4 ms·

School's new policy bans parents from walking children to school

48 points by thelastgallon 4y ago

eesmith 4y ago
When I was a kid in the 1970s/1980s, you couldn't get bus pickup unless you were over a mile from the school. (With exceptions, of course.)
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- gamegoblin 4y ago
  This is true today in Seattle: https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/transportation/ https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/transportation/ > Elementary and K-8 school sites have a 1-mile walk boundary. Eligible students are provided service primarily on yellow school buses. Middle school sites have a 2-mile walk boundary.
dementis 4y ago
The school sign in the article mentions it was donated by Gullo Dealerships. That's owned by Tony Gullo and he has car dealerships in Texas and Louisiana. Tony Gullo also just happens to live in Magnolia and is active in the local Rotary club. As someone who used to walk to elementary school and later enjoyed riding a bicycle to school, the mere concept of being told you have to take a bus or get dropped off in a car is very baffling to me.
- gala8y 4y ago
  When I switched to a new school in 3rd class my Mom walked me _once_ up to the bigger roundabout and made sure I payed attention. She didn't even cross the street with me, it was sth like 'see, there is more cars here, pay attention, go ahead, see you in the afternoon.' I especially remember those days when it rained. It rained cats and dogs, and I would walk slowly, focused, being in the senses, thinking in abstract ways, happy, sometimes with umbrella, sometimes all wet, maneuvering between pools of water and hundreds of earthworms (pavement close to school was especially packed). Sometimes I still get this state of mind, I wish I would be in it more often. Or in snow. I remember it being dark, snow sparkling in city lights. Amazing. Sometimes we would play with other children on our way to school, already. Sometimes, still in the dark, we would make a shortcut and play in the corn fields (effectively destroying crops) and being chased by the owner (being chased was rather 'an afternoon thing'). Returning home with friends entailed possible detours. Recently I kind of realized how this walking alone to school and back home was just, I could call it, very high state of consciousness. "Those were the days of our lives." I hope these worlds are not totally forgotten.
- pjc50 4y ago
  > car dealerships I wonder why a car dealer would be interested in preventing walkability.
  - anononaut 4y ago
    I think you jumped to a conclusion too quickly.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  I doubt that donating a sign gives Tony Guillo much of a voice in school policy. More likely it was done for a tax deduction and some free advertising. I agree that prohibiting walking to school is a ridiculous thing, but I think it's more likely an extreme case of CYA by the school administration or local school board, afraid of getting blamed for anything that might happpen related to a student or parent walking to or from school.
- nonrandomstring 4y ago
  > The school sign in the article mentions it was donated by Gullo Dealerships. That's owned by Tony Gullo and he has car dealerships in Texas This whole only in America "Texan car dealer sponsors school walking ban" .... just seems too perfectly crafted to not be bait for climate outrage. From where I'm standing, you just couldn;t make this stuff up.
  - galdosdi 4y ago
    The dealership sponsored th LED sign and perhaps the wooden sign that says the name of the school. There is no reason to believe they "sponsored" the rule the principal chose to promulgate.
- ars 4y ago
  > the mere concept of being told you have to take a bus or get dropped off in a car is very baffling to me. That's not what the article says - that's what the headline says. The article just says parents can't walk onto school grounds to get their kids.
marstall 4y ago
No quote from the principal stating his rationale? Did I miss it?
Rebelgecko 4y ago
It's interesting how the headline and article also have an implicit assumption that kids can't walk themselves to school.
purpleblue 4y ago
This is from 2016.
- purpleblue 4y ago
  In fact there is so few evidence of this actually happening I'm not sure the facts of this article are real. This should be flagged.
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/40135/will-parents-be-arrested-in-magnolia-texas-for-walking-with-their-children-onto https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/40135/will-pare... That suggests it's real, but I can't find a follow-up.
modestraen 4y ago
This is from 2016. I wonder if they still have this policy in place.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
gamegoblin 4y ago
My sister in neighboring Arkansas lives a 15 minute walk (3/4 mile) to her son's elementary school, but they have a similar policy and banned my sister and her husband from walking their son to school. I live in Seattle now, and the elementary schools here have a 1 mile walk boundary before they will bus you. About 1/3 of students in Seattle walk or bike to school.
- taylodl 4y ago
  Wow! My town has a 2 mile walk boundary before they will bus you and I live in the U.S. Midwest where winters can be brutal! As a result many kids ride their bikes to school. In my neighborhood elementary school kids and middle school kids are crossing 4 lane roads to get to school. The elementary school has a stoplight, so that helps, but the middle school does not. I'm amazed no one has ever been hurt!
galdosdi 4y ago
Well, it's Texas. One of the reasons I fled the midsouth to return to my native northeast was the shockingly pervasive culture of marginalizing walking (or biking or anything but a car) as a way of getting around. The assumption was no one would ever willingly use anything but a car to go anywhere, even half a mile away, unless they really really had no choice. I started taking to wearing a collared shirt when I went for a jog to avoid being looked at or treated like a homeless person. Of course, then I would constantly get asked if I needed a ride. But eventually I just did it less and less because of all the stray dogs, not an issue I've ever seen so much in places where walking is normal for the non-destitute. One time I tried biking through a drive through (the walk in doors were closed for some reason) and they threatened to call the police on me. Another time, despite being clean and well dressed, I was treated like a homeless shoplifter at a CVS, and I'm sure it's because they saw me walk in off the street instead of from the parking lot. Nothing remotely like any of this has ever happened in the northeast. Even in the least walkable places in the northeast, people are at least not surprised if someone insists on trying to walk places -- they-re probably just some ex-new Yorker, ex bostonite, etc. It was like being in a different country with different customs. Indeed I've learned the US is a more culturally varied place than I had thought as a young boy consuming national market media. If you like to walk don't be a dumbass and think you can move to somewhere like Texas and "I'll just walk around the leafy suburbs then" Maybe you will and sure, people do it, and neighborhoods certainly vary, but it really depends and you will find it is not something you can take for granted like on Europe, latin America, or the northeast corridor of the US.
- Domenic_S 4y ago
  > One time I tried biking through a drive through (the walk in doors were closed for some reason) and they threatened to call the police on me. FWIW when I lived in Davis, CA (city logo: a bike) drive-thrus had the same policy. They usually disallow pedestrians and bikes for "safety & liability" reasons (whether those are reasonable is an exercise left to the reader) https://bicycleuniverse.com/can-bike-go-drive-thru/ https://bicycleuniverse.com/can-bike-go-drive-thru/
  - jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
TheDesolate0 4y ago
ars 4y ago
According to the article, they didn't ban walking children to school - they banned parents going onto school grounds and getting their children. Presumably that means the kids can simply wait just off of school grounds? The article doesn't even mention this obvious option, so am I missing something?
- mannykannot 4y ago
  It doesn't say so here, but students who were not leaving by bus or car would not be dismissed until all the cars had left. In the morning, drop-off could only be done at the door, and the risk of students making their own way there was apparently too inconceivable to be explicitly ruled out. It seems likely that the policy was a form of CYA-driven fearfulness that was not shared by all of the parents.

