‘Don’t let 5-year-olds walk to school alone’
Wednesday 13th October 2010, 2:30PM BST.
Police have issued a safety warning after officers reported an increase in the number of five- and six-year-olds walking to school unaccompanied. (Picture, posed by a model, by Tom Tardif, 1038660)
CHILDREN as young as five are walking to school unsupervised.
And police are advising parents that those under the age of eight or nine must be accompanied – especially near busy roads.
Detective Sergeant Sarah-Jane Snowdon, of the Public Protection Unit, said officers have been surprised at the age of some children making their way to school alone.
‘Officers have recently noticed an increase in children as young as five or six being allowed to walk unaccompanied to school.
‘However short the distance, this is not safe. They should not be left alone and should be supervised by an adult,’ she said.
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Couldn’t agree more, Guernsey is a very dangerous place, I mean look at the number of child abductions we’ve had lately. Cars fly along our roads at speeds approaching 35mph, you have no chance of seeing them coming. We live a good 400 metres from the school and I insist on taking mine in the 4X4, OK parking can be difficult and I haven’t learned to reverse yet but you can’t be too careful.
PS apologies to the mum whose foot I parked on outside school the other day, in fairness I was back in 10 minutes and she does have another foot.
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I saw this headline and immediately thought “what?!”
How could any parent in their right mind allow a child so young to walk to school unaided? It’s absolutely disgraceful.
The mind truly boggles sometimes when it comes to some so called parents these days.
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Freedom of choice?
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What a shame that common sense cannot be allowed to rule.
The same parents who allow small children to walk alone will be neglectful in other areas which is hopefully not going unnoted
However, this is going to be a very individual situation and I hope that laws are not brought in to stop those capable of making a judgment call to make their own minds up about age and appropriateness.
My son recently started in Y3 and asked to walk to/from school alone. It’s a five minute walk, and although the road is sometimes busy, he’s a sensible child so I let him.
My younger child is less reliable, so I’m less likely to let him do so when he reaches the same age.
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Do these police officers ask the age of these young criminals? If not how are they gathering these statistics? Guess work?
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I have just driven very slowly (stuck in a long line of traffic) up Les Capelles main road at 3.15pm, yes you guessed it Hautes Capelles school was just leaving, as I sat in the traffic I could not help but notice that every car, van,etc drove on the pavement all the way down the road toward Dobree crossroads from school, why, I wonder the traffic was stopped and there was plenty of room but even the smallest car drove on the pavement all the way down the road and lo and behold a little girl of 5 or 6 years old was walking on the pavement holding up the traffic that was behind her very very close. I could not believe what I was seeing that little girl was in danger and no should not have been on her own, she kept looking behind her to see how close the car was to her and walked into a gateway to let the traffic through, I felt like getting out of my car to help her, so please dont let your kids walk on their own even though five year olds have probably got more sense than some motorists.
I thought it was an offence to drive on the pavement, well if it is the police could have filled the black hole this afternoon with fines and I suppose that happens five days a week.
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Police have noticed the number of young children walking to school alone has increased but has the number of incidents involving these children increase? If it hasn’t why are the police issuing a safety warning?
Have they really got nothing better to be doing?
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Gosh!! My parents let me walk alone to school from 6 years old!! I then changed schools aged about 8 yrs and managed a bus journey, with a change of stops all on my own!!
How did I manage to mature into a professional adult, with a responsible job I’ll never know!! And I let my kids walk alone to School in Guernsey from seven years old. No doubt they will turn into complete planks…
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Couldn’t agree with you more MrsMeat.
I wonder whether we are in a legislative spiral – the more laws we enact that replace common sense, the less people think for themselves, leading to more laws….and so it goes on…..
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Children do not get abducted on their way to or from school, despite all the “paedo” fears of parents (almost all abuse is carried out by family members and friends of the family).
So the only reason it might be unsafe for a 5 year old to walk to school is because too many other children are being ferried about in cars, which are driving too fast.
How about tackling that instead, since it’s the real problem?
Otherwise we might as well say that all pedestrians should be prosecuted for putting themselves at risk by walking along our roads.
