School district bans walking/biking to school

[SteamWake]

At the start of school in September, Kaddo Marino thought that she had a nonverbal agreement with school officials to allow her son to ride his bike until a new policy was resolved. But on the night before classes started, school authorities called parents to say that walking and biking to school would not be tolerated.

What in the heck ? :stare::doh: and they wonder why kids dont get enough excercise.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=847190

[Dowly]

Aaaand that's the 2nd absolute fricking idiotic thing I've heard from that side of the pond today. Come oooon, go for 3! :D

[antikristuseke]

Ok, this is retarded. No other word for it.

[HunterICX]

technically it means you do not have to go to school.

HunterICX

[Skybird]

I am not sure I really got this story right. It appears to me as if students in that town or at that school are prohibited from walking or bike-riding to school. But that is so idiotic an interpretation that I must misunderstand something there!?

Any hints?

[antikristuseke]

No, you got it right. That is exactly how I understood it.

[Skybird]

:dead:

Let's hope that fate prevents the authors of this policy from reproducing their toxic genes.

[AVGWarhawk]

The article reads as 4 miles from school. Unless this is Little House on the Prairie were you walk to school with your pail that contains piece of bread and an apple, four miles would probably constitute a car ride and or a bus ride to school this day in age.

[SteamWake]

Aaaand that's the 2nd absolute fricking idiotic thing I've heard from that side of the pond today. Come oooon, go for 3! :D

Okay... for the trifecta !


IRVING TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Each day before the school bus comes to pick up the neighborhood's children, Lisa Snyder did a favor for three of her fellow moms, welcoming their children into her home for about an hour before they left for school.
Regulators who oversee child care, however, don't see it as charity. Days after the start of the new school year, Snyder received a letter from the Michigan Department of Human Services warning her that if she continued, she'd be violating a law aimed at the operators of unlicensed day care centers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090930/ap_on_re_us/us_baby_sitter_backlash_mich

[antikristuseke]

The article reads as 4 miles from school. Unless this is Little House on the Prairie were you walk to school with your pail that contains piece of bread and an apple, four miles would probably constitute a car ride and or a bus ride to school this day in age.

4 miles on a bike is pretty much nothing, hell a 4 mile walk is nothing, I walk more than that most days. Then again, I was used to walking a lot before the army service and being recon infantry we got to do a lot of it.

[AVGWarhawk]

4 miles on a bike is pretty much nothing, hell a 4 mile walk is nothing, I walk more than that most days. Then again, I was used to walking a lot before the army service and being recon infantry we got to do a lot of it.


Well, one must look at this way....child endangerment where it is not necessary. Really, the days of Leave it to Beaver are over.

[antikristuseke]

This is ridiculous. The precentage of perverts in the population has not increased exponentially since the 50's, only paranoia has.

[SteamWake]

This is ridiculous. The precentage of perverts in the population has not increased exponentially since the 50's, only paranoia has.

Id be willing to wager you are wrong on that.

[AVGWarhawk]

This is ridiculous. The precentage of perverts in the population has not increased exponentially since the 50's, only paranoia has.


Tell that to the young girl who was snatched in front of her father as she was heading to the school bus...lets see, two kids by her kidnapper. She is 29 years old now. Was 11 when kidnapped. No sir, my two girls do not walk 4 miles to school. And, if you think there is not more pervs you are mistaken. The world is nothing but sexual inuendo. It is pumped in via TV, computer and magazine. Christ, one perv said his cat downloaded child porn. WTF? Paranoia my arse.


Missing Children Cases
are placed in three Primary Categories by the National Crime Information Center (NCIC)
Juvenile….. 801,332 cases, up 1.8% over 1996
Police enter most cases in ‘Juvenile’, including some nonfamily
abductions where there is no evidence of foul play.
Endangered .106,332 cases, up 7.8% over 1996
Defined as "missing", and in the company of another person under
circumstances indicating that his/her physical safety is in danger.
Involuntary .33,908 cases, up 8.3% over 1996
Defined as "missing" under circumstances indicating that the
disappearance was not voluntary, i.e., abduction or kidnapping.