48 points by thelastgallon 4y ago

When I was a kid in the 1970s/1980s, you couldn't get bus pickup unless you were over a mile from the school. (With exceptions, of course.)

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
gamegoblin 4y ago
This is true today in Seattle: https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/transportation/ https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/transportation/ > Elementary and K-8 school sites have a 1-mile walk boundary. Eligible students are provided service primarily on yellow school buses. Middle school sites have a 2-mile walk boundary.

dementis 4y ago

The school sign in the article mentions it was donated by Gullo Dealerships. That's owned by Tony Gullo and he has car dealerships in Texas and Louisiana. Tony Gullo also just happens to live in Magnolia and is active in the local Rotary club. As someone who used to walk to elementary school and later enjoyed riding a bicycle to school, the mere concept of being told you have to take a bus or get dropped off in a car is very baffling to me.

gala8y 4y ago
When I switched to a new school in 3rd class my Mom walked me _once_ up to the bigger roundabout and made sure I payed attention. She didn't even cross the street with me, it was sth like 'see, there is more cars here, pay attention, go ahead, see you in the afternoon.' I especially remember those days when it rained. It rained cats and dogs, and I would walk slowly, focused, being in the senses, thinking in abstract ways, happy, sometimes with umbrella, sometimes all wet, maneuvering between pools of water and hundreds of earthworms (pavement close to school was especially packed). Sometimes I still get this state of mind, I wish I would be in it more often. Or in snow. I remember it being dark, snow sparkling in city lights. Amazing. Sometimes we would play with other children on our way to school, already. Sometimes, still in the dark, we would make a shortcut and play in the corn fields (effectively destroying crops) and being chased by the owner (being chased was rather 'an afternoon thing'). Returning home with friends entailed possible detours. Recently I kind of realized how this walking alone to school and back home was just, I could call it, very high state of consciousness. "Those were the days of our lives." I hope these worlds are not totally forgotten.
pjc50 4y ago
> car dealerships I wonder why a car dealer would be interested in preventing walkability.
- anononaut 4y ago
  I think you jumped to a conclusion too quickly.
SoftTalker 4y ago
I doubt that donating a sign gives Tony Guillo much of a voice in school policy. More likely it was done for a tax deduction and some free advertising. I agree that prohibiting walking to school is a ridiculous thing, but I think it's more likely an extreme case of CYA by the school administration or local school board, afraid of getting blamed for anything that might happpen related to a student or parent walking to or from school.
nonrandomstring 4y ago
> The school sign in the article mentions it was donated by Gullo Dealerships. That's owned by Tony Gullo and he has car dealerships in Texas This whole only in America "Texan car dealer sponsors school walking ban" .... just seems too perfectly crafted to not be bait for climate outrage. From where I'm standing, you just couldn;t make this stuff up.
- galdosdi 4y ago
  The dealership sponsored th LED sign and perhaps the wooden sign that says the name of the school. There is no reason to believe they "sponsored" the rule the principal chose to promulgate.
ars 4y ago
> the mere concept of being told you have to take a bus or get dropped off in a car is very baffling to me. That's not what the article says - that's what the headline says. The article just says parents can't walk onto school grounds to get their kids.

