Four-in-10 Dublin children driven to school every day

Mizu_Ger

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/fourin10-dublin-children-driven-to-school-every-day-1117542.html

No wonder the roads are jammed in the morning. Surely its not that dangerous to let a child (of reasonable age) walk or cycle to school (accompanied by fat-arsed parent if need be).

Dragan

Hmmmm , i get the feeling you might not have been a pedestrian for a while?

Have you ****ing seen the way some people drive at that time in the morning? No way would i let my kid walk or cycle till they were in secondary school.

The bus is all good though, no?

Mossy Monk

I think 9/10 children are driven to school in Waterford. It is ridiculous. But then the bus is ****.

Doctor DooM

Every parent in the school in newcastle seems to have some huge SUV parked precariously on the edge of the road, making the trip plenty dangerous for those of us trying to get by.

Thats said I dont notice the children walking. Because they AREN'T in a a huge ass car.

Terry

In my day we walked barefoot through mountains.


Obese kids FTW.

GhostInTheRuins

A few years ago on the way to school, me and a few mates stopped in one of the estates opposite the school because one of them wanted a smoke before going in. We were about 30 meters maximum from the school gates. On the opposite side of the road a mother and a kid from the school came out of their house, hopped into the car and drove the kid to school. I couldn't believe what I was seeing and thought that maybe the mother was going to the shops or something and decided to drop he daughter off on the way. Not a chance, about a minute later, the car comes back and the mother goes back into the house. Talk about lazy.

Mizu_Ger

Dragan wrote:

Hmmmm , i get the feeling you might not have been a pedestrian for a while?

Have you ****ing seen the way some people drive at that time in the morning? No way would i let my kid walk or cycle till they were in secondary school.

The bus is all good though, no?

I've been cycling all my life (since school ), so I know what the roads are like, but one of the parents could at least walk with them.

Degsy

I dont think i was ever driven to school.When i was in primary we used to walk to school(often in a gang as protection from perverts lol),and when i got to secondry i used to a have a good walk AND a bus journey.Bloody stupid women in thier 4x4s parking half on the road,half on the path really get on my nerves,and are usually responsibel for the bottlenecks outside primary schools.

eth0_

My parents made me get the bus to school from the age of around 11.
There's few kids who genuinely live outside the scope of walking or public transport.

As for not letting them walk because "Have you seen how people drive??" - i'm sure these parents have no qualms about letting their kids out onto the streets to get them out of the house at weekends and evenings.

BaZmO*

Of course they're being driven to school. With the amount of psychos and paedos out there you'd be mad to let your kids so much as walk 2 feet of the journey to school. :rolleyes:

I also find it quite ironic that back in the day when it was ok to walk to school it wasn't the sicko strangers that you needed to worry about it was the people that were looking after you!!

Degsy

There were allways horror stories about Evil Men hanging around schools and attempting to grab kids.Nobody i knew had ever actually seen one but they allways had beards apparantly.

Ghost Train

would have thought it would be higher than 4 in 10

I used get a lift in the car to school, but I'd walk home

There was that story of some weirdo who flashed some kids a few times

thebman

Exactly just teach kids to hate and fear bearded people and the problem is solved over night!

Why don't we have buses to primary schools? There was never one to my primary school but I didn't have a problem with my mother driving me since she was a teacher there.

For secondary school, we had a bus that used to take us to the top of the road from the local primary school and then we transferred to the bus to take us to our school.

What happened to Irish services, the government gets more of our money than ever and all they spend it on is keeping e-fraud voting machines locked up and funding consumer agencies that don't protect the consumer at all (see link in sig).

Of course when the Taoiseach is a person under investigation and the people act like he's god, why can you expect?

Degsy

brim4brim wrote:

Exactly just teach kids to hate and fear bearded people and the problem is solved over night!

Only people with full-face beards mind.People with goatees are okay.;)

Nevyn

My kids walk to and from school, but thankfully there are traffic lights and a lollipop lady at the two raods they need to cross.

Terry

See attacxhed image.