At 35mph, a collision with a car will kill 50% of pedestrians. At 20mph, the risk of dying is only 1 in 40. So how about we reduce the speed limit to 20mph rather than criminalize the parents of children who walk to school?
Fat chance of that happening. Because here in Guernsey, the car is king.
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What’s wrong with kids walking to school? If more did it there would be far less traffic during peak periods.
I walked to school at the age of 5 and I didn’t suffer and it was the same for my friends.
The only school-friends I lost through road accidents were those who were riding motorcycles or driving cars as teenagers.
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Was allowed to walk home alone when I was 10! Oh I loved walking down Brock Road, cross at Elm Grove then through traffic free Candie Gardens.
No way would this be safe today. Due to driver attitudes. Most don’t give a darn to pedestrians and think their Big Vehicles have priority over all!
Shish! Walk your children to school, nothing like a hike to keep parents fit
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young criminals?! why are they criminals exactly?
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Isn’t this called survival of the fittest?
If the parents aren’t smart enough to walk their children to school then there is obviously a gene deficit which will be passed on!!
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Should a parent wait until their child is killed by a drunk driver or abducted by a paedophile before they wise up?
Everything is possible & it’s better to be safe rather than sorry. I am well aware some parents couldn’t care less.
How about a group of them taking turns in organising a walking bus. One early rise out of a week isn’t that much to ask from even the lousiest parent.
I feel there is quite possibly more to this story than meets the eye. The police would not wish to create something for nothing.
A sex offender could very easily abduct a child on their way to school. Be on the next boat out of the island & the parent would be none the wiser until the child is a long way away.
Five or six year old children are not mature enough to be left unaccompanied. Least of all on dangerous roads as narrow as what we have.
Might just well be the police have a sexual predator in their sights.
These guilty parents should do more before one is left to deal with the consequences of their lazyness.
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yes….. and next week there will be a story about how children are too “cotton-wooled” these days and not allowed take risks like climbing a tree etc.
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Well said Paul. We don’t know the reasons behind the police concern about these young walkers. I am sure traffic speed and density is a concern but there could well be other reasons which the police do not wish to be made public. I don’t care how sensible a five year old is, he or she should be accompanied by an adult.
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When I saw the headline I thought I’d disagree, but now I see the ages they’r talking about I’m not so sure. I’m all up for these kids walking, but I agree that while they’re so little they need supervision from an adult or older sibling.
When I was a teaching assistant I saw some pretty inconsistant behaviour in 5-6 year olds, great if some have the sense to be alone but it’s still pretty young to negotiate crossing the road etc. Even if there are pavements/crossings all the way, if a car is parked on the pavement they might have to walk into the road, will they know to cross properly? Will they been seen? I’d argue 5-6 year olds often aren’t TALL enough to be going onto modern roads unsupervised!
Of course – if we could get parents and their kids out of their cars and get everyone walking/cycling that would be a nice, simple and greener answer. Walking busses are a great idea, everyone would get around much easier. Someone needs to do something about this. Why not lobby your local school with sensible suggestions?
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I wouldnt let my 7 year old walk to school alone, I put my shoes on and take a walk with him, its a great opportunity to take five mins out of your day to have a conversation about the world around you.
Not only that, but teaching road/pavement saftey by example seems the logical way? I agree with Prev re the walking busses – teach kids that you dont need a car to get down the road!
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For goodness sake. There are no paedophiles cruising our streets abducting children! This sort of thing happens so infrequently, and you shouldn’t let fear of such ridiculously unlikely scenarios rule your life.
A meteor might crash into the earth – live in a bunker on tinned food. A tsunami might crash into Guernsey – only live in the upper parishes in a lifeboat. Your headache might be a brain tumour – buy your own MRI scanner and use it each day…
The blanket attitude of “better safe than sorry” would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic.
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I just cannot believe some of the rubbish that has been written in this thread.
A five year old is an infant, they stay in the infants class’s until they are eleven. To let an infant out on their own these days with the roads busy as they are especialy at school times, is to me just downright irresponsible. The Police have got it right.