marstall 4y ago

No quote from the principal stating his rationale? Did I miss it?

Rebelgecko 4y ago

It's interesting how the headline and article also have an implicit assumption that kids can't walk themselves to school.

purpleblue 4y ago

This is from 2016.

purpleblue 4y ago
In fact there is so few evidence of this actually happening I'm not sure the facts of this article are real. This should be flagged.
- Symbiote 4y ago
  https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/40135/will-parents-be-arrested-in-magnolia-texas-for-walking-with-their-children-onto https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/40135/will-pare... That suggests it's real, but I can't find a follow-up.

modestraen 4y ago

This is from 2016. I wonder if they still have this policy in place.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

gamegoblin 4y ago

My sister in neighboring Arkansas lives a 15 minute walk (3/4 mile) to her son's elementary school, but they have a similar policy and banned my sister and her husband from walking their son to school. I live in Seattle now, and the elementary schools here have a 1 mile walk boundary before they will bus you. About 1/3 of students in Seattle walk or bike to school.

taylodl 4y ago
Wow! My town has a 2 mile walk boundary before they will bus you and I live in the U.S. Midwest where winters can be brutal! As a result many kids ride their bikes to school. In my neighborhood elementary school kids and middle school kids are crossing 4 lane roads to get to school. The elementary school has a stoplight, so that helps, but the middle school does not. I'm amazed no one has ever been hurt!

galdosdi 4y ago

Well, it's Texas. One of the reasons I fled the midsouth to return to my native northeast was the shockingly pervasive culture of marginalizing walking (or biking or anything but a car) as a way of getting around. The assumption was no one would ever willingly use anything but a car to go anywhere, even half a mile away, unless they really really had no choice. I started taking to wearing a collared shirt when I went for a jog to avoid being looked at or treated like a homeless person. Of course, then I would constantly get asked if I needed a ride. But eventually I just did it less and less because of all the stray dogs, not an issue I've ever seen so much in places where walking is normal for the non-destitute. One time I tried biking through a drive through (the walk in doors were closed for some reason) and they threatened to call the police on me. Another time, despite being clean and well dressed, I was treated like a homeless shoplifter at a CVS, and I'm sure it's because they saw me walk in off the street instead of from the parking lot. Nothing remotely like any of this has ever happened in the northeast. Even in the least walkable places in the northeast, people are at least not surprised if someone insists on trying to walk places -- they-re probably just some ex-new Yorker, ex bostonite, etc. It was like being in a different country with different customs. Indeed I've learned the US is a more culturally varied place than I had thought as a young boy consuming national market media. If you like to walk don't be a dumbass and think you can move to somewhere like Texas and "I'll just walk around the leafy suburbs then" Maybe you will and sure, people do it, and neighborhoods certainly vary, but it really depends and you will find it is not something you can take for granted like on Europe, latin America, or the northeast corridor of the US.

Domenic_S 4y ago
> One time I tried biking through a drive through (the walk in doors were closed for some reason) and they threatened to call the police on me. FWIW when I lived in Davis, CA (city logo: a bike) drive-thrus had the same policy. They usually disallow pedestrians and bikes for "safety & liability" reasons (whether those are reasonable is an exercise left to the reader) https://bicycleuniverse.com/can-bike-go-drive-thru/ https://bicycleuniverse.com/can-bike-go-drive-thru/
- jasonwatkinspdx 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

TheDesolate0 4y ago

ars 4y ago

According to the article, they didn't ban walking children to school - they banned parents going onto school grounds and getting their children. Presumably that means the kids can simply wait just off of school grounds? The article doesn't even mention this obvious option, so am I missing something?

mannykannot 4y ago
It doesn't say so here, but students who were not leaving by bus or car would not be dismissed until all the cars had left. In the morning, drop-off could only be done at the door, and the risk of students making their own way there was apparently too inconceivable to be explicitly ruled out. It seems likely that the policy was a form of CYA-driven fearfulness that was not shared by all of the parents.