You know that joke about parents telling their children they had to walk to school, two miles, uphill each way, in 3 feet of snow? You may or may not be aware that there are official rules on how far away a family has to live before their kids can be bussed to school.
The Philadelphia Bicycle News blog reports on proposed legislation, HB 2679, that would reduce the distance elementary school kids have to walk from 1.5 miles to .75 miles and for older kids from 2 miles to 1.5 miles. Note that these are the maximum distances and that individual school districts can reduce them or do away with them in individual circumstances. I know of one school that busses all children because there aren't any sidewalks around it and it is therefore unsafe for any children to walk to it.
Many schools currently forbid children from riding their bikes to school for safety reasons (and probably to avoid getting involved in bike theft). About five years ago I inventoried all the public elementary schools in my school district to see which ones had bike racks and surrounding sidewalks. I found that if there were no sidewalks there were no bike racks. There are also an inverse correlation between the affluence of the neighborhood and sidewalks. The higher the income level, the fewer the sidewalks. No idea if this holds true for other areas as well.
The bill is being proposed by Rep. Gene McGill (R-151), who is holding a meeting on the legislation August 29. (details on the bill, his views, and the meeting here).
The Patriot News has a very insightful editorial on the topic here.
It points out that kids need more opportunities to exercise not less. Gas prices may be another consideration.
McGill faces Democrat Rick Taylor in this November's election.
I know this will be a contentious issue for many people. It is a moot point for me personally. We live approximately .8 miles from the elementary school, as the car drives, so busses are out of the question. You can reduce the distance by cutting between my house and a neighbor's house and then through the neighbor's yard (okay with us, okay with the neighbor). Stop by my house any school day around 3 p.m. and you can meet many of the kids who live on my street and some of their friends. One of the kids routinely pulls the trash can back up to the garage on trash day. Since the youngest little Jane is still very young we do drive them to school and pick them up there from the after school program, but I'm sure that at least some days this year they will walk. There are crossing guards at the major intersections and a veritable parade of children walking.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Two Miles, Uphill Each Way
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2 comments:
Jane, thanks for posting on such a good topic. I grew up 3 blocks from my elementary school. It was Catholic, but East Columbus where I would have gone was 3 blocks the other way. I either walked or rode my bike all the time, as did many of my neighbors. representative Bob freeman of Easton is leading the charge in trying to return to neighborhood schools. We live in Mcmansion, superspawled communitiews, and the idea of neighborhood has become everybody in their own private castles. You are so lucky that your homes are close together in your community. New Neighborhoods aren't built that way anymore.
It pits the ideas of neighborhood schools, energy conservation and fresh air / exercise against parental fears. As someone who rode a bus for one year and walked for several others, I would vote for walking over a bus any day.
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