As I was listening to the news in my car the other day, I heard a mention that this past week was Walk to School Week. I had no idea this event even existed, which is odd considering that I live in a neighborhood with an elementary and middle school that are within walking distance of every house in the neighborhood (although there is also a good contingent of children who ride the bus from other areas). As I have since discovered, it is not a week of walking to school, but an actual day and an international event. This year International Walk to School Day was October 7. Yes, I know I am a late to this party, but I think this is a really cool way to encourage people to try what can be an easy way to build more physical activity into the day.
My family is fortunate enough to live close enough to school to be able to walk to and from every day. According to Google Maps, we live 0.4 miles from the school. So a round trip would add almost a mile of walking per day. After a week of this, we have added 4 miles of walking by just going about our daily routines. That’s a pretty significant amount.
I admit, I will not walk when it is raining or below freezing. I don’t like being wet and cold. And if we have somewhere to be directly after school I will drive to pick up my girls. I wonder what other reasons people have for not walking their kids to school. Are the schools too far away? Are the neighborhoods too dangerous? No sidewalks? No extra time in the day? And how old do you think your children need to be before you let them walk to school by themselves or with friends? I remember when I was young only the kindergarteners got walked to school by their parents. Do your kids walk to school? If you don’t already walk to school, do you plan to give it a try?
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