Everywhere east of the crudely drawn river is served by the schools which I have marked out.
In that small area you cannot drive anywhere without getting stuck in traffic during school hours.
The furthest anyone has to travel is 1KM, yet the place is swamped with cars every day during school hours.
Lazy bastards.

Red Hand

People often use the excuse of a lack of public transport, but why don't some parents in particular areas come together and hire out a mini-bus in a private capacity?

It worked in the town where I went to school.

My mother used to drive me to school. The only reason for this is that it was a 10-mile trip to my school and for me to get a bus there, it would have meant for me to change buses twice.

However, when I reached secondary school, there had been a regular and (sometimes) trustworthy bus service (even though it was likely to drop us off 10-20 minutes late, needing me to report to the office, explaining my lateness)

Degsy

The plain fact is that a lot of parents dont bother getting up in time to send the kids off by themselves,instead prefering to get up at the last minute and drive them.I regularly see kids being dropped off at school at 9.15.

ferdi

from 3rd class to leaving cert i took dublin bus to school. not once was i molested.

beanyb

Children have just as much of a right to be driven to where they are going, as we all have to drive to work. Sure, many more of them could walk/cycle/ get the bus and probably should. But the same can definitely be said of a fair amount of people driving to work.

Siogfinsceal

I can understand kids being driven to school if its a fair distance away.
However it wrecks my head to see parents driving kids to a school that is 2 minutes up the road! Blocking traffic in a 4*4 thats never even seen a field. No wonder so many kids are obese now

keefg

4 in 10?? No way, it must be higher than that!

I think it's just lazyness on the parents behalf. You can harp on all you like about child abusing fiends but they have been around for much longer than the car and are not a 21st century threat which requires fleets of black windowed SUV's to protect them.

I don't know anyone at my school who was driven by their parents, you had a choice of walking with a gang of mates, ride your bike (with a gang of mates) or get the bus (with a gang of mates). Also, same goes for the fiend situation, I don't know of or ever heard of anyone in the local schools where I grew up being abducted or fiddled with. You were more at risk from the teachers than the so called "Bearded Fiend" in the bushes.

Maybe if the parents had a bit more consideration for other road users when on the school run then I might have a bit more tolerance, but they don't so screw them. They park where they like blocking roads and pavements alike and I have even seen some double park blocking the roads completley with no shame because they have the "I don't care what chaos I am causing because my child is important, therefore I can do what I like" :mad:
They should paint double yellow lines outside every school and have traffic wardens there issuing tickets for anyone who isn't just dropping off or immediately collecting thier brat.

Someone suggested more private minibuses (paid for by the parents) doing the runs, good idea fella.

Phew...end of rant. You can tell I don't have any kids can't you?

BaZmO*

beanyb wrote:

Children have just as much of a right to be driven to where they are going, as we all have to drive to work. Sure, many more of them could walk/cycle/ get the bus and probably should. But the same can definitely be said of a fair amount of people driving to work.

Two totally different circumstances as most kids live within walking distance of their school. The same cannot be said for workers.

Degsy

ferdi wrote:

from 3rd class to leaving cert i took dublin bus to school. not once was i molested.

Not only was i never molested either,but i dont know of anybody who was.I also have three sisters who used to get the bus to school and none of them was molested either.In my day the whole thing started from a story a girl called Gillian something told the schoolteacher that a man with a beard(later called Beardy) tried to grab her.From then on,any man with a beard that was seen anywhere near a school,bus stop,park or other public area was immediatly assumed to be up to no good.It is my contention that *most* men with beards are perverts in some way,its unfair to say they *all* are.

Glowing

I wouldn't mind the SUV runs to school so much if someone had the brains to car-pool - and actually have more than one kid in the car at a time.

If I was ever driven to school, it was a once-a-year treat!

keefg

BaZmO* wrote:

Two totally different circumstances as most kids live within walking distance of their school. The same cannot be said for workers.

Very true. Also, if you parked outside your workplace in the same manner that parents on the school run did, you would soon find your car either clamped or towed away.

