How old do you think kids should be before you allow them to walk to the bus stop themselves? Generally speaking; I know it should be based on maturity. Let's say it's just a block away.
If they can responsibly walk to the stop and wait without tossing off their bag and play around, and you are able to keep an eye on them, I'd try it out.
Mine were 7, 9 and 10 when I let them walk to school on their own - that was a straight line from my house on a walking path that took them directly to the school.
Me too Secret- mine (older ones) were 7 and 10 when I let them walk a straight line to school alone. Well, the whole neighborhood were walkers so they walked with a lot of other kids , but alone as in without me.
If this question is about your five year old, nope. No walking around alone. If it is about your nine year old SD, hahahaha....you mean the girl who won't get up and walk three inches to pick up the tv remote?
Depending on your location in the NW area and the placement of your home per main drags, makes or breaks the idea for me. If there is a straight shot with a clear view from your doorway and not one of those never ending 'blocks', a nine year old would likely be fine. I'll assume there is a full sidewalk?
If it's her father walking her to the bus stop, who cares? Or is it that someone is driving her into school because she refuses to walk the block? If it is you being asked to drive/walk the child, tell Dad to start worrying about how he is going to do the task himself, because you no longer are, if that's how strongly you feel about it.
He drives her to the bus stop and takes off to work straight from there. If he drove her to school, he'd be more than a little late. And we don't have money for babysitters or childcare. As far as a car pool, that'd never happen unless BM got to set it up and meet the people. It's literally a block. Can look down from our sidewalk and see the other 8 kids standing there.
What is BM doing at that time of morning? Can she come walk the kid or drive her to school. The grandparents? It's BM who insist, so have Dad ask her what her ideas of solutions are.
BM can not realistically just expect Dad to get fired. Does the girl's school have a before-school program? My school lets kids in 35-40 minutes early as we have the school breakfast program going on starting at 7:30 and last bell doesn't ring until 8:15. The kids go sit/stand around in the gym.
We live in a heavily wooded area and SS15 bus stop is about a mile down a dark road without a sidewalk. SO drives him and drops him off in the morning. He walks home from the bus stop unless its pouring rain then the bus driver actually drops him off at the end of our street.
My SD is almost 9 and the bus picks her up right in front of BMs house (well, BMs parents' house...feels weird calling it BMs). BM could watch from the window.
But SD is so ridiculously immature and dependent, she would NEVER go by herself. Literally will sob, not just cry, if BM doesn't walk her to the bus. (BM eats this up!)
So...not seeing SD doing that kind of thing anytime soon. Definitely depends on the kid.
OMG I'm super paranoid about all the weirdos out there these days and don't let my kids go ANYWHERE by themselves until about age 14. Literally, the first time my oldest walked anywhere alone, it was the convenience store one block from our apartment at 14. And he was never allowed to even play outside alone, until 13- only in the fenced in backyard with the dog. It's sad. We used to stay outside all day when I was a kid, and we walked/biked all over town- no one ever knew where we were.
I forgot to mention- when he was 12, I did let him walk home from the bus stop during the first week of school, and it was not even a block from home. I got a call from the bus driver that she made him get back on the bus because she saw a man come up and talk to him- they guy said, "You look just like my son"...bus driver asked my kid, "Do you know this man?" When he said, no, she yelled, "Get back on this bus right now!" She drove him right to our door and then called me. That was the end of his walking. Maybe that's why I'm so paranoid. I'll be forever thankful for that bus driver.
DH drives SD9 when we have her because BM isn't comfortable with her walking a block away. He's late to work every time and he's going to get fired. I guess this is strange to me because I was a latchkey kid at an age younger than her.
My kid started walking to school when he was 12. It was about a mile from our house. He and a group of kids on our street would all walk together to and from school every day.
When he rode the bus it was about 100Ft from our front door and even then my wife would walk him to the corner and be there every afternoon when he got off of the bus. This went on until he was about 8 when he would walk to and from the bus by himself. }:) ice when eh had to run through the neighborhood, through the woods, and into the next neighborhood to catch is bus because he missed it. It was either that or hike about 5 miles to school. We refused to take him.
