It’s time to set kids free from cars
We’ve created a society where kids don't travel actively or independently, and it’s affecting their wellbeing.
“When I suggest they park around the corner instead, they complain that their kids can’t walk that far,” says Mrs M, the crossing supervisor at my son’s school, reporting on what happens when she challenges parents who park illegally outside the gates.
The scene at drop-off and pick-up times reminds me of a psychology experiment in which the participants have been instructed to act entirely selfishly. They swing their cars across the road, mounting the pavement where people are walking and blocking half of it to secure a parking space as close to the school as possible. The more brazen dump their cars on the white zig-zag lines at the zebra crossing, on which parking is illegal because it blocks sight lines.
Sadly, this isn’t a psychology experiment; it’s the reality outside our local primary school – and tens of thousands like it across the UK. A lot of kids are driven short distances to school, with few walking and even fewer cycling. Once they’re at school there’s a bare minimum of physical activity. Maybe a bit of half-hearted PE. Then they’re driven home, where they entertain themselves with TV or computer games. According to NHS data, 42% of children get less than half the recommended hour of physical activity a day.