[Skybird]

Let's build subways from each privbate house to every public building, with no in-between-stations: crime-safe, and even no risk of picking up an infectious flu from stranger.

We should also consider to transport our children in handcuffs in wheel chairs, with a bag over their head. Just to protect them from themselves.

I think you think exactly 180° in the wrong direction, AVG. I mean kids get killed in traffic accidents - let's prohibit driving them around in cars. Let's rent a helicopter to bring them to school instead. Deal?!

[AVGWarhawk]

Let's build subways from each privbate house to every public building, with no in-between-stations: crime-safe, and even no risk of picking up an infectious flu from stranger.

We should also consider to transport our children in handcuffs in wheel chairs, with a bag over their head. Just to protect them from themselves.

I think you think exactly 180° in the wrong direction, AVG. I mean kids get killed in traffic accidents - let's prohibit driving them around in cars. Let's rent a helicopter to bring them to school instead. Deal?!

Sure bud...the statistic noted above are meaningless. Got kids? If so, we will talk. If not, sit behind your monitor and keep quiet on the subject.

[AVGWarhawk]

Here ya go bud:



(http://www.registeredoffenderslist.org/blog/sex-offenders/child-molestation-statistics/)Statistics on Child Molestation (http://www.registeredoffenderslist.org/blog/sex-offenders/child-molestation-statistics/)

The statistics say that one out of every three to four girls has been sexually assaulted by the age of 18. One boy out of every six will be abused by the age of 18. Although we have some reports and convictions to base these statistics on, they are actually not accurate. So many cases of child molestation go unreported each year, so we really cannot estimate the real numbers. The FBI reports that the National Institute for Mental Health found that only 1% to 10% of victims ever tell that they were abused. Boys report far less than girls.


The average child molester will molest fifty girls before being caught and convicted.
A child molester that seeks out boys will molest 150 boys before being caught and convicted and he will commit at least 280 sexual crimes in his lifetime.
The standard pedophile will commit 117 sexual crimes in their lifetime.
Most sexual abuse happens between the ages of 7 and 13.
There are over 491,720 registered sex offenders in the United States.
80,000 to 100,000 of the above offenders are missing.
Molesters known by the family or victim are the most common abusers. The “Acquaintance Molester� accounts for 70-90% of reported cases.
(http://www.registeredoffenderslist.org/blog/sex-offenders/child-molestation-statistics/)



http://www.registeredoffenderslist.org/blog/sex-offenders/child-molestation-statistics/



Go ahead bud, allow the kid to walk or ride the bike to school. Give that perv the 4 mile opportunity to do harm to your kid. Hey Skybird, how about joining the real world instead of attempting to just be right all the time.

[SteamWake]

When I was a kid I walked / rode my bike to school every freakin day for many many years from 1st grade on.

Not once was I molested, nor did the thought and or fear of it ever cross my mind.

You cannot tell me things have not changed.

Throw all the statistics up there you want.

But innoncence has been stolen from children and they will probably never get it back.

[Skybird]

The article did not give the impression that they were driving through a gang warzone. nor did the pictures. If you think there is a problem with crime, AVG, then you better start solving this problem, instead of just locking your children away and that way just adapt to symptoms.

BTW, many kids get hurt at school these days, get bullied by gangs and get ripped of, and many kids bring their own knifes and other weapons with them. Should we stop send our kids to school, therefore?

Also, most cases of child abuse take place inside families, with the father sinvolved and the mothers tolerating it. By your logic we therefore should take all children away from theior parents, and then what? Put them into state-run institutions for education where they canot become object to their parent's abuse? Hell, if that would not be a communist utopia!

Let's not get carried away. Total security and safe-guarding against any risks is only possible at the price of total totalitarian control.

