Kid Walking To School Age

[Feruk]

Just wondering what people think an appropriate age is for kids to start walking to school? Are there any CBE policies that might get in the way? I've got two that are going into grades 1 and 2, and given the ~3 block walk, I had intended to make them start walking by themselves but together in September. Thoughts?

[Buster]

My middle one is in grade 1 this year, and he rides his bike to school. its something like 400 metres door to door.

[ExtraSlow]

I think I saw somewhere that the CBE recommends that children under grade 4 not walk by themselves. Of course, that's not a legal requirement, and every kid is different.

[spikerS]

I think our eldest was walking by herself sometime in grade 1, but it was a pretty short walk, like maybe 150m? in grade 4 she switched schools and now it is like 1.2km to walk. She actually gets pissy if she doesn't get to walk to and from school and we give her a ride.

[adam c]

I was in grade 6 before I walked to school but that was also because I was home alone before and after school

[Thaco]

for us it was grade 6 because its a long walk, if it was only a few blocks i'd let them alk themselves a lot earlier, especially if i could stand on the street corner and watch them the whole way

[D'z Nutz]

The way some people raise their kids or expect others how to raise their kids, I'd say 21.

[03ozwhip]

New school opening in September is half a block away. Kid will be in grade 4, I think hes more than capable of walking on his own. I'd say grade 1 if it's that close.

[suntan]

I helicopter them to school.

[ExtraSlow]

So many factors. I'd say in my case my younger child will be ready before my older one, but that's a bit of a unique situation. Still, its not just an age thing, no matter what the distance.

[Masked Bandit]

Grade one is pretty common.

[Pauly Boy]

Depends, but arbitrarily, I'd say around 8.

My oldest isn't going by himself until Gr 3 or 4. Not because of any scary "boogeymen", but because I know how damn irresponsible that kid is.

[Kloubek]

If they are alone or not, the distance, the neighbourhood, the maturity of the child, the season all factor into this so I don't think there is one single age that can be considered without more detail.

Many are saying grade 1. Personally, I would not feel comfortable with my 5 year old - soon to be 6 when he's grade 1- walking any distance more than 50m alone under any circumstances. He still doesn't always look both ways on roads, etc, and I just feel that is unnaturally high risk for him. I'll reconsider when he's grade 2 and may start lengthening the leash at that point.

[CMW403]

I started walking to school in Kindergarten, but I literally lived 100yd from the door of Marion Carson Elementary.

I lived 5 house down from where Rage2 grew up.

I lived on 44th Avenue directly behind where Marion Carson, St Vincent De Paul and F.E.Osborne Junior High share fields.

[ExtraSlow]

I lived so close to one of my schools that my bedroom was closer than my next class.

[blownz]

So my wife works for a law firm and I can tell you that there are tons of cases that child services gets involved when children under the age of 12 are walking alone in public. Doesn't matter the distance from home either. According to their lawyers in family law you should never have your children unsupervised before they are 12. But that is an extreme imo.

That said, we had ours start walking when the older one was in grade 5 and the younger in grade 3, but only starting in May of that year so they had just turned 11 and 9. We also only had them walking home and going to child care before school because otherwise they would have to walk up on their own, make breakfast and walk to school and we weren't quite ready for that yet. They did start that the following fall though when they started grade 6 and 4. It is a tough decision though and there are lots of variables so everyones situation is a bit different.

[Zero102]

Our oldest is just about done grade 2 and there's no way I would let her walk the 2 blocks to school alone - she's just too damn careless.
Our middle kid is in grade 1 and I'd say he is ready for it, except that he'd be walking with his older sister and then he would probably get distracted.

I guess it's going to be a while

[rage2]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

So my wife works for a law firm and I can tell you that there are tons of cases that child services gets involved when children under the age of 12 are walking alone in public. Doesn't matter the distance from home either. According to their lawyers in family law you should never have your children unsupervised before they are 12. But that is an extreme imo.

How is this possible from a legal perspective? There is no legislation in place that dictates minimum age in Alberta. There is in Manitoba and New Brunswick (12) as well as lol Ontario (16). In our community, I can tell you that we have a ton of kids under the age of 12 hanging out and playing, biking and roaming the streets with one another or themselves.

Ontario's 16 y/o before you can be left alone is just comical. Grade fucking 11 and you can't stay home alone without a babysitter. I guess that's a bonus if she's hot haha.

[max_boost]

Crazy. Little kids (guessing 8 or 9) walk hand in hand with each other in school uniforms taking the transit system in Japan and here can't even cross the road or go to school on their own haha

[ExtraSlow]

The legal basis for this is extremely unclear however the child protective services people don't have to operate on legislation, they get to make very broad judgement calls.

The result is confusion and personal bias rule.