Several BLOCKS. Not several MILES. Several BLOCKS.
Geez, I hate to sound like a cranky old man, but when I was a kid NO ONE expected a kid to take a bus if he or she only lived several BLOCKS from school.
No wonder our school taxes keep going up and our kids keep getting fatter and fatter.
My baby who is 5-years-old
Geez, lady, he's five years, not five months...why don't you put a dress on him already and get it over with?
In this day and age, I wouldn't want my 5 year old walking through the city alone either. And not just because of the weather or traffic.
We do not live in the same times now as when you were a kid. The world is now full of predators who look for children alone for very sick reasons.
I agree with the ideas behind your post, but the world is a little different than it was when you were a kid. There seem to be a lot more predators for children out there these days and they are watching the patterns of young kids like this, walking alone, every day after school.
Geez. This kid is going to turn out to be a real wimp. I remember walking from school when I was five here in So Cal. But it wasn't home, it was to my job in a coal mine. And it was uphill, both ways, in the snow!!!
You're not only cranky but not in touch with todays news. No 5 yr old should be out alone ever! it's unthinkable in this day and age for anyone to allow a child to go off walking by themselves. I too would have had a 'mental breakdown' if it was my 5 yr old.
The days of your youth are over..our children are being snatched, sexually attacked and murdered.
This is BS. I don't let my kids walk alone anywhere, with all the liberal perverts running loose out there...
I would be HIGHLY po'd at this moron teacher.
Join the 21st century--5-year-old kids don't cross busy intersections alone.
And now she demands that the State transport her kid all over the place.
Where is she? Couldn't she walk with him, or arrange for a relative to pick him up?
I wish that we still lived in that world.
We don't.
If you truly hate to "sound like a cranky old man," or worse, sound like someone who has been asleep for years, it might be helpful for you to peruse the headlines of community newspapers across our vast country.
It has not been safe for children to walk anywhere without adult supervision for many years.
seems you're outnumbered !
Welcome to the Amber Alert Era. It's just so sad that kids can't be left alone to walk or ride their bikes without concern of abductions and worse.
WHen I was a kid, I had to walk about a mile to and from school .. and we walked home for lunch! In New York City! When I was 9, my parents let me and a friend ride the subway ALONE into Manhattan. No one gave it a second thought. Don't think that would happen today.
Your input is needed here. Ping.
You're way off base on this. The world we created for today's five-year olds is just not safe enough to blithely send them out unescorted in any area, especially an urban one.
And they wonder why kids are obese these days.
(Not that I think a little kid should be walking around the streets alone ...)
Do you, or have you ever had children?
Ever live in Syracuse?
Now, dont get me wrong, I think this Mom should take more responsibility for the welfare of her five year old child, but I dont think schools should require a five year old to walk unsupervised to and from school either.
Why would anyone put a 5 year-old on a bus?
When I went to school they didn't have school busses, everyone walked. The only day I got a ride to school was the first day when my mother took me and told me to pay attention how we got there so I knew how to get home and it was at least 2 miles.