His Jr and the first half of Sr year in a Military Boarding school and class was not missed... period. The last half of Sr year he walked to our local HS about a quarter of a mile but since that was a record snow fall winter he was usually about frozen solid during that walk. That was when his mom and I waffled between killing him or not. He survived. }:)
So my answer is... it depends on the kid, how far the walk to the stop or school is... and how much you are willing to tolerate or mitigate.
Will the child be walking alone? Can you see the bus stop from your house?
If the child can walk with other children and you can see them as they walk the one block, then I think 6 is old enough to do that. If they had to walk alone and / or you couldn't see them while they were walking, then I might wait until they were 8.
All this is depending on maturity level. If the child is immature, I might wait until oder than 8.
My DS was walking to the bus stop alone at 5, about 1/4 mile ,clear view from the front yard, dead end road lots of other kids, and a VERY rural area. He could also be home alone for the 10 min for me to go pick up mail (FYI, that slogan " neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night... is B--L S--T! It would be great if our mail came to our door!) WE moved and it was a block to the stop, then when he was in 7th grade, DD started k, they went to the stop together and DS walked DD to her classroom.( Yes our Elementary's are K-8 and usually have 5 classrooms)High school bus stop is just under 1/2 mi and pick-up is at 6:45am for the 20mi drive, I was commuting an hour over a mountain road after a swing shift starting when DD was in 3rd grade, I made sure they were dressed appropriately and took what they needed and They Walked to the stop. But, if DD and DS were reversed, DD wasn't near as mature as DS.
I was 7 and it was between a 1/4 to 1/2 a mile down the "road." I say that because we lived in the country at the time. It was a straight dirt road with no turns and only 2 other houses. One of them had a friend of mine who would walk with me or meet me at the stop and the one closest to the highway was my great aunts home.
I was walking all the way to school with some older kids when I was in kindergarten and it was at least a few blocks. I remember a couple of times walking home alone because my baby sister was crap as my mom recalls. She honestly didn't know how bad it was until after she'd already switched me over to someone else so I wouldn't say this is a wonderful example. For those 6 months I also never had lunch because mom thought the babysitter was feeding me and so she just sent me to school with a snack.
Where I live, the bus stops at every single house. I also believe that they require an adult to be present with kids under a certain age before they will let them off the bus.
Years ago when my YSD lived with us, it would be touch and go whether I could get home before the bus did. I recall one particular time where I was literally BEHIND the bus as it went down our road. It stopped in front of our house and my SD waved towards the house and then got off the bus and then went down our lane and climbed the gate.
Of course, no one was home, but she knew they wouldn't let her off the bus if no one was home.
Usually DH was there, but on occasion I had to step in.. or even our neighbor who was a farmer would go up and wait for her too.
Generally, it would really depend on the area that you live, the amount of other adult supervision that might be present etc...
If there are other parents at the bus stop and my kid was mature, I might have been ok at around 10 or so.. certainly jr high is old enough.. below 10? not unless they are with another adult or competent older sibling.
SDs9 get on the bus right in front of the house. I wait until they are on, then I leave for work. It was a long hard fight to get their school moved to our district and I'm loving not having to drive or pick up kids from school anymore!
i was 5 and walked a half mile each to the bus-stop and back in kindergarten. our kinder was only half-days, so i'd make one trip with my bro and sis (7 and 8 at the time), and one trip alone. i made the same walk all the way through my senior year, all school-year long.
but a lot of it really does depend on maturity, independence, and ability to handle threatening situations.
Our BM sent SD to a posh private school for K & 1st grade (aka: nothing but the best for Princess Snowflake), which she had to drive her to, and she frequently drove her there whilst high on opiates. SD was frequently absent or late. SD got kicked out of that school because BM stiffed them on the bill, even tho DH gave her more than enough to pay it, she just kept the money for herself. When they confronted her, BM sat there with a Starbucks in her hand and cried, "I'm was hoping they'd give her a scholarship or something and let her keep coming here for free", the teacher was like, "Um...[asshole?]...I work[!!]...here...and...can't afford to send my own kid here..."
