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We get reminders every year not to use side streets for school drop off and pick up. It isn't fair to the people who live there. This would have worked where I grew up, and a lot of places, but not where I am now.
It isn't fair to the people who live there? Public streets... drop 'em off and let the soles of their shoes get dirty.
Ah brings back memories of me in highschool in the early 90s. I walked or rode my bike to school at least 20 blocks. Then when i got tired of that my natural instinct was to save my money from working in the summer to buy my first car at 17. My two sisters did the same thing. No silver spoons existed in our home.
A high-schooler doesn't have to be dropped off in front of the school. A block or two away is fine, therefore avoiding the line.
A few parents of HS age students, in my area, avoid the line by dropping their kids off on the edge of the parking lot or on the other side of the building instead of right in front of the building. However, it is not a big problem, in my area, as almost all of the students ride the bus, walk or bike, drive their cars or car pool with friends.
I'm guessing that at my neighborhood HS, with about 800 students, only about 25 or 30 parents drop off students and since some do it before zero hour and some do it before first hour, and both are 15 -20 minute blocks of time, there is never a big traffic jam or wait.
See the OP. This is similar to our situation or my granddaughter could bike. The road by the high school here is very busy and since she has to be to school early, she would have to contend with rush hour traffic if she biked there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by USNRET04
She hasn't gotten her drivers license yet, but should in September.
We live less than a mile from her school. There is no bus service, no sidewalks and she has to cross a busy road with no crosswalks. Which is why we have driven her for the past three years.
I'm actually surprised how many people are pro-car in this scenario. The daugher doesn't even have a license yet! I mean, talk about putting the cart before the horse.
IMO, the real issue is that the OP's wife feels stretched too thin and is looking for a way to get some relief. Maybe a car is the solution, but maybe a mother's helper or something else would work even better. I don't know. I think the OP needs to talk to his wife more. It seems to me that this is about a car, but not really about a car.
FWIW, I got access to my grandparents' old-ass Dodge Aries when I was around 17. The car was nearly old enough to vote. I really wanted a car, but could not afford one yet. I worked part time, but I spent money doing things with friends and I could not work a ton since I had several extra-curriculars. I was lucky I had access to that car. When my sisters got their licenses I had to share it with them (the three of us are within 4 years of age). I'm sure the main reason I had access to that car was to relieve my parents. Until then they were driving me to and from my awesome job at McDonalds for 3 hour shifts after school. If not for that, I'm sure I wouldn't have had a car.
2 mile is less than a 40 min walk...or bike to school. Some people's commute to work is far longer than 40 min drive.
OP is from "Upstate" which makes me think NY upstate, which translates into very very cold weather. I would not walk 40 minutes to work in 8 degree weather at 6 am, would you? Why should a girl who is obviously working very hard and succeeding to the point she qualifies to take college classes while still in high school, be made to walk 80 minutes a day round trip? I guarantee for the grades and accomplishments this girl has achieved, she is doing homework for hours a night, so that 80 minutes does make a difference including in the amount of sleep she gets.
Add to that the girl is mature enough to agree with her dad that she does not need a car yet, as well as the fact (per OP) that she keeps on top of household chores and helps clean regularly (more than any of my high school age nephews do), and I fail to see why she deserves the "let her walk and suffer in the cold because other people have to" argument. I agree she doesn't need a car, but I do not agree that somehow it would be better for her to be forced to walk that distance daily (not to mention wearing a perhaps 10-20 pound backpack while doing it, which most commuters do not have to do).
Btw, I walked 1/2 mile to the bus stop when in elementary school, so I was not some coddled kid. I also feel strongly that when I grew up (class of 1980) that homework requirements were not even close compared to what these kids come home with.
OP, I agree with the person who said Uber is a great option on days when it's not convenient for you to take her. I take Uber and they often have "regular" people who they take and pick up from work even on a daily basis.
OP is from "Upstate" which makes me think NY upstate, which translates into very very cold weather. I would not walk 40 minutes to work in 8 degree weather at 6 am, would you? Why should a girl who is obviously working very hard and succeeding to the point she qualifies to take college classes while still in high school, be made to walk 80 minutes a day round trip? I guarantee for the grades and accomplishments this girl has achieved, she is doing homework for hours a night, so that 80 minutes does make a difference including in the amount of sleep she gets.
Add to that the girl is mature enough to agree with her dad that she does not need a car yet, as well as the fact (per OP) that she keeps on top of household chores and helps clean regularly (more than any of my high school age nephews do), and I fail to see why she deserves the "let her walk and suffer in the cold because other people have to" argument. I agree she doesn't need a car, but I do not agree that somehow it would be better for her to be forced to walk that distance daily (not to mention wearing a perhaps 10-20 pound backpack while doing it, which most commuters do not have to do).
Btw, I walked 1/2 mile to the bus stop when in elementary school, so I was not some coddled kid. I also feel strongly that when I grew up (class of 1980) that homework requirements were not even close compared to what these kids come home with.
OP, I agree with the person who said Uber is a great option on days when it's not convenient for you to take her. I take Uber and they often have "regular" people who they take and pick up from work even on a daily basis.
OP's zip is 29680. Simpsonville, SC. Winters not near as brutal as would be Upstate NY.
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