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Can schools ban kids from walking/biking to school?
- Thread starter legalskier
- Start date
It's a crazy world we live in.
Trekchick
Active member
I remember missing the bus once because I was dilly dallying, so my dad took me to school in the pump truck on his way to pump a septic tank.
I never missed the bus again.
I never missed the bus again.
playoutside
New member
Enforcing this no walking/biking rule is absurd. Ridiculous waste of resources.
When we were kids we were bused to school because it was rural, too far and no sidewalks anywhere. My mom was a night nurse, so on occasion my brothers and I would decide to miss the bus. We knew after Mom had worked all night and driven up the mountain she was not willing to turn around and drive us to school.
One time my mother was furious with my oldest brother for this trick and she told him he better start walking because he was not staying home again (I think he was 9 or 10 yo). So he walked down the narrow, curvy mountain road to school (about 5 miles). When he finally got there a couple hours late and told them he was late because he walked he was treated like the prodigal son. They took him to the cafeteria and gave him food and tons of love and attention. The teachers were horrified that my mom made him walk on that road all that way. The best part of this is that my grandmother (Mom's mother) was a teacher at the school. Nana hated being embarassed and this was a winner. My mother caught holy hell from my grandmother for this stunt! All of us kids thought it was priceless!
When we were kids we were bused to school because it was rural, too far and no sidewalks anywhere. My mom was a night nurse, so on occasion my brothers and I would decide to miss the bus. We knew after Mom had worked all night and driven up the mountain she was not willing to turn around and drive us to school.
One time my mother was furious with my oldest brother for this trick and she told him he better start walking because he was not staying home again (I think he was 9 or 10 yo). So he walked down the narrow, curvy mountain road to school (about 5 miles). When he finally got there a couple hours late and told them he was late because he walked he was treated like the prodigal son. They took him to the cafeteria and gave him food and tons of love and attention. The teachers were horrified that my mom made him walk on that road all that way. The best part of this is that my grandmother (Mom's mother) was a teacher at the school. Nana hated being embarassed and this was a winner. My mother caught holy hell from my grandmother for this stunt! All of us kids thought it was priceless!
billski
Active member
I want to take that merchant name "Safety First", grind it up and crush it. As Warp said, it probably started as good intentions and devolved into current fad of paranoid safety. I wish everyone would take a probability and stats course and a public policy course. They might have a better perspective on taking risks in life. Even staying in a locked fortress has its risks. Life ain't risk-free, get over it!
When they crossed the line from "reasonable risk taking, they fell into the paranoid majority (or so it seems.) Of course, being politically correct is important too - who can say "no" to safety? You can see the paranoia in the current flu virus flurry. Remember how huge the H1N1 impact was going to be?
Couple that with ravenous, free-wheeling "protect your rights, fill my pocket" liability attorneys, our society is quickly succumbing to paranoia.
The worst part about it is that it makes living less fun,less enjoyable. Now we have to worry about all those father-raper/mother-stabber types in the lift line next to us.
When they crossed the line from "reasonable risk taking, they fell into the paranoid majority (or so it seems.) Of course, being politically correct is important too - who can say "no" to safety? You can see the paranoia in the current flu virus flurry. Remember how huge the H1N1 impact was going to be?
Couple that with ravenous, free-wheeling "protect your rights, fill my pocket" liability attorneys, our society is quickly succumbing to paranoia.
The worst part about it is that it makes living less fun,less enjoyable. Now we have to worry about all those father-raper/mother-stabber types in the lift line next to us.
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bigbog
Active member
No, but some committee(sp?) of authority will think of something....
billski
Active member
I see this type of decision-making in business all the time. You have two choices: a) solve the problem or, b) make the problem go away.
In this case, the practical application of my posit: The board is all volunteers, They have day jobs. They want to go home because it's getting late. Let's "solve it", with any easy decision, close the debate and get home in time for the Tonight Show.:argue:
All these sex offenders really have a way of fucking up society. I have to wonder why we have become such a scared population though. I mean wasn't there plenty of that crap going on twenty years ago? What has changed, the amount of perversion or the adults making decisions? I feel like more towns could also do a much better job in being pedestrian friendly also. Children should be encouraged to walk when they reach a certain age (I for one have no idea what that age would be). Any town that can't provide safe walking routes has failed miserably IMO.
I rode my friggen snowmobile to school on numerous occasions from eighth grade on-never a problem.
I rode my friggen snowmobile to school on numerous occasions from eighth grade on-never a problem.
Oh and statistically I would bet the children would be at much higher risk of developing health problems like diabetes ect... then getting kidnapped. Christ get the little rugrats out of the house and away from the x-box, t.v., net ect...
disclaimer: me=no kids...ever. sometimes it's easier as an outsider looking in though
disclaimer: me=no kids...ever. sometimes it's easier as an outsider looking in though
You sir, are my hero. That is outstanding. :beer:
As far as what's different? I think people are more overprotective these days. I see little kids going for a bike ride; who look like they're going to the hockey rink. Look, I don't want to see anyone get hurt. But on the other hand, falling, getting a bump, bruise, scrap ect. is kinda part of growing up?
billski
Active member
Instead of promoting childhood obesity, and increase pollution, have all those moms and dads who drive their kids to school volunteer to be crossing guards once a week. We would then have a well-supervised environment to/from school and healthier kids, and more kids outside. And maybe, just maybe neighbors will begin to know each other. What a thought!
