How old is old enough to walk to school?

irvinehomeowner

irvinehomeowner

Well-known member
On my daily drive to/from work... I always see kids walking to school without adult supervision. Some of them look about 7-8 years old.

Now I may be wrong about their age but I don't think I would ever let my kids walk to school alone until they are at least 12 or 13. Am I being paranoid?
 
irvinehomeowner said:
On my daily drive to/from work... I always see kids walking to school without adult supervision. Some of them look about 7-8 years old.

Now I may be wrong about their age but I don't think I would ever let my kids walk to school alone until they are at least 12 or 13. Am I being paranoid?
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YES, very paranoid.  You live in Irvine, not South Central.  I walked/rode a bike to school since I was in 7.  Sometimes I would walk and ride with friends to and from school.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
YES, very paranoid.
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Heh.

Wait until you have kids... the world changes.
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Isnt that one of the supposed benefits of living in Irvine, the safety, so your kids can walk to school?  Id probably be more concerned about them getting hit by a car while on a bike on their way to school than getting kidnapped. 7 or 8 seems like the right age to start going by yourself. I dont have kids though, so TBD.
 
"How old is old enough to walk to school?"

Kindergarten.  My mom walked me to school on the first day, but after that I was on my own.  I walked home with classmates.  If it had been up to me I would have walked myself to pre-school even if it was more than five miles away.  I'm sure it was much safer back then because it seemed like none of the mothers worked during the day.
 
One of my biggest pet peeves are parents who drive their kid three blocks to elementary school.  I don't care if you're running late.  Get out of the damn car and let your kid walk and if you're too paranoid, walk with him.
 
locolocal said:
One of my biggest pet peeves are parents who drive their kid three blocks to elementary school.  I don't care if you're running late.  Get out of the damn car and let your kid walk and if you're too paranoid, walk with him.
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i see two parents regularly do this when im walking the dogs in the morning. its not even three blocks, its literally one block. both are asian, not sure if fear is more rampant in that culture.
 
I would walk with my kid even if the school was 3 houses away (I need the exercise anyways).

For me, it's the fear of them running into the street, not seeing a car headed for them (because parents have spider sense) and that ever-present fear of predators (regardless of what city you live in).

I concede that this will probably change once they do start walking by themselves... it's like how you are super extra cautious with your firstborn but you let your second child eat off the floor.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I would walk with my kid even if the school was 3 houses away (I need the exercise anyways).

For me, it's the fear of them running into the street, not seeing a car headed for them (because parents have spider sense) and that ever-present fear of predators (regardless of what city you live in).

I concede that this will probably change once they do start walking by themselves... it's like how you are super extra cautious with your firstborn but you let your second child eat off the floor.
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If you drop a pacifier on the floor: 
1st child - boil the pacifier for 10 minutes
2nd child - rinse in hot water
3rd child - look at it against a back light to see if there's a hair on it.  If not, it goes back into the child's mouth.
 
Irvine2Irvine said:
If you drop a pacifier on the floor: 
1st child - boil the pacifier for 10 minutes
2nd child - rinse in hot water
3rd child - look at it against a back light to see if there's a hair on it.  If not, it goes back into the child's mouth.
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Truth...but for us, after 1st child... it just goes back into mouth... sans hair check.

I also remember buying 'Infant Water' to make formula bottles... once... after that... just used Arrowhead or whatever bottled water was on sale at the grocery.

Actually... this paranoid phenomena just happened recently:

Stage 1: Kids can never play in the front.
Stage 2: Kids can play as long as I'm out there watching them.
Stage 3: Kids can play as long as our front door and window are open and we can see them.
Stage 4: Kids can play as long as they don't go past the 4th house.
Stage 5: Kids can play as long as they come back in the house before dark.

I'm still paranoid about letting them walk to school alone though.
 
I agree, you can never be too careful when it comes to kid safety, even in Irvine. There are just way too many scary stories of child abductions--even high school age kids! It is sometimes a PITA--but better to accompany them yourself and pickup rather than let the unthinkable happen.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
USCTrojanCPA said:
YES, very paranoid.
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Heh.

Wait until you have kids... the world changes.
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I'm sure it does, but after a while you have to let go and let your kids experience life a bit (even on the mean streets of Irvine).  hahaha  You can't keep "holding their hand" forever.  I can understand about driving a child to school if it is miles away, but a few blocks...common on. 
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Recent stuff like this worries me:

8-year old girl abductedhttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20018711-504083.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

2 children abducted by father and grandfatherhttp://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...dnapped-by-Stranger-in-Anaheim-104545119.html

Granted they didn't happen in Irvine... but still.
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Just walk your kids to school. You will never regret it in the long run. You spend quality time talking and hopefully preventing a sicko from running off with your kid.
 
If anybody reading this has kids whom you let ride their bike home from school, please teach them to walk their bike through a pedestrian crosswalk. Every day, I see kids (and their parents) riding straight off the curb and into the street. To make matters worse, we have construction in our area with green tarps put up on fences, which is creating issues with limited visibility. I came to a stop at a crosswalk today that had a blind spot with pedestrians being blocked from view, making their presence known only suddenly. I just about ran over a kid who was riding alone and surprised me on his bike - a young boy too, couldn't have been more than third grade (which is how old they have to be at our school to ride home.) I called the school front office and the Traffic Safety Officer for our area to advise them of the impending dangers at this crosswalk to submit for their evaluation and to educate the kids on bike safety. Please teach your kids safe bike habits and practice them with the kids too.
 
Thanks for reminding about this thread.

Don't get me wrong... it's not just being afraid of someone abducting my kids... but more about the fact that while I can educate them about proper street safety... I can't control what other people are doing. In these days of cell phones, texting, unsafe drivers... accidents happen.

I've seen too many accidents (especially in Irvine) where people were just not paying attention... even the safest city has bad drivers.
 
You're soooooo right. For example, even though we have laws today about using a handheld cell phone while driving, it doesn't seem to make a dent in the number of drivers I see on a daily basis who have their phone in their hand while driving, yapping away, same as ever. Also, it just seems like around here, a lot of drivers don't seem to know the basic stuff like who has the right of way, 4-way stops, merging, etc. We really need to teach our kids how to ride (and one day - drive) defensively.

It always does surprise me when I see these young'uns going home by themselves, especially on bicycle. I just really do not think they have the cognitive ability to read certain cues and be aware of the things to look out for and how to be prepared / respond to them.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
I would wager 95% of drivers don't know proper 4-way stop rules.
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So should we turn this one into a water cooler poll?  ;)
four-way%2Bstop.gif


If all cars arrive at the same time and are going straight, which car has the right of way?
A
B
C
 
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