Johnmb

eolhc wrote:

would have thought it would be higher than 4 in 10

My reading of the story gave me the impression that 4 in 10 lived within 2 KM of the school and got a lift in. i.e. more than 4 in 10 get driven to school, but the rest live far enough away to justify it!

Glowing

In the 80's/90's when I was going to school, a lot more Mums stayed at home and perhaps had the time to walk their kids to school - fewer families had 2 cars, and the main car would have been used by Dad to get to work. (I know I'm generalising!)

In most families now, either parent drops their kids on the way to work .... no excuse though! :P

Degsy

Glowing wrote:

In the 80's/90's when I was going to school, a lot more Mums stayed at home and perhaps had the time to walk their kids to school - fewer families had 2 cars, and the main car would have been used by Dad to get to work. (I know I'm generalising!)

In most families now, either parent drops their kids on the way to work .... no excuse though! :P

When i was going to school only poofs had their mummys walk them to school and as i recall the only kid i knew who got driven to school was a huge big fat slob who nobody liked and smelled funny.

lawhec

I remember walking to school on my own as a 6 year old a mile from home - and it wasn't THAT long ago either!

Mizu_Ger

I always walked or cycled from about 2nd class onwards (used to call aorund to friend next door and the two of us would head off together). Judging from rumours (some since substantiated!) that were doing the rounds at school at the time I was more likely to be molested in the classroom that on the way to it!

biko

Always walked/biked to school but then it was only 5 mins walk or so.

seamus

I remember walking or cycling to school every day with a mate from 1st class. About a mile, through not-so-quiet estates.

A mate of mine started secondary school in CUS (Leeson St), commuting from Knocklyon. His Dad drove him in on the first day (his Dad worked on St. Stephen's green) to show him where the school was. The next morning he was given a five-day bus card and told what bus to get. 12 years old. He was well able.

I don't see the paranoia about driving kids to school. Unless there are any particularly precarious junctions to navigate, a child of 8 should be well able to get themselves to school with their mates.

eirebhoy

We're going to be a bunch of fat buggers in a few years time. I love my 2 mile walk to work every morning and couldn't be arsed getting a car as I live so close to the city centre (that doesn't matter to a lot of people though). It's because I've been walking every morning since the age of 4 that I know no different. I can't imagine these kids will be happy to walk to school/work if they get used to a nice cosy car every morning.

po0k

Glowing wrote:

I wouldn't mind the SUV runs to school so much if someone had the brains to car-pool - and actually have more than one kid in the car at a time.

I used to say the same thing, until someone pointed out that terms of [most?] Irish car insurance policies prohibit things like car pooling, as you're then driving "for a profit".

This flies in the face of what should be a local government-supported, community-building excercise in civil co-operation.

I currently walk 30minutes to work, and on my way I see alot of mothers from the liberties walking their kids to school.

This is why the bourgeoisie will lose the battle for urban survival when the oil-wells dry up.

Wertz

SyxPak wrote:

I used to say the same thing, until someone pointed out that terms of [most?] Irish car insurance policies prohibit things like car pooling, as you're then driving "for a profit".

Oh you can't be f*ckin' serious...profit?

Another one of the legions of us on here who walked/cycled to school since primary, a round trip of ~5 miles for most of that time. On the very odd occasion I'd be given a lift (very wet or cold weather)
I've heard all the excuses from people who do this...it's yet another symtom of the "me" generation...everyone is prepared to whinge and moan about traffic but ask anyone to slightly alter their personal habits for the greater good and you're met with a blank stare or a look of incredulity....everything is someone else's fault, never theirs (or their kid's).

On a sidenote, what if school hours were "staggered" to stop office/factory opening hours cooinciding with school runs or vice versa? I know other EU countries operate like this....the system itself is a joke when you consider that everyone has top be in their place of education/work by 9am...it inevitably leads to everyone coming on to the road network at the same times and clogging up junctions and side roads. The same thing happens at 5pm (and at lunchtmes to a lesser extent)
Has anyone ever thought of trying such a system here? Or are we too set in or ways?
It's fairly obvious that the staus quo isn't going to change much and if anything, school runs are just going to increase.

