How old does a child have to be to wait for a school bus alone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't you just walk him to the stop?

I have a second younger child whose preschool starts at 9. I am not even sure what time the bus comes but I know it would be about 40 min earlier than when we need to be out the door.

So the family walks to the bus stop at 8:15, your 6 year old gets into the bus, and then you and your youngest walk back home and go to preschool.

OP finds this solution far to inconvenient for her. Poor kids.

Um, so OP is suppose to rework her morning routine to cater to the whims of a 6 year old who wants (not needs) to ride the bus? Trying to get two kids out the door to catch a bus and then get the second kid ready for school and out the door a second time is a huge hassle and adds more drama than I would want in my morning. If I had to, I'd do it, and it would be fine...but to choose to make my morning more difficult because Johnny decides the bus is cooler than the car? Nope.

You never do anything that's difficult or inconvenient because your kids wants to do something? Riding the school bus is a big deal for little kids. It's where their friends are. And it's not an unreasonable request or an unreasonable accommodation. I did it when my kids were little. I took the preschooler in the stroller, we waved goodbye to his big brother, then we went home, got in the car and went on our way to daycare/work. Now my younger one is a patrol who helps at the kiss and ride line. He needs to be at the school before the bus can get him there. It's a pain for me, and I had to rework my morning schedule to get him there but I do it, every day, because he really wanted to be a patrol. My oldest wants to play football, it requires me skipping my favorite gym class to get him to practice. I do it because it's what parents DO.

I do all kinds of inconvenient things because my kids want to do them, but I don't do *every* thing they want. Not riding a bus isn't going to scar this kid for life. My guess is that it would be cool and fun for the first week or so, and the first cold/rainy day he decides he'd rather have mom drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You never do anything that's difficult or inconvenient because your kids wants to do something? Riding the school bus is a big deal for little kids. It's where their friends are. And it's not an unreasonable request or an unreasonable accommodation. I did it when my kids were little. I took the preschooler in the stroller, we waved goodbye to his big brother, then we went home, got in the car and went on our way to daycare/work. Now my younger one is a patrol who helps at the kiss and ride line. He needs to be at the school before the bus can get him there. It's a pain for me, and I had to rework my morning schedule to get him there but I do it, every day, because he really wanted to be a patrol. My oldest wants to play football, it requires me skipping my favorite gym class to get him to practice. I do it because it's what parents DO.

I think that you should do what you do, and let OP do what OP does. Different people have different circumstances and different preferences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You never do anything that's difficult or inconvenient because your kids wants to do something? Riding the school bus is a big deal for little kids. It's where their friends are. And it's not an unreasonable request or an unreasonable accommodation. I did it when my kids were little. I took the preschooler in the stroller, we waved goodbye to his big brother, then we went home, got in the car and went on our way to daycare/work. Now my younger one is a patrol who helps at the kiss and ride line. He needs to be at the school before the bus can get him there. It's a pain for me, and I had to rework my morning schedule to get him there but I do it, every day, because he really wanted to be a patrol. My oldest wants to play football, it requires me skipping my favorite gym class to get him to practice. I do it because it's what parents DO.

I think that you should do what you do, and let OP do what OP does. Different people have different circumstances and different preferences.

+1. Parenting involves inconvenience, but no need to manufacture inconvenience when a better solution is available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Suppose this was a 3 year old and a 6 year old walking home alone from that park. Is there a law on the books saying that is illegal? Serious question..

It's not explicitly illegal in Maryland, if it's walking outside:

"CPS officials have said they are guided in part by a state law that says children younger than 8 must be left with a reliable person who is at least 13. The law addresses children locked or confined in a building, dwelling, motor vehicle or other enclosed space, but does not mention children outdoors on a walk."

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/decision-in-free-range-case-does-not-end-debate-about-parenting-and-safety/2015/03/02/5a919454-c04d-11e4-ad5c-3b8ce89f1b89_story.html

However a general child neglect charge could be brought against the parents if warranted.

So these parents absolutely could have been in legal hot water, they are just lucky that the charges were dropped. Hopefully that was a wake up call for them.

The parents are in legal hot water. The charges were not dropped. The finding was "unsubstantiated child neglect" (whatever that is). Nonetheless, what they did is not illegal, because the law does not say anything about walking.

Would I do what they did? Probably not. Does that mean that they did a bad thing? Hell, no. They know their own kids better than I do, or you do, or CPS does. If they say that their kids are capable of walking home by themselves, I see no reason to doubt them.

There will be parents out there who just know that their 3 and 6 year old kids can walk to/from the park all by themselves. Or that their toddlers are fine playing in the cul de sac all by themselves.

I think that the 6 and 10 year old in question could have walked to/from a neighborhood suburban park on neighborhood sidewalks without raising too many eyebrows. Even those who noticed would probably have kept their noses out of it. But these kids were allowed to walk across town to get to/from this park and they crossed busy streets in the process - I think that is where the parents in this situation "jumped the shark". It is not something that most reasonable parents would have allowed their kids to do and now they can deal with CPS, courts, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think that the 6 and 10 year old in question could have walked to/from a neighborhood suburban park on neighborhood sidewalks without raising too many eyebrows. Even those who noticed would probably have kept their noses out of it. But these kids were allowed to walk across town to get to/from this park and they crossed busy streets in the process - I think that is where the parents in this situation "jumped the shark". It is not something that most reasonable parents would have allowed their kids to do and now they can deal with CPS, courts, etc.

