PLEASE GET OFF YOUR ASS AND WALK YOUR KID TO/FROM SCHOOL!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's very sad that any child would have to walk himself/herself to/from school everyday. It's extremely dangerous for a child to be all alone in the city. But, most likely the children's family members are working in order to provide for the family, and they do not have the option to take them to/from school. There are many people who go to work well before school starts and come home late in the evening. This is not a choice, just the reality for some families who are working hard to provide for their family. OP's assumption that these children's family members are just sitting at home being lazy is most likely incorrect. The children are probably latch key kids. I hope that someone will help these children.

Why is it automatically tragic that children would walk themselves to school? Has this not largely been the case in the United States for well over one hundred years? Are we inherently better off as a society by dropping off our children from our SUVs every morning?

I wrote the above comment. I got myself to school from K - 12th grade - either walking, taking the bus or driving. If a child lives in a safe neighborhood, then certainly a child can walk himself/herself to school, and that's great. But, I don't believe Washington DC is a safe place for a child to walk home alone - they can be kidnapped or anything else. I will never let my children walk home alone in Washington DC until a certain age (I don't know which age yet because they are only 3 and 5 now). My main point is that OP should not assume that the parents are being lazy, because the parents probably have circumstances which limit their ability to take the kids to/from
school.

When was the last time you heard of a kidnapping in DC? Kids are more likely to be kidnapped from "safe" suburban bumfuk Idaho than DC. Robbery, grafitti, yeah but not kidnapped. You don't even live in DC I'm sure. Residents don't call it Washington DC.
A

[Anonymous]

These are ridiculous comments. Plenty of kids walk or metro to school every day without incident, including mine. I agree with pp. When was the last time you heard of a kidnapping off the streets of DC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
When was the last time you heard of a kidnapping in DC? Kids are more likely to be kidnapped from "safe" suburban bumfuk Idaho than DC. Robbery, grafitti, yeah but not kidnapped. You don't even live in DC I'm sure. Residents don't call it Washington DC.
A

While the Districts kidnapping rates are low/non-existant, people get hit by cars and buses all the time. I think OP is worried about small children walking home alone. You really have issues with his concern? What should happen is that parents should ask other parents who walk their children home to escourt classmates walking alone. Is this really that upsetting? I am surprised this isn't happening already, there are some very busy streets here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
When was the last time you heard of a kidnapping in DC? Kids are more likely to be kidnapped from "safe" suburban bumfuk Idaho than DC. Robbery, grafitti, yeah but not kidnapped. You don't even live in DC I'm sure. Residents don't call it Washington DC.
A

While the Districts kidnapping rates are low/non-existant, people get hit by cars and buses all the time. I think OP is worried about small children walking home alone. You really have issues with his concern? What should happen is that parents should ask other parents who walk their children home to escourt classmates walking alone. Is this really that upsetting? I am surprised this isn't happening already, there are some very busy streets here.

This is the kidnapping poster you quoted. I don't have an issue with OP at all, I agree 100%. I was just commenting about a suburban poster worrying about a kid getting kidnapped. It gets frustrating when suburban people perpetuate urban myths when in fact trouble lurks everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's very sad that any child would have to walk himself/herself to/from school everyday. It's extremely dangerous for a child to be all alone in the city. But, most likely the children's family members are working in order to provide for the family, and they do not have the option to take them to/from school. There are many people who go to work well before school starts and come home late in the evening. This is not a choice, just the reality for some families who are working hard to provide for their family. OP's assumption that these children's family members are just sitting at home being lazy is most likely incorrect. The children are probably latch key kids. I hope that someone will help these children.

Why is it automatically tragic that children would walk themselves to school? Has this not largely been the case in the United States for well over one hundred years? Are we inherently better off as a society by dropping off our children from our SUVs every morning?

I wrote the above comment. I got myself to school from K - 12th grade - either walking, taking the bus or driving. If a child lives in a safe neighborhood, then certainly a child can walk himself/herself to school, and that's great. But, I don't believe Washington DC is a safe place for a child to walk home alone - they can be kidnapped or anything else. I will never let my children walk home alone in Washington DC until a certain age (I don't know which age yet because they are only 3 and 5 now). My main point is that OP should not assume that the parents are being lazy, because the parents probably have circumstances which limit their ability to take the kids to/from
school.

When was the last time you heard of a kidnapping in DC? Kids are more likely to be kidnapped from "safe" suburban bumfuk Idaho than DC. Robbery, grafitti, yeah but not kidnapped. You don't even live in DC I'm sure. Residents don't call it Washington DC.
A

Actually, I have been a resident of Washington DC for more than 10 years - Adams Morgan and Downtown only. I have never lived in the suburbs. I grew up in Los Angeles before moving to Washington DC. I still stand by my position that I will never let my daughters walk home alone in Washington DC until they are of an appropriate age.

Hmm.. Here's a few missing children from Washington DC:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet

[Anonymous]

A few missing kids. How do we know these are abductions off the stratt? How many were taken by total strangers?

The problem PP is this - kids are at a much higher risk of death and injury because of motor vehicle crashes. Way, way more risk than being abducted by a stranger.

Why do we focus on the sensational?

[Anonymous]

Last week, we had another crash on my corner of Connecticut Ave - we average about 1 a month and the corner has made it into the recent DDOT study of upper NW. Fortunately, we live on the school side of Connecticut. However, I do let my 5th grader walk to school since I want him to learn some independence. I think I would feel differently if he had to cross Connecticut. It's not safe even with a school crossing guard at the corner.