[AVGWarhawk]

The article did not give the impression that they were driving through a gang warzone. nor did the pictures. If you think there is a problem with crime, AVG, then you better start solving this problem, instead of just locking your children away and that way just adapt to symptoms.



You do not need to be in a warzone to get hurt or kidnapped. Kids get swiped in any neighborhood. Sending your kids into a potentually harmful situation is just wrong. I just asked a coworker if he would send his 16 year old daughter on a 4 mile walk to school. He said NO immediately. 4 miles is a long way for a kid to walk to school IMO and as a parents opinion.

BTW, many kids get hurt at school these days, get bullied by gangs and get ripped of, and many kids bring their own knifes and other weapons with them. Should we stop send our kids to school, therefore?


And this is ok? This make sending your kid on a 4 mile walk ok? You're more screwed than I thought. Really man, I would not send my 11 or 14 year old on a 4 mile walk. I do not care how good the neighborhood is.


Also, most cases of child abuse take place inside families, with the father sinvolved and the mothers tolerating it. By your logic we therefore should take all children away from theior parents, and then what? Put them into state-run institutions for education where they canot become object to their parent's abuse? Hell, if that would not be a communist utopia!


Can I see some statistics on this?


Let's not get carried away. Total security and safe-guarding against any risks is only possible at the price of total totalitarian control


Ok, but being able to prevent one possible bad outcome is what a parent should do and not shrug it off because...well 'if' 'and' or 'buts' could happen anyway.

[SteamWake]

4 miles is a long way for a kid to walk to school .

Thats why they have bikes...

It must be terrible to live with such fears.

[AVGWarhawk]

Thats why they have bikes...

It must be terrible to live with such fears.

Got kids SW? Please, ask anyone with a daughter if they would let them walk 4 miles to school. See what they say. :03:

[AVGWarhawk]

Family abductions
• In 16% of family abductions, the child experiences severe mental harm.
• 8% of the children experience physical harm.
• 7% of the children are sexually abused.
• Mothers take the child 46% of the time and fathers take the child 54% of the time.

Non-Family abductions
• More than 65% of the children abducted by non-family members are girls.
• 46% of children are sexually abused.
• 31% of the children are physically abused.
• 32% of abductions take place in a street or a car and 25% take place in a park or a wooded area.
• The top 3 places an abductor imprisons the child are – a car, the abductor’s home and the abductor’s building.
• Most abductions occur within a quarter of a mile of the child’s home.
• 75% of the abductors are male.
• 67% of them are below 29 years of age.

Stereotypical kidnappings
• 40% of children in “stereotypical” kidnappings are killed.
• 4% of children are never found.
• 79% kidnappings are carried out by strangers and 21% by acquaintances.
Nearly 75% of the parents in U.S fear that their children might become victims of abduction




• Most abductions occur within a quarter of a mile of the child’s home.


WELL HELL GIVE EM 4 MILES AND A FAIR CHANCE......

Parents fears are not unfounded.

[AVGWarhawk]

The article concerns really RT 9, a busy road. However there has not been a bike accident in over three years so I guess parents think it is ok. The article states the road does not really accomodate the bike traffic. So, if one kid get hit and killed...then what?

[Skybird]

You do not need to be in a warzone to get hurt or kidnapped. Kids get swiped in any neighborhood. Sending your kids into a potentually harmful situation is just wrong. I just asked a coworker if he would send his 16 year old daughter on a 4 mile walk to school. He said NO immediately. 4 miles is a long way for a kid to walk to school IMO and as a parents opinion.



And this is ok? This make sending your kid on a 4 mile walk ok? You're more screwed than I thought. Really man, I would not send my 11 or 14 year old on a 4 mile walk. I do not care how good the neighborhood is.




Can I see some statistics on this?



Ok, but being able to prevent one possible bad outcome is what a parent should do and not shrug it off because...well 'if' 'and' or 'buts' could happen anyway.