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If I were a Guernsey resident I would be opposing the interference of the police in this matter. Parents must be trusted to make the right decisions for their children. If you let the police have a say in family decisions like this then I would fear that is the thin end of the wedge. I would be concerned that there is an agenda to start interfering in family life in other ways.
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Have the police nothing better to do!
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I think its disgusting letting 5 years olds walk to school alone, do you parents not understand the risks??? Not only can they get run over by people rushing to work in the bloody guernsey traffic..you probley wouldn’t recieve a call straight away if the worse happened as they would need to check who’s child it was!! if it was my child in an accident I would want to know and be there!!Having a 10 year old myself I STILL drop him right to the gates before work even if I am late!!At least you know your child/children are safe. There maybe less traffic on the roads if parents didn’t drive their children to school however if mum’s work there is no choice!!
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OH….MY…GOD, are some of these comments serious?!!
FIVE year olds walking to school unsupervised is OK?!!
So, it’s ‘OK’ to let a VERY small child walk to school in traffic that is NOW (not 20/30 yrs ago, times have changed and traffic increased HUGELY) so dense that our roads look like car parks, populated by drivers that may or may not be stressed out/not paying attention/p*ssed from the night before/young and inexperienced/old and slow to react /unfamiliar with our roads/driving 4×4′s and large vehicles ON THE PAVEMENT if you please (whilst on mobile/not) as the roads are so small and their vehicles are so large?
It’s seriously been a while since I’ve witnessed the apparent ignorance and naivety of so many…..
you’re right about one thing, though, it shouldn’t be a Police matter, it should be a people having some damn COMMON SENSE matter.
Good grief.
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Bit confused by all this “have the police not got anything better to do?” stuff – I’m sure it took one officer no longer than 15 minutes to call the press up and say:
“yeah it’s Sandra-Jane, we were wondering if you’d run an article about not letting little kids walk to school unsupervised? Yes. Sarah-Jane Snowdon. It’s the Public Protection Unit. Er, Detective Sergeant. No, not that old, about 5 or 6 years old! Yeah I know, crazy isn’t it? Yes. No. Figures? Erm, not really, just that officers have commented over tea that they’re noticing more, but we’re seeing more than last year. Yeah, of course, fine if they’re supervised. Yep, Yes, but we don’t want to put children off walking. 9-10 or so. Yeah. just to get the message out there about the little kids. Yeah – erm, just that they should be supervised, that’s it really. Great, thanks, give me a call if you need anything else. Yep, okay, cheerie!”
I’d not say that was much of a waste of time, and it’s not like the press is overrun with stuff to say!
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Well Scarlett, if the problem is with poor driving behaviour and driver numbers, how come the answer is to criminalize children and parents?
How about sorting out the driving instead?
But no, as I pointed out earlier, since the car is king. How dare anyone suggest that drivers’ rights be curtailed in any way for pedestrians’ benefit…
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Personally I think it is unaccetable to allow a 5 year old to walk out alone, but everyone to their own opinion, the only confusion I have is the amount of people who still think Guernsey is a haven of no crime, the Island has changed substantially, I am in my 50′s and very aware of who is around when I go walking alone, so open your eyes and see what Guernsey is becoming, not really any safer than the mainland these days.
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Pete writes “I just cannot believe some of the rubbish that has been written in this thread.
A five year old is an infant, they stay in the infants class’s until they are eleven”
Except that they don’t. Infants: 4-7. Juniors: 7-11.
In fact, the usual dictionary definition of an infant is a child below the age at which they can walk.
Either way, your argument is without merit, since the name you choose to refer to a five or 11 year old has no bearing on whether that child should be allowed to walk to school alone.
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Scarlett is correct with his observations and I agree that we should be looking at preventative measures too but that does mean tackling the issue of having wandering 5 year olds as well as unsafe drivers. As well as unsafe drivers there will be drivers out there who are following the code to the t but I’ve seen children dart out in front of cars, luckily have never seen an accident but it can all too easily happen. Unsafe drivers are not all going to be taken off the roads overnight; however, we can use common sense and supervise our children to school. Whether that be personally by the parent or by older children.
