Most Australian children almost never walk or tide to school, according to new research by The Royal Children’s Hospital.
A recent poll shows that seven out of 10 kids are driven to school every day as time-poor parents juggle work and family schedules.
But what is sad, is that although parents know it’s healthier for their kids to walk to school – it’s the fear of stranger danger, bullies and traffic that make them think twice.
The poll of 1745 parents nationwide caring for 2849 children aged from five to 18 years found:
• The majority of children (58%) are driven to or from school by car most days of the week
• 71% of children do not walk or ride to school at all in a typical week
• More than half (52%) of primary school children live less than 2km from school, while a quarter (26%) live less than 1km
• One in five teenagers (21%) never travel to or from school without an adult
• Children are on average 11 years old when they first travel to school without an adult, with 45% teenagers travelling every day independently
• One in five (18%) parents have used a geolocation device to monitor the location of their child, saying tracking their child’s location made them feel more comfortable to let them travel without an adult.
Royal Children’s Hopsital National Child Health Poll Director Anthea Rhodes said primary-school-aged children needed 60 minutes of physical activity a day and walking or riding to school was a great way to provide it.
“For many children, the trip to school is short, and yet most get there by car,’’ Dr Rhodes said. “Work and life pressures make it hard for parents to walk or ride with their children to school, but even one day a week of active travel to school is better than nothing at all.”
