Family defies no-bike policy at Maple Avenue Middle School

[witeowl]

As a teacher, I am responsible for your child when they leave school.

As a middle school teacher, I sure as heck hope I'm not responsible for any of those kids when they leave school! Once they're off campus, they're considered to be on their own, and there's nothing we can do to change that. I'm not sure there's anything we should do to change that. Sure, we do what we can to make sure that nothing goes on in our nearby vicinity, particularly at the local businesses, but our zone extends well beyond walking distance into the rural areas around our school.

That said, thanks for the possible reasoning. I completely disagree, but at least it helps to have a rationalization on the flip side.

[Grog]

I understand teachers' pains, especially if for whatever reason they are made responsible (which I indeed do not think they should be).

However, while I can't say anything about kids behaving haphazardly when they walk and cycle, I am pretty sure that the risk of dying in a motor vehicle accident while returning from school is infinitely higher than the risk of being snatched by a predator. Such cases gather immense media attention, but in fact they are also extremely rare.

Now maybe a thing school boards and municipalities should be responsible for is building proper infrastructure around schools to facilitate safe active transportation...

[bmccasland]

Considering lack of exercise goes hand in hand with the rising obesity problem in this country, and good habits need to start early in life, I can't believe the school's policy! I would love to see more students walking or riding bikes and less cars. This is especially a problem around here where a lot of kids (maybe 50%) go to private schools of some sort. You would not believe the traffic jams caused by parents lining up waiting to pick up their kids after school. Parish the thougth that they even park and walk, oh no they sit there idling away. I have to remember to NOT hit my neighborhood at 3:00 thanks to the Catholic elementary school.

Part of our traffic jam problem is that schools around here are actually buried in neighborhoods, so that it's easier for kids to bike or walk. This works so long as you go to the public schools, or maybe your local parochial school, but totally falls apart if you have to send your special baby to the Very Best Private School across town.

Funny but back in the semi-dark ages when I went to public school, the policy was something to the effect that walking distance was:
elementary - 1/2 mile
middle school - 1 mile
high school - 2 miles
The school district would not provide transportation (buses) if you lived within those distances.

[Biciclista]

actually, the article is good news. I read about this when it started in May. Now they have the local health club members accompanying them to school, all on bikes. Sounds great. And Tuckerville, YOUR neighborhood sounds wonderful!

Uforgot, sounds like an unfair burden on you. I never ever considered my sons' teachers to be responsible for them after they left school!

[beccaB]

I'm a school bus driver, and I understand more than most people , the degree of liability adults in the education system have regarding students going to and leaving school grounds. We study cases in our training of lawsuits that happen and are successful. Every decision I make has a thought process of safety and liability around it. It takes an active imagination (considering scenarios of what COULD happen) and an obsessive attitude to keep these kids safe. Still, I can't imagine a school district prohibiting walking and riding a bike to and from school. Are the teenaged drivers allowed to drive their cars to school? There might be all sorts of liability with that one. Where do we draw the line?

[Triskeliongirl]

This is clearly about liability. We faced this problem when our kids wanted to walk/cycle to a summer program at a nearby school, with a strict policy that an adult has to sign the children in/out. We got out of it by signing a legal document that released the school of all liability. It was drafted by their lawyers, and boy did it make us feel like 'bad parents' to even sign it, the way their lawyers worded it, but I am sure it was the right thing to do. The school is right down the street from us, and we knew our kids were perfectly safe going there on foot or bike. And as young adults, our kids now live in a major city with good safe routes for them to commute to work on, and are both of a healthy weight, so I do think its good for kids to get started with healthy habits at a young age!

[ny biker]

I don't understand how a teacher can be held responsible for all her students until they have reached their homes.

We lived within walking distance of our elementary schools (one for K-3 and another for 4-6). Not only did we walk to school, but we also walked home every day for lunch! I used to watch soap operas with my mother and grandmother during lunch every day.

For 7-12 we had to take a bus because the school was several miles away in the next town. But we were on our own getting to and from the bus stop every day.

[Eden]

I don't understand how a teacher can be held responsible for all her students until they have reached their homes.

Indeed..... I don't quite understand how a school can mandate how you arrive in any case??? It seems like if they tried to enforce that rule there would be no way it would ever stand up.

Things sure have changed. When I was in public school you had to walk (or at very least weren't assigned to a bus) if you lived less than 2 miles from the school...

[ny biker]

Things sure have changed. When I was in public school you had to walk (or at very least weren't assigned to a bus) if you lived less than 2 miles from the school...

Yes, we walked to elementary school because there were no buses for us.

I guess my mother could have driven us, but my parents saw no point in that. I can remember my grandmother walking with me to kindergarten, and after that I walked with my brothers and sisters. I imagine someone walked with my oldest sister when she first started out, too, so she wouldn't be alone. But we all walked.