Gran Hermano

Wertz wrote:

On a sidenote, what if school hours were "staggered" to stop office/factory opening hours cooinciding with school runs or vice versa? I know other EU countries operate like this....

I believe it was the parents councils who complained about this as it
would mean they would require a degree of flexibility with their own
employers as they would have to drop the sprogs to school at a time
that would mean they would themselves be in work earlier or later than the
norm as well. The teachers unions would most likely look for a cash bung to
adjust their working hours.

Wertz

Gran Hermano wrote:

I believe it was the parents councils who complained about this as it
would mean they would require a degree of flexibility with their own
employers as they would have to drop the sprogs to school at a time
that would mean they would themselves be in work earlier or later than the
norm as well. The teachers unions would most likely look for a cash bung to
adjust their working hours.

Oh yeah I know it'd be fraught with problems like the ones you mention and probably several besides, but as it stands things are just getting worse every year, we can't build our way out of the problem....so it's either adjust, with whatever financial implications that has, or just do nothing and we'll all just waste that money (and time) sitting in traffic.

the boss of me

My 7 year old daughter cycles to school every day and loves it. Out of the 460 children in her school there are three who cycle to school regularly. When I was kid in primary school the bikes were piled three deep in the bike shed..

People say it is dangerous but it's not if you supervise them. In my case my wife walks with our daughter to school and I cycle down and collect her. She is also learning roadcraft and is learning basic rules of the road which will stand to her for the rest of her life.

It's more relaxing for me as I hate trying to find parking near the school. Some of the mums turn up at 2pm for a 2.30 pick up, just to save themselves a 100m walk !! How lazy is that ?

Capt'n Midnight

One of the biggest danger to kids cycling / walking to school is being hit by a car used to transport kids to school.

During school hours I'd like 30kmph zones.
I'd ban U turns near schools because of the danger and the way it just clogs up traffic.
Drop them off at the end of the road !

Yes I used to hate getting wet going to school, but how much does "the school run" cost society when you realise how much is spent on roads to cater for the extra traffic.

School buses should be the answer, even in urban areas.

Kids should be taught the rules of the road in primary school. In England they have this, so why not over here?

Source: CBBC

But the roads are unbelievably dangerous. I had previously been a championship cyclist for years, and even I found it difficult sometimes. Especially when there are not enough bikelanes, the paths in dire condition and thus being forced to cycle on the road, and having drivers been careless.

And why don't we have car-pool lanes over here? Don't they offer parents or people in general a quicker access to different areas? That itself would be a great benefit.

Nevyn

There is also the weight of school bag with some children having to cary 20% of thier weight in books to school.

markpb

Deleted User wrote:

But the roads are unbelievably dangerous. I had previously been a championship cyclist for years, and even I found it difficult sometimes. Especially when there are not enough bikelanes, the paths in dire condition and thus being forced to cycle on the road, and having drivers been careless.

Most young kids that I see cycling to school use the footpath rather than the road. They use the same traffic lights, pedestrian crossing, etc as a pedestrian. They're not likely to be doing any speed and I've never seen any pedestrian giving them a second glance. It seems like a reasonably sane compromise.

thebman

Thaedydal wrote:

There is also the weight of school bag with some children having to cary 20% of thier weight in books to school.

That's a stupid excuse. I thought it was a stupid excuse when I was going to school and I still do. I was an extremely light kid and I had no problems.

If it was that hard to carry a schoolbag, kids would use both straps, most don't so my guess would be 20% is either exaggerated or an acceptable weight for a person to carry a reasonable distance.

I know I used to carry my school bag 2 miles if my bus didn't turn up in secondary school and I never had any problems.

There is no law saying kids must walk from school to their house without stopping to take a rest.

zuutroy

I went to school sitting on the handlebars of my mates bike, down a monster hill on the path, dodging all the other kids as we went...