It was a 1-mile walk, involving Georgia Avenue, on a Saturday (lower traffic than weekdays). They had practiced the walk before with their parents, and had done shorter walks on their own successfully. This hardly seems like bad parenting to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There will be parents out there who just know that their 3 and 6 year old kids can walk to/from the park all by themselves. Or that their toddlers are fine playing in the cul de sac all by themselves.

I think that the 6 and 10 year old in question could have walked to/from a neighborhood suburban park on neighborhood sidewalks without raising too many eyebrows. Even those who noticed would probably have kept their noses out of it. But these kids were allowed to walk across town to get to/from this park and they crossed busy streets in the process - I think that is where the parents in this situation "jumped the shark". It is not something that most reasonable parents would have allowed their kids to do and now they can deal with CPS, courts, etc.

In other words, you think that you are a better judge than the children's own parents of what the children are capable of.

Not to mention that the children weren't crossing the Beltway, or walking home through Fort Apache the Bronx at midnight. They were walking a mile home, on a Saturday afternoon, through an area where literally thousands and thousands of people walk all the time, and the big streets all have sidewalks, pedestrian signals, and crosswalks. Maybe you think, even so, that it's not safe. But your opinion does not turn the parents' actions into child neglect, any more than my opinion of some actions you might take would turn your actions into child neglect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I think that the 6 and 10 year old in question could have walked to/from a neighborhood suburban park on neighborhood sidewalks without raising too many eyebrows. Even those who noticed would probably have kept their noses out of it. But these kids were allowed to walk across town to get to/from this park and they crossed busy streets in the process - I think that is where the parents in this situation "jumped the shark". It is not something that most reasonable parents would have allowed their kids to do and now they can deal with CPS, courts, etc.

It was a 1-mile walk, involving Georgia Avenue, on a Saturday (lower traffic than weekdays). They had practiced the walk before with their parents, and had done shorter walks on their own successfully. This hardly seems like bad parenting to me.

I think it was crazy parenting. Forget being hit by a car or being nabbed by a weirdo. If one of those kids had gotten injured at the playground or on the walk home, how would they have handled it? They were a freakin' mile from home with no trusted adult anywhere nearby. I guess these folks were just trusting that "the village" would step in if that happened? Well, the village has indeed stepped in...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It was a 1-mile walk, involving Georgia Avenue, on a Saturday (lower traffic than weekdays). They had practiced the walk before with their parents, and had done shorter walks on their own successfully. This hardly seems like bad parenting to me.

I think it was crazy parenting. Forget being hit by a car or being nabbed by a weirdo. If one of those kids had gotten injured at the playground or on the walk home, how would they have handled it? They were a freakin' mile from home with no trusted adult anywhere nearby. I guess these folks were just trusting that "the village" would step in if that happened? Well, the village has indeed stepped in...

40 years ago it would have been crazy parenting to think that a six-year-old and ten-year-old are too young to walk a mile home from the playground by themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It was a 1-mile walk, involving Georgia Avenue, on a Saturday (lower traffic than weekdays). They had practiced the walk before with their parents, and had done shorter walks on their own successfully. This hardly seems like bad parenting to me.

I think it was crazy parenting. Forget being hit by a car or being nabbed by a weirdo. If one of those kids had gotten injured at the playground or on the walk home, how would they have handled it? They were a freakin' mile from home with no trusted adult anywhere nearby. I guess these folks were just trusting that "the village" would step in if that happened? Well, the village has indeed stepped in...

40 years ago it would have been crazy parenting to think that a six-year-old and ten-year-old are too young to walk a mile home from the playground by themselves.

40 years ago kids played outside in their own yards and on their own streets. They didn't walk miles and miles away to play. They just didn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It was a 1-mile walk, involving Georgia Avenue, on a Saturday (lower traffic than weekdays). They had practiced the walk before with their parents, and had done shorter walks on their own successfully. This hardly seems like bad parenting to me.

I think it was crazy parenting. Forget being hit by a car or being nabbed by a weirdo. If one of those kids had gotten injured at the playground or on the walk home, how would they have handled it? They were a freakin' mile from home with no trusted adult anywhere nearby. I guess these folks were just trusting that "the village" would step in if that happened? Well, the village has indeed stepped in...

40 years ago it would have been crazy parenting to think that a six-year-old and ten-year-old are too young to walk a mile home from the playground by themselves.

40 years ago kids played outside in their own yards and on their own streets. They didn't walk miles and miles away to play. They just didn't.

Are we back to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? Yes, children did used to walk a mile (or more) by themselves, including to play. Yes, they did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It was a 1-mile walk, involving Georgia Avenue, on a Saturday (lower traffic than weekdays). They had practiced the walk before with their parents, and had done shorter walks on their own successfully. This hardly seems like bad parenting to me.

