Officials: Students Could Be Forced To Walk 2 Miles

Officials: Students Could Be Forced To Walk 2 Miles

MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla. -- Parents were relieved to learn Tuesday that their children won't have to walk long distances or along congested roads to get to school, at least for the time being, but school officials said that could change.

"I want to know she got to school, and I want to know she's walking through the door after she leaves school," said parent Nancy Matica-Bock, who was brought to tears thinking about something happening to her 6-year-old daughter, Gaya.

Like so many other mothers, she doesn't allow Gaya to walk anywhere alone.

"Whether it's from motorists or unsavory people, I want her to be safe so she can focus on school once she gets there," Matica-Bock said.

http://www.clickorlando.com/education/28815860/detail.html

Dude, I hate to complain but the quality is slippin.

No cars were allowed in HS either for under two.


Grade school had no one greater than one mile.

1. Children these days are not allowed out of adult custody, ever. Whether the hazard is real or not, lots of people are convinced that if a child is not under direct supervision, that chikd will be kidnapped.

2. There are not very many people watching what happens to pedestrians. With everyone in cars, who would notice if a child running along stumbles and get hurt? Who would notice th child who has taken a wrong turn and is lost? What about the child confronted by bullies?

3. Many schools today are large central warehouses located along main highways, not small neighborhood schools. The children are not only walking farther, they are walking along roads with no sidewalks and heavy traffic.

4. Sometimes walking is faster than driving, sometimes it takes the same amount of time, but often it takes longer. Do these kids even have the time to commute on foot?

Kids NEED to be away from adult supervision on occasion. And no, there are NOT pedophiles behind every tree.

Walking to school with other kids was fun. It was good exercise without seeming like exercise.

The parents in each neighborhood arranged to have older kids walk with the younger kids.

of houses and/or apartments, but very few live in neighborhoods.

I've lived in the same house since 1985, but I can only name the people next door, directly across the street, and four houses down the other direction. I don't even know all the kids living in one of the houses. Granted, I live on a stat highway where the houses are spread out, but my Dad has lived in the same place since 1964, and he is in pretty much the same situation.

The dallas ISD has horrible streets for the kids to walk on.It is very unsafe.I can only imagine if his 1st through 5th graders are made to walk 2 miles.He will probably drive along picking them up....

I never lived less than 20 blocks from my school, and we had no busing at all. I walked to school every day, starting in 1st grade, just like every other kid in town.

schools scattered around the city. Now they've been consolidated into four large schools, two of which are outside city limits.

all of our kids rode their bikes or walked each day (we have four, two graduated and two in middle school now). They extended the no-bus zone to two miles away a couple of years ago and their parents either drive them or they ride their bikes. The county put in wide sidewalks and added crossing guards to ever single street for the elementary kids in the morning and afternoon. No child crosses a street without a crossing guard's help. If you can create a situation like this, it should be fine (we're in NE FL).

but an adult presence to handle any problems. Don't forget - for a 2nd grader, losing a homework paper is a major crisis!

I'm not a guy, FYI.

:rofl:

In my day we walked 10 miles to school, in hip deep snow, and it was all uphill, both ways!!