My home is located halfway between E.S. Richards Elementary and Albert McMahon Elementary schools. The traffic congestion around these schools for the morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up is fierce.
If parents are concerned that their children will be kidnapped walking to and from school, can schedules not be adjusted slightly so that the parent, grandparent or whomever it is that drives the children to school walk those children to and from school?
Our media is always citing statistics about childhood and adult obesity so to set aside time to walk your children to and from school would benefit the health of everyone and not just physically. This would be a great opportunity to enjoy talking as a family, providing a nice kind of buffer between home and school.
I can understand the need to drive French immersion students who have to travel across town to get to their school of choice but most children live within a few blocks of their local school and there really is no reason why they cannot walk. This would help to instill healthy habits at an early age as well.
Karen Gardner
Mission
