:00 the school calls and says your daughter never made it to school.....at 10:30 you get home and hear the message on the answering machine......almost 3 hours has gone by.....now how do you feel?
In my neighborhood all the side streets are 4 cars wide and getting in and out of the school was accommodated with a marked roundabout...............we were in and out in under 2 minutes....3-4 on snow days and everyone went one way getting out so there was no traffic congestion and everyone was happy.......I laugh whenever I hear that we will be saving the environment by having less cars running about by banning school drop offs........ever see the crap diesel buses put out? 10 times the particulate pollution cars emit. I have a friend in Milton and she says her so was never late for school when she was dropping him off,but last semester he had 8 lates on his report card...........get over yourselves and let parents worry about their kids because it seems no one else is...they are using your kid as fodder for their climb to the Utopian world.......you won't see them lifting a finger when something happens to your child.....zero tolerance is a one way street.......suspend the attacker but what about the victim.....liberals always forget the victim....remember them? The reason it all falls about.....too many victims.

 

[GraphicMatt]

School bans all punctuation except the ellipsis...

 

[blooknight]

Never have I see this climate of violent hysteria.

The 1990's is not another era, and in my whole time in a City of Toronto High School, with 2,300 other kids, I saw 3 fights in 5 years. No guns, no gangs ....

Let's be clear I'm not suggesting their aren't thugs or gangs or victims of crime; but to suggest its somehow rampant is preposterous.

This is a safe city for people of all ages, on the whole.

Most schools are orderly, most of the time, most streets are safe, most of the time. And really gangs of 8 year olds? beating each other up? I mean for the purposes of the article in this thread....it was 5-14 year olds. Not 15-18 year olds.......

By the way....last week a 13 year old held a gun to the head of a pizza delivery man and robbed him......8-10 years old are being used as "starters" in public schools......."starter" start your kids on drugs and alcohol by giving them free samples then getting them to buy more as they get older.........the first sexual complaint issues start in the 5-12 year old range....a slap on the ass, a stolen kiss, a squeeze of something......innocent to some but a criminal act to the parent of that daughter........most kids avoid gang activity and criminal activity but it is there and engrained in the schools because the administrators are afraid to offend the minorities which usually are the core of gang activity............police liasons in nearly all schools and yet a kid gets murdered with the liason on scene........you can't stop this because the politicians don't have the will or the backbone......the old "if we don't fuss it will go away" mentality has been around since I was going to school in the early 80's...nothing changes....just the players and my kid is not going to be a victim to please your lofty, unreasonable ideals.......this is not hysteria.....it's just common sense..............a tip for you...make friends with a street cop and ask him for the truth....away from work he will be an eye opener and to him it is common everyday happenings.

 

[jn_12]

Anytime people rant and rave about liberals and liberal conspiracies it automatically puts up a red flag. Do i think kids not walking to school is a cause of obesity problems? No, but it certainly doesn't help. You make it sound like everyday kids are going missing when there's nothing to support that claim (other than "it's a conspiracy"). I'd also really like to know where all these kids are getting guns and bringing them to school to rob kids at gunpoint. If it's happening 1000 times a day across Ontario, and there are 5000 schools in the province (1-8 + hs), you're suggesting that everyday there's a gun/knife in 1 in every 5 schools and some kid is having it pulled on them. I find it hard to believe that things have changed so much in the 7 years since I was in high school (where not one knife or gun was pulled in 4 years. Same goes for my girlfriend's high school). I bet in your world it's not the same kid being victimized everyday either, so I think by your account, by the time a student in Ontario reaches the age of 18 s/he will have either had a gun or knife pulled on them. Does that make sense to you?

This fear of our kids being harmed is overblown significantly. There's been a lot of talk about helicopter parenting in this generation and this is just another example of it. Sure there are some kids who will get picked on and bullied, but that's no different than in previous generations. it's also not a bad thing for kids to learn to stick up for themselves or defend themselves. A fight or two, especially for boys, is probably a good thing over the course of their life. The problem is obviously when it starts to get to a point where a kid legitimately fears going to school, and frankly, I'd be surprised if that occurred to more than 1 or 2 kids per school, if any. That's not to excuse it, because no kid should fear going to school, but it falls well short of your claims that every kid is living their life in fear and that parents need to be hypervigilant.

