School Bus vs. Driving (Alexandria, Fairfax: home, neighborhood, middle school)

[ChristineVA]

I agree that most kids should walk if it less than a mile. That was always the rule in my county; however, there are definite exceptions. Normie, I bet the traffic wasn't nearly as bad 40-50 years ago when you were walking. I know that when I went to high school (1980), we lost our bus service because we were under a mile. What they didn't take into consideration is that mile was right out on a major thoroughfare (Piscataway Road if anyone is from Clinton, MD) and there was not ONE sidewalk or crosswalk to get to the school. Horribly dangerous, even 30 years ago. I can't imagine what it is like now.

My kids have always been at least 3 miles from their school, so they rode the bus (I work and my kids were at a home daycare).

[normie]

Originally Posted by oneasterisk

Was that uphill both ways and how many feet of snow?

LOL I might be able to claim the uphill both ways but I think any kid going to school this year has a snow story to beat any of mine.

[normie]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

Also after school some parents need to pick up their child for a dentist appointment, tutoring, piano lesson, etc.

That's my other gripe. Kids around here are so over scheduled. Ballet lessons and violin lessons are great, but I think we load on too much. One or two activities should be enough, not something every day. IMO, kids benefit more from spending an hour after shool walking home with their friends than from having every minute of the day scheduled. Guess I'm a typical old fuddy-duddy, lol, I don't always appreciate the modern way of doing things.

[car54]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

...And yes, in some cases it's just because the child is spoiled .

I would say in MOST cases that is the reason. You wouldn't believe the parents that drive their kids to the bus stop....and sometimes the bus stop is at the bottom of their driveway!

I think catching that bus teaches a kid how to get up and get going in the morning. I know some guys that employ people and they're always complaining about how their younger workers often are late, or don't show at all. All that pampering as kids might have something to do with it.

I don't think the one mile rule applies to kindergarten runs....I pick up some tykes that live very close to their schools. I love kindergartners...they WANT to ride the bus, and they enjoy riding the bus, and if asked route questions by a substitute driver...they love to help. Contrast that to high schoolers that'll just sit there and then tell you, "Duhhh, ya passed it..."

[arielmina]

I drive my kids in the mornings to kiss and go when we miss the bus Very annoyed to do it too. Their bus stop is two blocks away and around a corner, so it's not like the bus parks itself right outside my front door and honks. I miss the bus usually 1x in any two week period.

I also pick up sometimes only because they may have a doctors appt or some other appt to go to. We are most certainly NOT overscheduled, but my daughter had a gymnastics class at 3:00 PM in Leesburg, so unfortunately yeah, I had to pick her up at school.

We have a ton of walkers at our school, but we are about a mile away, but not direct (we'd have to tromp through the woods and across a raging stream) so not likely will we be walking anytime soon.

[liloulou]

I just had this conversation with a colleague yesterday. She drives her youngest to school because the bus comes to pick her child up at 6:15am! 6:15 in the morning is ridiculous! If she drives them to school, they don't have to leave until 7:45am. That's a huge difference. She prefers her child have a more normal sleep pattern, more time to play and do homework, enjoy time outside of the long commute to school.
If my children want to the take the bus I'll let them, however, I imagine there will be a point where some days I might have to drive them too. As for walking to school, even under a mile, there is no way in hell I will let my two young girls walk to school. I honestly wish I could, but there are too many abductions and too many traffic accidents with pedestrians (I have a friend who was actually killed a few years ago) to allow young girls to walk a mile to school. Forget about it.

[ajzjmsmom]

Originally Posted by normie

That's my other gripe. Kids around here are so over scheduled. Ballet lessons and violin lessons are great, but I think we load on too much. One or two activities should be enough, not something every day. IMO, kids benefit more from spending an hour after shool walking home with their friends than from having every minute of the day scheduled. Guess I'm a typical old fuddy-duddy, lol, I don't always appreciate the modern way of doing things.

If you are a fuddy duddy then I am too and I am only in my 40's. My kids are allowed one activity at a time, with all the homework they have these days they are crunched enough for time without adding in activities most days of the week. I think they need time to unwind just like adults do and what better way to do that than to hang out with their friends for an hour after school.

[HereinVA]

I have children at multiple schools, some public, some private. The private one does not offer a bus service so we have to drive them.

[CaliTerp07]

I loved my after school activities growing up--that WAS my chance to unwind! People talk about lessons and teams and clubs like they're stressful, but that doesn't have to be the case. I played soccer (2-3x/week), piano, and was a girl scout in elementary school, and the only one that was at all stressful was piano, because that one had homework (practicing). The other ones were great stress relievers (and really, at a young age, sports teams and scouts are just hanging out with friends anyways!).

[michgc]

In nearly 3 years I have maybe driven my child to school or picked her up maybe 5 times total. She ALWAYS takes the bus, and I love it! I would hate to have to load all three of my children in the car to take her to and from school. Having said that, we do live more than a mile away from our elementary school. Fairfax County could save a lot of money on bussing if they actually had children attend schools that were closest to them. We would be walkers to another elementary school that is only 1/2 mile from my house but instead they pay someone to drive my child to school.