I think it was crazy parenting. Forget being hit by a car or being nabbed by a weirdo. If one of those kids had gotten injured at the playground or on the walk home, how would they have handled it? They were a freakin' mile from home with no trusted adult anywhere nearby. I guess these folks were just trusting that "the village" would step in if that happened? Well, the village has indeed stepped in...

40 years ago it would have been crazy parenting to think that a six-year-old and ten-year-old are too young to walk a mile home from the playground by themselves.

40 years ago kids played outside in their own yards and on their own streets. They didn't walk miles and miles away to play. They just didn't.

Really? In elementary school I would regularly walk a mile to a friend's house. I told my parents I was going and called when I got there. By the time I was in middle school I was allowed to walk the ~4 miles to town on my own. I ran on the XC team in high school and ran all around our town (5, 8, 10 mile runs) at all hours of the day/night. My 16 year old self was much more confident on those long runs since I'd been allowed to walk "miles and miles" to play when I was younger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It was a 1-mile walk, involving Georgia Avenue, on a Saturday (lower traffic than weekdays). They had practiced the walk before with their parents, and had done shorter walks on their own successfully. This hardly seems like bad parenting to me.

I think it was crazy parenting. Forget being hit by a car or being nabbed by a weirdo. If one of those kids had gotten injured at the playground or on the walk home, how would they have handled it? They were a freakin' mile from home with no trusted adult anywhere nearby. I guess these folks were just trusting that "the village" would step in if that happened? Well, the village has indeed stepped in...

40 years ago it would have been crazy parenting to think that a six-year-old and ten-year-old are too young to walk a mile home from the playground by themselves.

40 years ago kids played outside in their own yards and on their own streets. They didn't walk miles and miles away to play. They just didn't.

Are we back to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? Yes, children did used to walk a mile (or more) by themselves, including to play. Yes, they did.

And I guess they caught their own food and slept in the woods too? Look, I was a fairly self sufficient, latch key kid myself but no way was I free to roam wherever and whenever I wanted to. And it wasn't until I was 12 or 13 that I was riding my bike (or walking) miles away from home. Even then I had time when I was expected back and lord help me if I was late....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

It was a 1-mile walk, involving Georgia Avenue, on a Saturday (lower traffic than weekdays). They had practiced the walk before with their parents, and had done shorter walks on their own successfully. This hardly seems like bad parenting to me.

I think it was crazy parenting. Forget being hit by a car or being nabbed by a weirdo. If one of those kids had gotten injured at the playground or on the walk home, how would they have handled it? They were a freakin' mile from home with no trusted adult anywhere nearby. I guess these folks were just trusting that "the village" would step in if that happened? Well, the village has indeed stepped in...

40 years ago it would have been crazy parenting to think that a six-year-old and ten-year-old are too young to walk a mile home from the playground by themselves.

40 years ago kids played outside in their own yards and on their own streets. They didn't walk miles and miles away to play. They just didn't.

Really? In elementary school I would regularly walk a mile to a friend's house. I told my parents I was going and called when I got there. By the time I was in middle school I was allowed to walk the ~4 miles to town on my own. I ran on the XC team in high school and ran all around our town (5, 8, 10 mile runs) at all hours of the day/night. My 16 year old self was much more confident on those long runs since I'd been allowed to walk "miles and miles" to play when I was younger.

Yeah, me too. But we're talking about 6 year olds (kindergartners). I doubt that you were doing 8 mile runs as a kinder or walking miles alone to your friends' houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

40 years ago kids played outside in their own yards and on their own streets. They didn't walk miles and miles away to play. They just didn't.

Are we back to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? Yes, children did used to walk a mile (or more) by themselves, including to play. Yes, they did.

And I guess they caught their own food and slept in the woods too? Look, I was a fairly self sufficient, latch key kid myself but no way was I free to roam wherever and whenever I wanted to. And it wasn't until I was 12 or 13 that I was riding my bike (or walking) miles away from home. Even then I had time when I was expected back and lord help me if I was late....

No. We are not talking about catching food, sleeping in the woods, or roaming wherever and whenever you want to. We are talking about children walking a mile by themselves to play, with their parents' permission.

How old are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

40 years ago kids played outside in their own yards and on their own streets. They didn't walk miles and miles away to play. They just didn't.

Are we back to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny? Yes, children did used to walk a mile (or more) by themselves, including to play. Yes, they did.

And I guess they caught their own food and slept in the woods too? Look, I was a fairly self sufficient, latch key kid myself but no way was I free to roam wherever and whenever I wanted to. And it wasn't until I was 12 or 13 that I was riding my bike (or walking) miles away from home. Even then I had time when I was expected back and lord help me if I was late....

No. We are not talking about catching food, sleeping in the woods, or roaming wherever and whenever you want to. We are talking about children walking a mile by themselves to play, with their parents' permission.

How old are you?

Old enough to remember my childhood and young enough to remember it well I guess. Back in the day, Kindergarten was half day because we kinders still needed our naps and were viewed as not much more than babies. That is what I remember.