Planning To Let Go, One Step At A Time.

I have been thinking a lot recently about what age should I let my eldest walk to and from school on his own. He is in grade four now and we have a 1.5km walk to his school. There are two busy roads that he would have to cross, both of which have pedestrian traffic lights. But we do have a train level crossing that worries me a lot.

With these thoughts in the forefront of my mind, the following headline from The Guardian on line caught my eye, “Parents risk raising ‘battery farm’ children”. The article centres around a quote from the English Schools Minister, Kevin Brennan, who said:

“One of the things you can do to stop children being involved in road traffic accidents is to never allow them out. Of course, that will produce a generation of battery farmed children”.

The article then detailed current research in the UK which showed that:

“one in three children never play outside and two-thirds of parents are worried about letting their children outside unaccompanied.”

I was interested to see if there was a similar trend in Australia. Although I could not track down exact matching data, the following facts from Environment Victoria show a similar trend with playing and walking outside the home.

Physical inactivity is responsible for about 7% of the total burden of disease in Australia, rating second only to tobacco smoking.

80% of 10-year olds in Germany are allowed to travel alone to places other than school; in Australasia only 40% are allowed.

In the early 1970s, 80% of 7 and 8-year olds went to school on their own; less than 10% did so in the 1990s.

Over 90% of 10 to 12-year olds said they like playing outside with friends.

Over 80% of parents of 10 to 12-year olds see stranger danger and road safety as barriers to physical activity for children.

66% of Victorians travel to work by car; only 3.1% walk, 5.7% use public transport and 0.9% ride a bicycle.

Car usage is escalating rapidly, with 50% of Victorian households now owning 2 or more cars.

72.3% of Grade 3 – 6 children are driven to school. 61% of these children said they would prefer to walk to school if given the choice.

(Environment Victoria sourced these statistics from Vic Health)

I was one of the 80% of 7 – 8 year olds who walked to school on their own (or with siblings). Yet I am not comfortable about letting my eldest son to do the same.

Dr Judith Paphazy, a leading consultant psychologist specialising in childhood resilience, was quoted in The Age saying:

“children being driven to school and activities was one of the worst examples of over-anxious parenting that impaired a child’s development.”

I found that statement very challenging. I know that it is probably time to let my eldest son walk places on his own, but I have to admit that the thought of it scares me immensely.

WHAT IS THE RIGHT AGE FOR CHILDREN TO WALK ALONE?

I then decided to research a little more, but this time from a medical perspective on what is the appropriate age for children to be able to walk in a city environment on their own. The conclusive answer appears to be 10 years old. It seems that before that:
“their peripheral vision – the ability to ‘see things out of the corner of their eye’ – isn’t as good as an adult’s. So children under the age of 10 shouldn’t be crossing the road without an adult.” (Source: ABC: Health Matters – The Pulse)

Kidsafe (the Child Accident Prevention Foundation of Australia) states from 10 years old also is an appropriate age.

PLANNING TO LET GO.

Well 10 years of age is good news for me! Thinker is 9 years old, so in accordance with my true nature, I will plan letting him go the journey to school by himself. I will take time this year to build up his road safety skills, so that he will be able to safely walk alone by the time he is 10. When we walk together of a morning, I will make him be the one responsible for checking to see if it is safe to cross. Initially he will have to wait and see if I concur with his observation, but I will let him make the first call, so he is used to checking for himself and not relying on me.

I will also aim to leave home five minutes earlier, so that we cross a busy road at the pedestrian traffic lights that we currently do not use. It is quicker if we just wait for a train to come along, as the boom gates then come down and the traffic stops enough for us to cross the road safely. Crossing the road like this requires to much judgement for a child of his age, so I must walk the way I will want him to walk (via the traffic lights) when he is old enough to do it by himself.

The reasoning behind letting him walk himself to school has two key drivers. Firstly, I know he would love to do it and it will be great for his self esteem to start being more independent. Secondly, within a few years he will be going to secondary school, which will most likely mean catching public transport by himself to get there. I want him to be ready and capable of doing this. Walking to school is the first step on the path building up to this.

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