Why We Walk

We live 0.3 miles from my daughter's elementary school. We walk to school every single day for a variety of reasons:

*Time: The walk takes no more than 6 minutes under decent walking conditions. I continue on to work either on foot (when cold and icy) or by bicycle. Phil and Mr E pick her up at the end of the school day to walk home.
* Environment: Driving Miss K the 0.3 mile trip to school would be a 1.5 mile trip (considering the longer route required by driving). For drop-off and pick up for approximately 175 school days a year, that’s 525 miles driven unnecessarily. Considering that most of this driving would be done with a cold engine and the trip would require significantly idling, fuel efficiency is a minimum and wear and tear on the car is a maximum.
*Exercise: The 12 minutes of mild physical activity is guaranteed, every single day, without much added logistical effort. That’s about the same as recess.
*Important life skills: Being able to get from home to where you need to go on a regular basis without a car is an important life skill, one which most children are not learning, yet one that will be increasingly important with out uncertain energy future. I want my children to internalize that walking is generally just as easy, and often easier, than taking a car. I want them to know how to walk safely on a sidewalk and make their intentions clear at intersections. I want them to know how to anticipate their own needs for spending a small amount of time outdoors every day – check the weather and consider the need for gloves and a hat, or maybe an umbrella.

Most days we have a lovely walk, giving us a few minutes to chat, observe the rising sun or the setting moon and the changing seasons, all while giving Miss K a few minutes to transition from home to school.

It seems silly to justify the fact that my kids walk to school every single day without exception. However, the norm for the neighborhood is that few kids walk, with last year’s Safe Routes to School survey finding that only 35% of kids arrive at school without a car on days where the weather is warm and dry (33% walk + 2% bicycle).

The CDC “Healthy People 2010” goal is to have 50% of children within a mile of the school walk (and an additional 5% bike within 2 miles). At Barrington, 93% of families report that they live within a mile. To reach the CDC goal, then the target number of kids walking to school is about 350. We currently have about 250 “fair weather” walkers, with significantly fewer walking when cold, snowy, or rainy.

This is a blog about our daily walks to and from school, as well as my family’s efforts to improve our local environment for walking such that more families might be motivated to leave their cars at home and walk as well.