Ever stroll through a suburban neighborhood on the weekend? Nobody's out playing, it's a ghost town with parents shuttling kids here and there. Hell, if parents have time to volunteer to be a coach , why not time to be outside on the street? Oh, yeah, I forgot, all unsupervised adults are child-molesters :angry: OK a better idea.
Let's make all the liability lawyers be crossing guards. Oops bad idea. Then the lawyers would be accusing kids of verbal abuse when Billy starts teasing Bobby. Billy ends up on probation at age 9... Nevermind, I'll just stay in my bunker:-x
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campgottagopee
New member
I like it---my father taught school for a friggin million years, just be4 he retired he was asked, "What's the biggest change in the kids".........he responded "not really in the kids, the biggest diff is in the parents".
if parents wouldn't sue the darn school because thier friggin kid got hit on his bike for being a dumb ass, maybe we wouldn't have this b/s going on.
I have not heard that before. I believe it, but I think it's ridiculous. The only time that should be true is if the kid is riding the bus, or other transportation provided by the school.
BigJay
New member
What a healty way for the economy! Get in your pickup and drive the 1mi to school... That's going to show them a healty lifestyle!
Did that happen in Missouri? Or Tenessee? Or New Orleans?
C'mon! Biking or walking to school should be mandatory! Ok, i understand it's completely different in a rural setting... but as long as you're talking about in a city or suburbia, it should be encouraged!
Ah what i'm a saying! Stop walking, here's some fruit loops, a chocolate bar and a coke, have a healthy breakfast, daddy will load your 150lbs ass into the truck and drive you to pre-school!
Did that happen in Missouri? Or Tenessee? Or New Orleans?
C'mon! Biking or walking to school should be mandatory! Ok, i understand it's completely different in a rural setting... but as long as you're talking about in a city or suburbia, it should be encouraged!
Ah what i'm a saying! Stop walking, here's some fruit loops, a chocolate bar and a coke, have a healthy breakfast, daddy will load your 150lbs ass into the truck and drive you to pre-school!
bigbog
Active member
Happens all too often eh'!.....:roll:
ski_resort_observer
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Sounds like some don't know Saratoga Springs so here is the website for the school district. Make sure to sign up for the walk to school walkathon they are having. :lol:
http://www.saratogaschools.org/
http://www.saratogaschools.org/
legalskier
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update
School admits they don't have authority to order a ban. Officials say people must have "misunderstood" their earlier statement that "The riding of bicycles by elementary pupils to and from school is prohibited." It's interesting how the following excerpt reflects many of the above posts by AZers:
"It's strictly about the intention to keep children safe and not have children on particular roadways and areas that would be considered difficult to manage on a bicycle," White told FOXNews.com. But Marino says their path, which mostly hugs along "adventurous" back roads and Rt. 9's "beautiful, wide shoulders," is just fine for her son, who has twice biked the 300-mile route from Buffalo to Albany. She said the initial concerns raised by school officials were misplaced, including their worries that her son might be snatched by a kidnapper. "I don't know if the fear is warranted. It's almost like (they're suggesting) you stay inside, you get fat, you have heart problems when you get older because there may be a pedophile out there," she said. Since Marino's concerns first went public in May, the school board has been considered her appeal but has been slowed by bureaucratic gridlock, organizing a transportation safety committee to advise a school board policy committee to advise the school board itself, which is expected to consider the bike policy at an Oct. 13 board meeting.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,559460,00.html
School admits they don't have authority to order a ban. Officials say people must have "misunderstood" their earlier statement that "The riding of bicycles by elementary pupils to and from school is prohibited." It's interesting how the following excerpt reflects many of the above posts by AZers:
"It's strictly about the intention to keep children safe and not have children on particular roadways and areas that would be considered difficult to manage on a bicycle," White told FOXNews.com. But Marino says their path, which mostly hugs along "adventurous" back roads and Rt. 9's "beautiful, wide shoulders," is just fine for her son, who has twice biked the 300-mile route from Buffalo to Albany. She said the initial concerns raised by school officials were misplaced, including their worries that her son might be snatched by a kidnapper. "I don't know if the fear is warranted. It's almost like (they're suggesting) you stay inside, you get fat, you have heart problems when you get older because there may be a pedophile out there," she said. Since Marino's concerns first went public in May, the school board has been considered her appeal but has been slowed by bureaucratic gridlock, organizing a transportation safety committee to advise a school board policy committee to advise the school board itself, which is expected to consider the bike policy at an Oct. 13 board meeting.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,559460,00.html
billski
Active member
Ooooh, I can see the headline now.
Study Reports Childhood Obesity Directly Linked to Pedophiles. :roll:
Study Reports Childhood Obesity Directly Linked to Pedophiles. :roll: