Would You Let Your Child Walk To School Alone?
Posted November 19, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Things have changed since you were a kid. And after what happened in the GTA this week, you can conclude that most of it hasn’t been for the better.
After an 18-year-old was charged with abducting and sexually assaulting a 9-year-old boy in Brampton, parents are understandably on edge.
Where we used to walk to school with little more care than whether our homework assignments were done, kids today often seem to be confronted with peril at every turn in what used to be the safety of their own neighbourhood.
All of which begs the question: do you let your child walk to or from school anymore?
The long line of cars waiting for the final bell outside public schools across the GTA seems to testify that the answer is ‘no’ for a growing number of moms and dads. But critics contend overprotective parents may be exactly what their kids don’t need.
So should you let your children wend their way to class without you?
Experts say they should be able to walk – but not by themselves.
“It is important that the child not be walking to school alone,” warns Trish Derby of Child Find Ontario. “We recommend to kids and parents that no matter where they’re going that they’re not doing it alone. That there is safety in numbers. You know, they should at least have a buddy who can walk to school with them.”
What about parents walking their kids to class? Derby is less sure that’s a long term strategy. She suggests a lot depends on the child, the age and the judgment of the parents.
“There isn’t a magic number,” she concedes. “Parents know their own kids … Depending on their level of maturity … We recommend high school kids at least have somebody else with them when they’re walking to school.”
What do parents think? Many believe it’s better to be safe than sorry.
“I live near one of my son’s schools and I would not let him walk to school alone,” maintains a mom named Cordelia. “These perpetrators, pedophiles, they’re devious people who really know how to lie very, very well … The streets across Canada I do not believe are very safe. Not like they used to be when I was nine or ten.”
As for kids who resent their parents “mother henning” them?
“I have a 12-year-old daughter that if she is not driven to school, I walk her,” responds Kelly. “She doesn’t like it, but that’s too bad. I know she gets to school safe and I know she gets home safe.”
Here are some tips for you and your kids about walking to school in these uncertain times.
-Use the buddy system: two or three kids together will discourage any predators.
-Street proof them: that old adage about not talking to strangers still contains words to live by.
-Know your neighbours: Show your kids safe places along their route they can run to if they need to find an adult they can trust.
-Know the route: Go over it as often as it takes with youngsters so they know exactly where they’re supposed to go. Point out familiar buildings or landmarks, so they know the terrain.
Other tips from Child Find Ontario:
-Teach your children to trust their feelings, and that they have the right to say “NO”, even to an adult.
-Keep your child’s fingerprints, a current physical description and a full face photograph (like their school photograph) in a safe, accessible place.
-Teach your children their last name, phone number, address, and where you work.
-Teach your children how to dial the Operator “O” or 911 and what to say.
-Never leave children under the age of 12 unattended at home.
-Know where your child is, and let them know where you are, so they learn by example.
-Have a list of the first and last names, phone numbers and addresses of your children’s friends. Get to know their friends and be part of their activities.
-Don’t put your child’s first name on clothing, knapsacks, bicycles or toys.
-Listen when your children tell you that they don’t want to be with someone, and find out why.
-Be alert to an adult or teenager paying too much attention to your child.
-Tell your children that if anything ever happens to them or you, you will look for them until you find them, no matter what.
-You should have a secret code word with your children that only you and they know. If someone tells your children that they were asked by you to pick up the children, explain they are not to go unless the person gives them the correct code word.
