Comments on: Walking to School on Their Own

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:21:53 +0000

Hi Miriam and thanks for visiting. I agree that height is one of the factors to consider when deciding whether to let kids cross on their own. Speaking of car seats, I saw a woman today with a 2yo (or younger) squirming in his unstrapped carseat. And the window was wide open! I said something to her but she ignored me, at least when I was in view. Although before the car went out of sight I saw the window go down all the way! Maybe she was trying to close it and opened it by mistake.

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:19:35 +0000

Abbi, whenever our kids do new things it’s scary! Part of the territory I guess.

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:18:52 +0000

SephardiLady, I’m sure you will work it out.

By: Miriam Kaiser

Miriam Kaiser — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:13:19 +0000

just my 2 shekels worth- I think although many children are mature enough to learn to cross the road from age 6/7, they are often still too small to be seen over the tops of cars and so are not easily visible to oncoming drivers- when working in a brin injury rehab centre I saw plenty of kids with injuries due to being reversed into or driven into when crossing the road from behind parked cars, not to mention the ones who were not strapped into car seats and went through the windscreen ….

By: Abbi

Abbi — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:46:32 +0000

I’m a little late to the party. My first grade daughter’s hasa’a picks her up across the busy road at the end of our block, so we have to cross her over in the mornings. We wait with her because the bus has a habit of not showing up or even driving right past us after we’ve waited for 20 minutes! (that’s fun, especially if I’m waiting with all three kids because hubby is away.)

Coming home, the bus drops her off on the same side of the street as our building, and she just has to walk about 35 steps to our building. The only thing she has to cross if our driveway, which I’ve explained many times how she has to stop and check that no cars are coming out. In the beginning of the year I was waiting for her at the bus stop, to make sure she got off. Then, a friend of mine told me she let’s her first grader walk home from the bus stop while having to cross a very quiet street. I figured I can let her cross our driveway. Also, there is a babysitter that waits for another girl who gets off who keeps an eye on her.

But it was a bit scary just letting her walk home 1/8 of a block to our house. I don’t let her take the elevator by herself, in case it gets stuck. She was walking up three flights with her pack, but it was heavy, so now she buzzes and i come down to get her.

By: Orthonomics

Orthonomics — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 05:19:46 +0000

I was a free range kid and would like my kids to be far more free range. But it hard to be free range when no one else is. However, we do let the kids into the backyard for chunks of time. I think it is good for them since they are on the shy side, one in particular.

My husband grew up quite caged, so we differ on how much free-ranging should be allowed/encouraged. I’d let my kids walk to school starting around 6 since that is what I did. But that isn’t up for discussion here. Perhaps I can follow from 10 feet behind as a compromise!

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:34:22 +0000

Mike, I let my kids take the subway in Washington at that age: 15, 12 and 4. The funny thing was when I sent them on a plane, only to find out that an under-5 must be accompanied by an 18-year-old. My sister ended up flying the shuttle from NY with them and coming right back.

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:32:15 +0000

S-R, I also worry about the traffic near the school. I saw one car parked at the curb on a corner between two crosswalks!

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:30:45 +0000

RivkA, dangerous is always a relative thing, I guess.

By: mother in israel

mother in israel — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 13:30:16 +0000

Mrs. S., I wrote that we shouldn’t teach children to be scared of strangers. This wasn’t an issue for me, because my children are generally reserved with strangers and have good instincts. Most molestations, etc. are not committed by strangers anyway.