Comments on: Why don’t our children walk to school? http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/20/why-dont-our-children-walk-to-school/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:27:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Mary http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/20/why-dont-our-children-walk-to-school/#comment-13109 Mary Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:49:13 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1407#comment-13109 It used to be that there was a one-room school house every so many miles, so children had a particular limited (maybe a mile or two) distance to walk. When schools started consolidating and centralizing, walking was no longer a convenience for children. While there may be neighborhood schools in metropolitan areas, many rural kids are miles and miles away from school. This led to bussing. The shift to driving culture has resulted in design for driving culture and doesn't encourage walking. Btw, we live close enough to our public schools that my children do walk, unless the weather is really nasty. It used to be that there was a one-room school house every so many miles, so children had a particular limited (maybe a mile or two) distance to walk. When schools started consolidating and centralizing, walking was no longer a convenience for children. While there may be neighborhood schools in metropolitan areas, many rural kids are miles and miles away from school. This led to bussing. The shift to driving culture has resulted in design for driving culture and doesn’t encourage walking.

Btw, we live close enough to our public schools that my children do walk, unless the weather is really nasty.

]]> By: Erika Price http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/06/20/why-dont-our-children-walk-to-school/#comment-13099 Erika Price Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:37:47 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1407#comment-13099 The same idea- that strength in numbers can assuage our concerns of safety- appears in the women's safety movement <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_back_the_night" rel="nofollow"> Take Back the Night</a>. The Take Back the Night movement argues that by telling women to fear going out at night alone, we promote the trend of lurking nightly predators and make their rapes and thefts all the easier. But imagine if women walked the streets alone with no fear! The strength in numbers would protect them all, grant them new freedom fully equal wtih that of men, and drive the creatures of the night into obscurity. The concept has a nice idealistic ring to it, but I think most people would refuse to risk their own lives until the goal of making nights (and children's treks to school) safer has already occured! The same idea- that strength in numbers can assuage our concerns of safety- appears in the women’s safety movement Take Back the Night. The Take Back the Night movement argues that by telling women to fear going out at night alone, we promote the trend of lurking nightly predators and make their rapes and thefts all the easier. But imagine if women walked the streets alone with no fear! The strength in numbers would protect them all, grant them new freedom fully equal wtih that of men, and drive the creatures of the night into obscurity. The concept has a nice idealistic ring to it, but I think most people would refuse to risk their own lives until the goal of making nights (and children’s treks to school) safer has already occured!

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