My kids walked to elementary --no problems. Nice neighborhood with sidewalks and a crossing guard. Lots of other kids were also walkers.

However, when I was a child, I walked home with a friend who lived a few blocks closer to the school. Her house was up on a hill--it was a large house. She walked up and screamed down to me that the glass was broken....it was a sidelight. She yelled for her mom who was normally at home but got no answer.

I don't know how--I ran up to her porch--and we decided the best thing to do was go to my house. My dad just happened to be at home and he called her dad at work.

Her house had been broken into. Her mom and little sister had taken the bus that morning to go shopping downtown (this was a long, long time ago. I am a senior citizen.) Her mom was running late getting back.
My dad told me that the police thought that someone had probably seen her mom get on the bus and knew the house was empty. Their house was on a busy street with the bus line.

But, I do think about this. They moved to the suburbs shortly after this. And, so did we.

No issues in suburban public school walking k-12. I was chased, followed and approached several times in college while living in a not so nice inner city neighborhood but nothing ever happened. I ran home scared a few times when I was 18.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid I walked home with my sisters from our school about a half mile away.

There was a man who repeatedly flashed us. We thought it was hilarious/scandalous and never told our parents (yikes, I know). We walked a back alley way sometimes that was, in retrospect, not a great idea, and that’s where we were flashed.

I’m comfortable with the route my middle schooler takes. Lots of other middle schoolers, safe neighborhood, no alleyways, would tell me about flashers.

I know someone who lived two houses (!!!) from school and was flashed - it happens everywhere, even in the nicest communities.

In the early 90's I went to private school and there was bus service. My bus had to go on the highway and we often got flashed by truckers. We also thought it was hilarious and none of us were scarred by it.

I grew up in a UMc neighborhood and it was our own high school and college kids doing the flashing on dares. I would have never mentioned it since it was not creepy or sexual in intent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid I walked home with my sisters from our school about a half mile away.

There was a man who repeatedly flashed us. We thought it was hilarious/scandalous and never told our parents (yikes, I know). We walked a back alley way sometimes that was, in retrospect, not a great idea, and that’s where we were flashed.

I’m comfortable with the route my middle schooler takes. Lots of other middle schoolers, safe neighborhood, no alleyways, would tell me about flashers.

I know someone who lived two houses (!!!) from school and was flashed - it happens everywhere, even in the nicest communities.

In the early 90's I went to private school and there was bus service. My bus had to go on the highway and we often got flashed by truckers. We also thought it was hilarious and none of us were scarred by it.

Nope. No issues.

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid I walked home with my sisters from our school about a half mile away.

There was a man who repeatedly flashed us. We thought it was hilarious/scandalous and never told our parents (yikes, I know). We walked a back alley way sometimes that was, in retrospect, not a great idea, and that’s where we were flashed.

I’m comfortable with the route my middle schooler takes. Lots of other middle schoolers, safe neighborhood, no alleyways, would tell me about flashers.

I know someone who lived two houses (!!!) from school and was flashed - it happens everywhere, even in the nicest communities.

That’s crazy!

I always wonder how the littles make it - the k and 1st traders. I would’ve been lost!

Uneventful from K-7 so far. In Grade 4 my daughter starting walking on her own. She just told me last year that a few weeks in to walking on her own, a frazzled Mom with kids she did not know approached her and asked her what school she went to. She then told my daughter to drop her two children off to the kindergarten yard, and bolted.

We live in San Francisco and DD has taken the train to elementary school, two buses to middle, and two buses to high school.

Shit happens. We deal with it. No big deal.

When I was a kid I walked home with my sisters from our school about a half mile away.

There was a man who repeatedly flashed us. We thought it was hilarious/scandalous and never told our parents (yikes, I know). We walked a back alley way sometimes that was, in retrospect, not a great idea, and that’s where we were flashed.

I’m comfortable with the route my middle schooler takes. Lots of other middle schoolers, safe neighborhood, no alleyways, would tell me about flashers.

No
And our neighborhood ES, where we had just moved, had so much focus on "stranger danger" that I actually called the ES to ask if there was some history I wasn't aware of. HIstory or just being cautious?

In all seriousness, there are kids in DC who face real life-threatening situations in walking to/from school. I had to step around crack addicts as a teen in West Baltimore before even beginning my two hour commute, but at least bullets weren’t whizzing by.

I’m not saying that DCUM kids should feel lucky if all they deal with a creepster in a car trying to talk to them, but can we work toward a safe walk for the other kids, too?

Anonymous wrote:My DS stepped on a crack. It broke my DW’s back.

I love you.

My DS stepped on a crack. It broke my DW’s back.

What happened?

Getting lost, getting approached, etc..