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:

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



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

Parents fears are not unfounded.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/702/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.

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:

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/2...edgewater.html

Maybe we should hide in bunker Skybird!

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,...est=latestnews