LOL @ the kids who have flight bags instead of school bags coz their mammies think they'll be deformed by carring a few books

Nevyn

http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/story.asp?stID=868

Athlone school kids carrying 20% of body weight in school bags

Karen Downey
reports

Carrying heavy school bags can have devastating long-term effects on children, an Athlone based chiropractor has said this week. Dr Mary Helen Hensley told the Westmeath Independent carrying heavy school bags can be extremely damaging to children as their bones and discs in their backs are still developing. A Westmeath Independent study this week found that a primary school and secondary school student, both carry approximately 20 per cent of their body weight in their school bags. Lucy Dowling is in fifth class and on a day when she has a lot of homework her school bag can weigh up to one stone, over 20 per cent of her four and a half stone body weight. Older sister Judy, who is in first year, also carries approximately 20 per cent of her body weight in her school bag. Dr Hensley explained that this is an average weight for school students to carry with the majority of Irish school children carrying between 15 and 20 per cent of their body weight in their bags on a daily basis.

Carrying such a heavy weight on a daily basis can have devastating long-term effects and may cause to the development of Scheuermann’s disease in these children. This syndrome is a result of the disc protruding into the vertebrae because the bone isn’t completely solidified when children are carrying such heavy weights. Dr Hensley explained that this syndrome is prevalent among Irish people and said because many Irish adults grew up in farming communities where they often carried heavy weights as child the syndrome is quite common here. She added that chiropractors are now seeing it in modern children and it is a result of them carrying heavy school bags. Each year Dr Hensley visits Summerhill NS where she gives a talk to the children on how to load and carry their school bags properly so as to minimise the damage. She explained students should use trolley bags or at the very least ensure they carry their school bags on both shoulders. “The worst thing is kids carry their bags on one shoulder because it’s cool but the damage can be quite significant,” she said. Dr Hensley added that carrying heavy school bags didn’t just cause postural problems and said because the nervous system was held within the spinal column it could lead in a breakdown of communications from the brain to the rest of the body.

zuutroy

In other news, this has been the case for decades and I dont see too many hunchbacks roaming the streets. Look at ants, they can carry 100's of times their body weight....Human kids are pussies.

Wertz

Thaedydal wrote:

http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/story.asp?stID=868

I too had a fairly heavy schoolbag as I'm sure most of us had. If it's such a large problem now, then why aren't there school policies against it?
The cartel of publishers who make a mint out of hefty schoolbooks every september can be held to blame, so can the actions of teachers in dictating homework that necessitates children having to drag a book for every subject home each evening.
Using the weight of schoolbags as an excuse to justify a majority of parents making a school run in their car/jeep is only a cop out...if it's such a problem then parent's groups need to approach Mary Hannafin or school boards at local level and have an important policy change made on the grounds of health and safety (the most powerful lobbyist grounp in the country)


Here's my theory on why we really have so many parents doing the wasteful school run in modern Ireland....it's the same reason we do most things in this country....it's to show off. Or rather it's to avoid being seen as "hard-up". The parade of cars and SUVs, all sporting late regs is nothing short of a fashion parade...people can make all the excuses they want....at the bottom of it all, just like the way everything else has gone in this country, it's all about what you have, how much of it you have and how you decide to flaunt it to everyone else...

coolhandc

zuutroy wrote:

In other news, this has been the case for decades and I dont see too many hunchbacks roaming the streets. Look at ants, they can carry 100's of times their body weight....Human kids are pussies.

Lets not get carried away here, just because people dont have hunchbacks doesnt mean they dont develop bad backs when they are growing up. Stopping for rests every few minutes doesnt stop the damage its doing plus how long is it going to take them to get to school if there constantly stopping?
we are the most well off that weve ever been here in ireland,so whats wrong with a parent bringing their kids 5 minutes to school if they want to give the kid a good childhood?

zuutroy

coolhandc wrote:

whats wrong with a parent bringing their kids 5 minutes to school if they want to give the kid a good childhood?

Read: turn them into a lazy, fat, spoiled git.