Also, you seem to be pretty passionate about this to show up in a minor thread that hadn't been posted in for 6 months and make your first 4 posts focused on this topic.

 

[Second_in_pie]

^^ Schools, even elementary schools, are actually a lot more dangerous than you seem to put them out to be. In certain areas (and not only the ones that you'd expect,) there are actually elementary schools where kids are targeted for drugs from grade 5 or 6, and you can get a good part of the older student body who do drugs or drink regularly, all behind their parent's backs.
The issue of real violence is a bit less, but there are still issues. I mean, you get a couple of upper class kids with absolutely no idea how to throw a punch attempting to hurt one another, and in the shadier schools, there's usually an unspoken code of honour kind of thing. But you can get people bringing legitimate weapons (guns, switchblades, etc,) and there are plenty of kids that are involved in all kinds of criminal activity. It's certainly a problem that needs to be addressed.

Not to say that parents shouldn't be bubble wrapping their children and protecting them from all the evils of the world. That's the exact opposite of what they should be doing. To avoid all the nasty drug dealers and gang members is a terrible excuse for driving your kids around everywhere, and most of the real dangerous things that happen originate within the school, not on the way there. It's not going to hurt you or your kid to walk or bike a few blocks to school, and it helps tell kids that they don't need a car to get around and promotes active living. And the good it could do to relieve congestion is actually phenomenal.

 

[jn_12]

Then, I guess, the Niagara region is an entirely different world because not only were my own experiences nothing like you describe, but I don't know anyone who had that experience. Maybe a few kids smoked in grade 8, but they tended to be the kids who stopped going to school by grade 10. I wasn't offered even a beer until high school. I don't recall one violent fight that resulted in any more than a bloody nose or lip and those were once a semester events. I don't recall ever being afraid of older kids, or adhering to a hierarchy and in fact, I'd say it was the opposite and I had developed many friendships with older students and younger students. When i got to be an older student, no one was picking on younger kids or pushing things on them beyond your normal grade 9 day, which was basically just making one or two kids push a penny with his nose. Fairly tame and innocent, really. Also, there was never a cop in my elementary school (many of the cops in Welland are hockey coaches or associated with minor hockey, so i knew almost all of them) and in high school they only came around for random pot busts once in a while, which is fairly standard anywhere.

I was in elementary school only 11 years ago and high school 7 years ago and I somehow doubt that things have shifted that much, that quickly. This isn't some naive perspective either. I'd wager quite a bit that it'd be a very common account of any kid who went to school in Niagara (and I'm willing to argue that if that's the case there, then surely it's the case elsewhere too).

 

[nfitz]

By the way....last week a 13 year old held a gun to the head of a pizza delivery man and robbed him......8-10 years old are being used as "starters" in public schools......."starter" start your kids on drugs and alcohol by giving them free samples then getting them to buy more as they get older.........the first sexual complaint issues start in the 5-12 year old range....a slap on the ass, a stolen kiss, a squeeze of something......innocent to some but a criminal act to the parent of that daughter........most kids avoid gang activity and criminal activity but it is there and engrained in the schools because the administrators are afraid to offend the minorities which usually are the core of gang activity............police liasons in nearly all schools and yet a kid gets murdered with the liason on scene........you can't stop this because the politicians don't have the will or the backbone......the old "if we don't fuss it will go away" mentality has been around since I was going to school in the early 80's...nothing changes....just the players and my kid is not going to be a victim to please your lofty, unreasonable ideals.......this is not hysteria.....it's just common sense..............a tip for you...make friends with a street cop and ask him for the truth....away from work he will be an eye opener and to him it is common everyday happenings.

Can you try writing in sentences?

The format your using looks like the ramblings of a mad-man. I can't bring myself to actually read the content.

Also, why bring back this thread from the dead? Are you from Milton?

 

[cfloryan]

Aside from the impracticalities of enforcing this rule, how's such a move even constitutional? I think a certain charter guarantees us the freedom of choice to drive our kids to school if we so choose.

 

[Second_in_pie]

Nope, the constitution does not cover your right to drive your kids to school, as crazy as that may sound. If you dislike it, you can change schools or file a complaint to the principal/board. But really, how much credibility does a parent get by complaining that they can't drive their kids to school? As insane as the thought may be, life actually wasn't half bad before the car. And it's not like exercise is going to do any lasting harm, other than feed those weird symbiotic tumors formed around the body called muscles.