One of the board of directors at that school was a higher up and the corporation DH works for and he kinda gave DH crap about it, it was a bad scene, DH told him he gave her the money to pay it. The guy was like, "Well, in the future, we're going to make BOTH parents sign up to be responsible so the parents can't screw us over again." And I was like, "Hey, dumbass, that wasn't the problem, the problem was you didn't kick her out when she stiffed you the first semester of kindergarten."
Let that be a lesson to all of you. Never pay the psycho parent anything, always pay providers directly.
So for 2nd grade, SD rode the bus to public school, and the stop was right at the end of BM's shared driveway. SD missed school frequently. Come to find out, she was waking up by herself to an alarm, getting herself dressed, eating a candybar for breakfast, and going out to stand at that stop alone. BM lived in a transient neighborhood of apartments with a lot of druggie types (I was acquainted with at least one of her neighbors), and woke up from her drug fog around noon each day. I can't imagine waking up like that with my 7-year-old kid gone from the house and no way to know for sure whether she got onto the bus or into some child molester's car.
MOTFY. CPS here will take a child that age if they find them alone outside with no one watching.
Sorry to highjack your thread, but it felt good to get that out.
If they can responsibly walk
If they can responsibly walk to the stop and wait without tossing off their bag and play around, and you are able to keep an eye on them, I'd try it out.
Mine were 7, 9 and 10 when I let them walk to school on their own - that was a straight line from my house on a walking path that took them directly to the school.
Me too Secret- mine (older
Me too Secret- mine (older ones) were 7 and 10 when I let them walk a straight line to school alone. Well, the whole neighborhood were walkers so they walked with a lot of other kids , but alone as in without me.
totally depends on the kid's
totally depends on the kid's maturity level and your comfort level. Every kid and every parent is different.
If this question is about
If this question is about your five year old, nope. No walking around alone. If it is about your nine year old SD, hahahaha....you mean the girl who won't get up and walk three inches to pick up the tv remote?
Depending on your location in the NW area and the placement of your home per main drags, makes or breaks the idea for me. If there is a straight shot with a clear view from your doorway and not one of those never ending 'blocks', a nine year old would likely be fine. I'll assume there is a full sidewalk?
If it's her father walking her to the bus stop, who cares? Or is it that someone is driving her into school because she refuses to walk the block? If it is you being asked to drive/walk the child, tell Dad to start worrying about how he is going to do the task himself, because you no longer are, if that's how strongly you feel about it.
DH is late to work every time
DH is late to work every time he has to drive her. He's going to get fired.
Leave earlier? Take her to a
Leave earlier? Take her to a day care or hire a babysitter to get her on the bus? Find a local carpool that can take her?
He has no real excuse to be late to work. A little planning or parenting on his part would fix that problem.
He drives her to the bus stop
He drives her to the bus stop and takes off to work straight from there. If he drove her to school, he'd be more than a little late. And we don't have money for babysitters or childcare. As far as a car pool, that'd never happen unless BM got to set it up and meet the people. It's literally a block. Can look down from our sidewalk and see the other 8 kids standing there.
What is BM doing at that time
What is BM doing at that time of morning? Can she come walk the kid or drive her to school. The grandparents? It's BM who insist, so have Dad ask her what her ideas of solutions are.
BM can not realistically just expect Dad to get fired. Does the girl's school have a before-school program? My school lets kids in 35-40 minutes early as we have the school breakfast program going on starting at 7:30 and last bell doesn't ring until 8:15. The kids go sit/stand around in the gym.
Either just getting off 3rd
Either just getting off 3rd shift or having alcohol induced coma.
I agree its maturity and
I agree its maturity and comfort level.
We live in a heavily wooded area and SS15 bus stop is about a mile down a dark road without a sidewalk. SO drives him and drops him off in the morning. He walks home from the bus stop unless its pouring rain then the bus driver actually drops him off at the end of our street.
My son is 10 and he gets
My son is 10 and he gets himself off to school in the am and,walks to the bus stop.this is our first year.