Build yourself a bunker, put a bed into it, and do not raise in the morning anymore. If additionally you link your cardiovascular system to a machine and have an independent generator, you should enjoy a life in maximum safety, I guess. ;)

If somebody here would hint that due to the many accidents with firearms maybe there should be a more restrictive gun law ("Eeeeek! Did he say gun law...?"), the outcry already would echoe from one coast of america to the other, and many would compare that to forbit car traffic due to traffic accidents hurting people.

We do not need playgrounds. We need bunkers with security personnel and barbwire and camera control around them, so that our children can play in safety.

If there would be a security concern of such a kind that you need to lock away your kids, then the problem is not parentsnot doing right that, but that the social environment that is like such a bad place does not get tackled. But the article does not seem to indicate that it is about a drug gang war district like in some Brazilian or Columbian suburbs where every week two dozen gang members shoot or stab each other. And if the school would be unaccessible by feet or bike due to too danegrous traffic - sue the city planners for having done a criminally bad job, and re-route traffic patterns to calm down the area instead of forbidding students to walk or bike.

I had a school way of almopst 4 km every day. In the middle of a big city. That'S why I used a bike - despite thousands of cars and several major traffic lines I had to pass or drive on. and in all my school years I am not aware of any student their having become victim of a traffic accident while walking or biking. But one boy from my chess club got killed. He stumbled while leaving the bus, the door closed and he was carried with the bus and slammed against an obstavle, a parked car I think. Damn public transportation...

I rest the case here. It simply is too absurd.

[AVGWarhawk]

We do not need playgrounds. We need bunkers with security personnel and barbwire and camera control around them, so that our children can play in safety.



Same crap they said in the 1940's across the pond :03: Again, until you have a child you will probably never understand. I asked before, do you have children?

I rest the case here. It simply is too absurd. You will never rest your case nor complete it. Without being a parent you are blowing nothing but smoke from behind your monitor or from some article you found. Try living it with a breathing kid and tell me you would not be concerned.

[martes86]

I do not understand the issue here... why don't they let students bike or walk? What's the logic on that? Just to make americans fat?

Seriously, it escapes comprehension. :o

[AVGWarhawk]

I do not understand the issue here... why don't they let students bike or walk? What's the logic on that? Just to make americans fat?

Seriously, it escapes comprehension. :o

Read the full article...it concerns a busy road.

[MothBalls]

Read the full article...it concerns a busy road.

Then it's up to the parents to make that decision, not the school.

[Sledgehammer427]

I have a sneaky feeling that this is more than just a busy road.

I rode my bike to and from town (about 6 miles) every day when I was in middle school, and only once or twice was I in any real danger from traffic, and yes I did ride on the busy road. Matter of fact, I was in more danger from something happening on my bike and killing me than the traffic.
AVG, I agree with you, kids walking 4 miles to and from school is a huge red bullseye to a predator, and even though I don't have kids (since I just became an adult) I support your stance on the issue.

the best way to fix a problem like this is to start bussing every kid that uses that road to get to school, if the parents aren't able to get them there themselves.

[CastleBravo]

Why can't we let kids be kids and parents be parents? A good smack on the ass is appropriatre at times. It gets the child's attention and believe it or not is a good thing.

[martes86]

Read the full article...it concerns a busy road.

Still... why does the school take the mission to forbid how you go to school? Shouldn't that be the parents' concern? Are now schools traffic and civil security managers even if you live on the other side of town? I'd understand banning stuff within the school itself, but out of it... isn't there any issue with jurisdictions? :o

[Morts]

Zomfg...dey'se stealin mah freedom !!!!

[Skybird]

The "busy road" together with what the article described as having crossings and "wide shoulders".

