Honest question: is the embarrassment due to the reasons posted, or is it that parents have become fearful of letting their children walk to school? I’ve seen parents walk to the school in order to escort their children home a few blocks.
It's both, for sure. And while part of that fear is helicopter parenting, a lot of it is a reasonable fear of how unsafe the walks are to school. The latter fuels the former. The built environment makes us anxious, encourages micromanagement of children, and lowers autonomy. All of these things are bad, in my view.
At my daughter’s elementary school some parents arrive at carline 45 minutes to an hour before school dismissal just to be among the first in line to get their kids. It’s completely insane. I don’t know who has that kind of time to waste every day, not to mention gas wasted. I have a job to work. I pick my daughter up just before carline ends because there is no longer a huge line. I also need to go home to get back to work.
Honest question: is the embarrassment due to the reasons posted, or is it that parents have become fearful of letting their children walk to school? I’ve seen parents walk to the school in order to escort their children home a few blocks.
It's both, for sure. And while part of that fear is helicopter parenting, a lot of it is a reasonable fear of how unsafe the walks are to school. The latter fuels the former. The built environment makes us anxious, encourages micromanagement of children, and lowers autonomy. All of these things are bad, in my view.
Thank you for the foreword! Much appreciated.
At my daughter’s elementary school some parents arrive at carline 45 minutes to an hour before school dismissal just to be among the first in line to get their kids. It’s completely insane. I don’t know who has that kind of time to waste every day, not to mention gas wasted. I have a job to work. I pick my daughter up just before carline ends because there is no longer a huge line. I also need to go home to get back to work.