My SD is almost 9 and the bus
My SD is almost 9 and the bus picks her up right in front of BMs house (well, BMs parents' house...feels weird calling it BMs). BM could watch from the window.
But SD is so ridiculously immature and dependent, she would NEVER go by herself. Literally will sob, not just cry, if BM doesn't walk her to the bus. (BM eats this up!)
So...not seeing SD doing that kind of thing anytime soon. Definitely depends on the kid.
DS is 11 and rides his bike
DS is 11 and rides his bike to school. Sometimes even if I drop him off in the morning he'll walk home. We live about half a a mile from the school.
SS9, on the other hand, is far to immature to be trusted to go anywhere alone.
OMG I'm super paranoid about
OMG I'm super paranoid about all the weirdos out there these days and don't let my kids go ANYWHERE by themselves until about age 14. Literally, the first time my oldest walked anywhere alone, it was the convenience store one block from our apartment at 14. And he was never allowed to even play outside alone, until 13- only in the fenced in backyard with the dog. It's sad. We used to stay outside all day when I was a kid, and we walked/biked all over town- no one ever knew where we were.
I forgot to mention- when he was 12, I did let him walk home from the bus stop during the first week of school, and it was not even a block from home. I got a call from the bus driver that she made him get back on the bus because she saw a man come up and talk to him- they guy said, "You look just like my son"...bus driver asked my kid, "Do you know this man?" When he said, no, she yelled, "Get back on this bus right now!" She drove him right to our door and then called me. That was the end of his walking. Maybe that's why I'm so paranoid. I'll be forever thankful for that bus driver.
DH drives SD9 when we have
DH drives SD9 when we have her because BM isn't comfortable with her walking a block away. He's late to work every time and he's going to get fired. I guess this is strange to me because I was a latchkey kid at an age younger than her.
My kid started walking to
My kid started walking to school when he was 12. It was about a mile from our house. He and a group of kids on our street would all walk together to and from school every day.
When he rode the bus it was about 100Ft from our front door and even then my wife would walk him to the corner and be there every afternoon when he got off of the bus. This went on until he was about 8 when he would walk to and from the bus by himself. }:) ice when eh had to run through the neighborhood, through the woods, and into the next neighborhood to catch is bus because he missed it. It was either that or hike about 5 miles to school. We refused to take him.
His Jr and the first half of Sr year in a Military Boarding school and class was not missed... period. The last half of Sr year he walked to our local HS about a quarter of a mile but since that was a record snow fall winter he was usually about frozen solid during that walk. That was when his mom and I waffled between killing him or not. He survived. }:)
So my answer is... it depends on the kid, how far the walk to the stop or school is... and how much you are willing to tolerate or mitigate.
Good luck.
Will the child be walking
Will the child be walking alone? Can you see the bus stop from your house?
If the child can walk with other children and you can see them as they walk the one block, then I think 6 is old enough to do that. If they had to walk alone and / or you couldn't see them while they were walking, then I might wait until they were 8.
All this is depending on maturity level. If the child is immature, I might wait until oder than 8.
My DS was walking to the bus
My DS was walking to the bus stop alone at 5, about 1/4 mile ,clear view from the front yard, dead end road lots of other kids, and a VERY rural area. He could also be home alone for the 10 min for me to go pick up mail (FYI, that slogan " neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night... is B--L S--T! It would be great if our mail came to our door!) WE moved and it was a block to the stop, then when he was in 7th grade, DD started k, they went to the stop together and DS walked DD to her classroom.( Yes our Elementary's are K-8 and usually have 5 classrooms)High school bus stop is just under 1/2 mi and pick-up is at 6:45am for the 20mi drive, I was commuting an hour over a mountain road after a swing shift starting when DD was in 3rd grade, I made sure they were dressed appropriately and took what they needed and They Walked to the stop. But, if DD and DS were reversed, DD wasn't near as mature as DS.