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/702/advbike4.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/advbike4.jpg/)



Nobody talks of letting a kid walk to school for 4 miles (6.4 km, that would take over an hour) all alone. Talk is of biking here. Obviously in this case also not alone, but with a parent. 6 km on bike is about 15-20 minutes, depends. and that is absolutely okay for getting to school. In a big city, using public transportations, many kids in my class needed much longer.

Also, it is not about the distance in the article, since the school had banned biking and walking in general, no matter the distance.

[Wolfehunter]

Let's build subways from each privbate house to every public building, with no in-between-stations: crime-safe, and even no risk of picking up an infectious flu from stranger.

We should also consider to transport our children in handcuffs in wheel chairs, with a bag over their head. Just to protect them from themselves.

I think you think exactly 180° in the wrong direction, AVG. I mean kids get killed in traffic accidents - let's prohibit driving them around in cars. Let's rent a helicopter to bring them to school instead. Deal?!I got one better. Lets make teleporters... and Beam our kids to school...:yeah: Ya Thats what I'm saying... Travel in style from A to B in seconds.. :up:

Just punch in the abc123 coordinates and zing your kids are safely in school...:salute:

I don't let my six year old go alone... But I can walk my daughter to her school..

That rule in Spring's is crazy.. What the hell were they thinking when they passed it back in 1994? :hmmm: This isn't one guy making these laws.. There was a board of people passing this law... :timeout: What the hell? Are they all on crack? :doh:

[AVGWarhawk]

Still... why does the school take the mission to forbid how you go to school? Shouldn't that be the parents' concern? Are now schools traffic and civil security managers even if you live on the other side of town? I'd understand banning stuff within the school itself, but out of it... isn't there any issue with jurisdictions? :o

The article states the state police agree with the school. This would cover your issue of jurisdiction. Skybird, myself and others participating in this thread failed to mention the state police agree with the school concerning this particular road. Never the less parents can protest and push to have their kids ride to school. Personally I would not have my girls ride a bike to school on this road. Even the secondary roads in my neighborhood people drive like it is Formula 1 racing. But frig it....I'm just a parent who seems to have gone over the edge according to some.

I refer Skybird to this thread

http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=156733

Yet I'm some sort of overly protective nut job in Skybirds eyes.

And here it continues:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/10/teen-attacked-in-edgewater.html

Maybe we should hide in bunker Skybird!

[antikristuseke]

I wouldn't say over the edge. To be honest, I do not know what it feels like to have a child, and won't pretend to know the concern you feel for their well being. That being said, you seem to be a tad overly protective, but I do not know you personally nor the are you live in so I don't really put much weight on this vague assumption. Also, I do think parents fears, while not unfounded, are exaggerated since the kidnapping rate among persons under 18 is 8.2 per 100,000. So it is far from common.
My main problem with this though is that I think the school has no business in telling how parents send their kids to school. Their child, their choice if the kid walks or bikes or takes the bus or is driven to the school door.

[AVGWarhawk]

I wouldn't say over the edge. To be honest, I do not know what it feels like to have a child, and won't pretend to know the concern you feel for their well being. That being said, you seem to be a tad overly protective, but I do not know you personally nor the are you live in so I don't really put much weight on this vague assumption. Also, I do think parents fears, while not unfounded, are exaggerated since the kidnapping rate among persons under 18 is 8.2 per 100,000. So it is far from common.
My main problem with this though is that I think the school has no business in telling how parents send their kids to school. Their child, their choice if the kid walks or bikes or takes the bus or is driven to the school door.

Well, here is the deal on that....when does the child come under school supervision? On the way to school? On the bus going to school? What if said child is hit and killed on that 4 mile stretch? Think the parents will sue? I would venture a guess and say yes. The school should and probably does have bus service. True, it is the parents choice but like I said, I would not allow my daughters to ride nor walk the four miles. As far as overly protective.....if and when you do become a parent a very different reality sets in. You worry about your kids. I'm sure your parents still worry about you to some degree.

Hey check this out....now you know why parents worry.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,558181,00.html?test=latestnews