The school run

[dave50]

Why has the school run taken over our lives? Why do children need a lift to a school so far away from where they live? One of the reasons kids dont go to their nearest local school any more is because of the school league tables. When I was at school in the 60's and 70's you just went to your nearest school without a second thought and you had a mix of over and under achievers in the same school. Nobody knew about the school's academic achievements. Since the league tables were introduced, parents now look to put their kids in the best performing schools, no matter how far away they are, so you end up with ghetto schools and high achieving schools, with no thought of the transport problems involved. It's self perpetuating and will only get worse.

[jno]

jno jnr's school was 10 minutes by car, 50 minutes by public transport, so mostly we drove him in the morning. Wasting 40 minutes of his day seemed pointless. I didn't mind taking the 20 minutes out of *my* day, since I was never in a rush in the morning.

[DaisyNonna]

Two of my grandchildren lived a good 30 minutes walk from their allocated school. (Not the nearest). The route was along a busy main road with many roads to cross, not one zebra, pelican or lights crossing. There was marginal short cut through a dark, lonely graveyard. Not exactly welcoming. My daughter walked them there whenever possible before walking in another direction to work. Is it surprising that her husband sometimes did the school run? He and my daughter worked in the same place.

[EDDIE51]

There are 2 schools just down the road from me. most of the 'school run Mums' drive from less than a mile away , some less than a few hundred yards.

[flip_flop]

I think a lot of the time it is down to laziness of the parents - usually the mother. On my walk to the station I pass three schools and the number of fat women wobbling through the school gates swinging their car keys in their oversized hands is ridiculous.

I'm sure the children would have no objection to walking. My walk to and from school every day was the highlight of the day for me as I had great fun with my mates, and as I got older was able to steal furtive kisses with girls who walked the same route.

[B00]

Agree with flip flop.

Mni Boo's school is a nightmare in the morning and hometime with mums (and dads etc) clogging up the roads. They get into the mentality of "i AM going this way, NOW" and will cause a gridlock. They all also seem oblivious of us that walk to school, ie "you wanna cross the road? Well tough!"

They also have the wonderful of habit if parking their cars on the pavements, leaving you little room to squeeze past them. To be honest i've stopped making the effort to make sure I keep school bags jammed to my sides, if they scratch your car then it's just too damn bad im afraid.

[sunny-dave]

The normal excuse about driving piddling little distances is 'lack of time' - which is usually a load of bollards.

There was a suburban primary school opposite my last office - maximum catchment area about 10 mins walk. The lazy tw@ts in their cars would start arriving around 2:30 for the 3:15 end of school - to make sure that they got the parking spaces right outside the school (usually blocking our office entrance whilst they were at it). I could have vaguely understood it if they then had a chat to their mates - but nope - all sat in their cars for the best part of an hour to save a few minutes walk.

Apparently those amusing yellow stripy designs on the road near the school gate have been re-designated in the highway code as "No Parking at any time - except for me when I'm waiting for little Jocasta, Wayne and Mezzanine"

[B00]

And by pure coincidence, i've just got back from dropping off Mini Boo, it's raining, which makes the school run even more "fun".

The cars were gridlocked both directions, with cars also parked nose to bumper both sides of the road. One guy completely lost it, flew out of his car and bellowed (not entirely sure who to) "F*king moooooooooooove!", which was lovely for the rest of us, with small children to hear!

[willowman]

Hopkirk's answer is a wind-up, right?
With more and more kids leaving school unable to read or write properly, unable to do simple maths (especially mental arithmatic), unable to speak a coherent sentence, he must be joking.
And don't say exam results prove it, because I still have my O-level papers from 1964 and friends kids are horrified when they see the type of questions asked back then.