When should kids be allowed to walk/bike to school alone?

Question

My 9-year-old is asking to bike to school without adults. He is generally responsible. So far I have said he needs to find a friend to go with him.

What can children do to convince their parents that they are capable of going to school on their own?

What factors do you think are important?

Answer 1

I'm approaching this from the "what could possibly go wrong?" side of the matter, as I think a child getting into trouble on the way to school is unlikely.

• Traffic safety. A nine-year-old should already know how to cross a street safely. You can practice it with them and watch how they do it, both on foot and by bike.
• Getting lost. Once again, a nine-year-old should know the way to school and back. The question is what happens when they decide to get adventurous. In that case, teach them what to do in the event they get lost. Approach police/any adult in public, go into a shop to ask, follow their steps back to where they came form until they know where they are, call home.
• Getting bullied. This could happen, but is very specific to the child's social situation, and there is no real rule of thumb.
• Getting kidnapped/molested/murdered/whatever. Honestly, the odds of this are about the same as being struck by lightning. I truly believe that people panic over this too quickly.

For what it's worth, 25 years ago, we all walked to school. I started when I was 6.

Answer 2

This can vary widely by region: Some cities are downright murderous and can only be traversed by car, others are very safe. Here are the factors that I can think of, in no particular order:

• How long is the trip? (three minutes at a child's pace, or twenty minutes by car)
• What are the roads like? (bike lanes > pavement > dirt road)
• How much traffic is there? Are there specific points that are more dangerous than the rest of the way? (hiding places, dark parks, big intersections)
• What kind of traffic is there? (lorries, trains, cars, bicycles)
• What kind of neighborhoods does the child need to get through? (upper class residential areas, shopping, industry)
• Can the child ride the bike to get there? (moving faster than walking means less chance of distractions, and theoretically less chance of kidnapping??)
• Can the child bike well enough? (both in terms of plain biking skills, and in terms of traffic awareness)
• How should minor accidents be handled? (flat tire)
• How should major accidents or injuries be handled?
• Will the child travel alone? (siblings, classmates, known adults)
• How can the child contact me if needed? (cell phone)

Also see this answer which basically says, let the child lead you to school and see if you feel okay. You can also try to distract the child and see how that goes.

Answer 3

The only real factor, besides your own potential anxiety, is whether you believe he can take care of himself - including handling problems that may come up. To help decide, I would suggest quizzing him on possible scenarios. Maybe use some role play. For instance -

• You've taken a wrong turn and don't recognize the street, what do you do? (Approach a stranger but stay in public view, ask for directions or to use a phone)
• You run into another kid who wants to take a different route / go play at the park / etc (See if they want to walk with you for company, keep heading to / from school)
• The classic stranger with candy - get in the van, help me find the puppy, etc. (Be polite but stay in public view, keep walking, scream bloody murder if you really feel threatened.)

Suggested answers are just that - suggestions. Use your own judgement - probably on the spot too, because no matter how much you or I think up, your kid will probably come up with their own responses that are very likely good fits to the situation too.

Ultimately, it's one of those "it depends" sort of answers, but I think the role played scenarios should help you figure it out, and will help prepare a kid who isn't quite ready.

Answer 4

Apart from the obvious issue of a child's responsibility level, distance and location would be important factors for me. I walked from school from around 9 years old or so, but it was only 0.5Km, in a quiet village with good pavements (sidewalks).

Riding a bike would personally make me very nervous as the chance of more serious accidents is much higher, especially on the road.

Answer 5

The highest order risk for us has always been kidnapping. Where we live (in Houston), the news is filled with cases of children being kidnapped every day. It's sad, but kidnapping and human trafficking are a huge issue, particularly in our region.

Just a few years back, there was that case of the 13 year old girl in the US who was kidnapped and killed while walking home from a friends house, which got caught on a security camera. There are many, many similar stories that never make the national headlines.

We never let our 15yo boy go anywhere by himself until last year. He couldn't bike or walk to school by himself nor could he walk two streets down to his friends house. He begged and pleaded, and argued that we didn't trust him, but we stood firm and told him that it wasn't a matter of trust, but rather a matter of safety. The only reason we let him start walking and going places by himself (but usually with a friend at that) is because he is physically huge (6'5" and over 200 lbs). This significantly reduced the likelihood element of the risk for us.

We have many children on our street in our neighborhood. The kids come and go to each others houses. The ages range from toddlers to 10 year olds. We have a general rule that nobody let's their own kids or anyone else's kids walk to and from each others' houses unescorted, even if its only 1-2 houses down. There is no point in taking a risk.

We wouldn't consider letting any of our four younger children walk or bike anywhere by themselves until they are 14-16 years old. And even then, we will likely have rules that they have to always stick together or with a friend.

Its a little more work on our part to have to take the time out to escort the kids, but then we never have to worry about them.