I was 7 and it was between a
I was 7 and it was between a 1/4 to 1/2 a mile down the "road." I say that because we lived in the country at the time. It was a straight dirt road with no turns and only 2 other houses. One of them had a friend of mine who would walk with me or meet me at the stop and the one closest to the highway was my great aunts home.
I was walking all the way to school with some older kids when I was in kindergarten and it was at least a few blocks. I remember a couple of times walking home alone because my baby sister was crap as my mom recalls. She honestly didn't know how bad it was until after she'd already switched me over to someone else so I wouldn't say this is a wonderful example. For those 6 months I also never had lunch because mom thought the babysitter was feeding me and so she just sent me to school with a snack.
Where I live, the bus stops
Where I live, the bus stops at every single house. I also believe that they require an adult to be present with kids under a certain age before they will let them off the bus.
Years ago when my YSD lived with us, it would be touch and go whether I could get home before the bus did. I recall one particular time where I was literally BEHIND the bus as it went down our road. It stopped in front of our house and my SD waved towards the house and then got off the bus and then went down our lane and climbed the gate.
Of course, no one was home, but she knew they wouldn't let her off the bus if no one was home.
Usually DH was there, but on occasion I had to step in.. or even our neighbor who was a farmer would go up and wait for her too.
Generally, it would really depend on the area that you live, the amount of other adult supervision that might be present etc...
If there are other parents at the bus stop and my kid was mature, I might have been ok at around 10 or so.. certainly jr high is old enough.. below 10? not unless they are with another adult or competent older sibling.
SDs9 get on the bus right in
SDs9 get on the bus right in front of the house. I wait until they are on, then I leave for work. It was a long hard fight to get their school moved to our district and I'm loving not having to drive or pick up kids from school anymore!
i was 5 and walked a half
i was 5 and walked a half mile each to the bus-stop and back in kindergarten. our kinder was only half-days, so i'd make one trip with my bro and sis (7 and 8 at the time), and one trip alone. i made the same walk all the way through my senior year, all school-year long.
but a lot of it really does depend on maturity, independence, and ability to handle threatening situations.
The funny thing(not really)
The funny thing(not really) is, theres no problem with letting her walk to her friends house which is 3 blocks away. Just a BM power play in my book.
Our BM sent SD to a posh
Our BM sent SD to a posh private school for K & 1st grade (aka: nothing but the best for Princess Snowflake), which she had to drive her to, and she frequently drove her there whilst high on opiates. SD was frequently absent or late. SD got kicked out of that school because BM stiffed them on the bill, even tho DH gave her more than enough to pay it, she just kept the money for herself. When they confronted her, BM sat there with a Starbucks in her hand and cried, "I'm was hoping they'd give her a scholarship or something and let her keep coming here for free", the teacher was like, "Um...[asshole?]...I work[!!]...here...and...can't afford to send my own kid here..."
One of the board of directors at that school was a higher up and the corporation DH works for and he kinda gave DH crap about it, it was a bad scene, DH told him he gave her the money to pay it. The guy was like, "Well, in the future, we're going to make BOTH parents sign up to be responsible so the parents can't screw us over again." And I was like, "Hey, dumbass, that wasn't the problem, the problem was you didn't kick her out when she stiffed you the first semester of kindergarten."
Let that be a lesson to all of you. Never pay the psycho parent anything, always pay providers directly.
So for 2nd grade, SD rode the bus to public school, and the stop was right at the end of BM's shared driveway. SD missed school frequently. Come to find out, she was waking up by herself to an alarm, getting herself dressed, eating a candybar for breakfast, and going out to stand at that stop alone. BM lived in a transient neighborhood of apartments with a lot of druggie types (I was acquainted with at least one of her neighbors), and woke up from her drug fog around noon each day. I can't imagine waking up like that with my 7-year-old kid gone from the house and no way to know for sure whether she got onto the bus or into some child molester's car.
MOTFY. CPS here will take a child that age if they find them alone outside with no one watching.
Sorry to highjack your thread, but it felt good to get that out.
I wouldn't let Stepkid 12
I wouldn't let Stepkid 12 walk to the bus stop alone, not even if it was only a block away, but that's just me.