As other posters have pointed out cars drive on pavements, speed, have large bumpers and cannot always see if something small darts out in front of them. Perhaps the child darts left instead or right to get out the way of an oncoming vehicle, perhaps they get spooked if a car backfires or a particularly loud motorbike drives past (I still do!). Parents have a duty of care to their children and I’m unsure what the point is of the comment survival of the fittest. “oh poor Johnny got run over…ah but he didn’t have the smarts so was probably for the best…”
Having a 5 year old walk to school on their own is neglectful – In my opinion.
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“And police are advising parents that those under the age of eight or nine must be accompanied – especially near busy roads.”
Interesting statement which leads me to pose the question: Can someone from the police please clarify what the law is? Such a woolly explanation means there either isn’t a law or the police aren’t actually sure about what that law is, which doesn’t leave much hope for the rest of us. If there is a law, I’d like to know:
(a) Is it for those under the age of 8, or under the age of 9?
(b) Is the law different depending on whether you are near a busy road? How would you define busy in a legal context? Rohais on a Monday morning, or the M25 at rush hour?
I’m with Charlie here. Everyone has a different opinion and parents should be trusted to do what’s best for their children. We don’t need this increasing level of state interference in matters of common sense.
Nobody knows where is child is at better than its parents and no parent who cares about their child would willingly put that child’s life in danger. Part of growing up however is an increased exposure to risk at an appropriate time in the child’s development. Not only does that time differ with each child but there are varying degrees of risk that we consider acceptable.
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Sorting out the driving? What, ALL the bad drivers?
Well, that’s the dream, isn’t it, James, but sadly, as it is with many things in the real world, it doesn’t actually work that way.
As it is, parents are the ones who are responsible for their offspring, which is why I have recently armed little Scarlett with a machine gun, some mace, and a knife and lent him my motorbike (specially modified so his little legs can reach) to take his Nan’s weekly prescriptions (that strangely smell and look like sweets) to her.
I have explained that he mustn’t speed, must pay attention to all road signage, and watch for pedestrians, that he’s only to use the weaponry if he feels he is in danger, and that he mustn’t even think of trying the temptingly yummy looking tablets…….
and having had the wealth of experience and comprehension of such matters that 5 whole years on this planet has brought him, I’ve got no doubt he’ll heed every word, so I’m not worried at all….:0) !!
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Thank you James, as I said I cannot believe the rubbish that is written.
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I am a UK reader as I used to live on the Island.
Here we have “30″ for a reason, I agree with the person saying to reduce the speed limit.
But I know Guernsey and you could be waiting years for that Law to pass through the courts.
They will probably have to waste more tax payers money to do a report on this first.
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Thank you James, I still can’t believe the rubbish the likes of you write.
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I have read some of these comments, and can’t seriously believe that some of you think that it is ok for children of this age to walk to school unsupervised. I cannot imagine how any parent in their right mind can allow this. I have seen many young children playing in the area where i live and although they may seem to have a basic sense of the danger elements of traffic, they can easily be distracted and i have often seen youngsters run out in front of cars. I have a seven year old child and i certainly would not allow him to walk to school on his own as i know how spontaneous he can be. I do think that the police have got this right they are only trying to protect these youngsters. What would joe public be saying if a child was run over etc, they would then be saying the parents should have had more sense. In my mind this just amounts to pure laziness and neglect.
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5 years old is very very young. You wouldn’t let them make a hot drink with a kettle or light a fire. Walking to school on these roads is dangerous – especially the blind zebra crossing right on the corner of Rue Du Galaad on the way to La Mare De Carteret School.
Why don’t some of the parents pre-arrange to take some of their children’s friends who walk to school with them in their car? Not all parents can afford to start work after 9 when the kids are at school. However, if you have a child then you a responsible for the safety and well-being of that child – despite everything else you need to do in a day. Including work arrangements.
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Daft as it is to send them alone it may be safer,if 5 or 6 were walking along the road laughing an joking the guernsey police would surely come down heavy on them for, loitering breach of the peace,or the usual whatever pops into the over active mind at the time .I think i is safer to ferry the little vipers around in singles .Come on what and would we know how to use a clear road,and at least the kids are safe with the police watching them all day.Your house may be getting robbed cant have it both ways .
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I have to say that I’m more worried about the youngsters I’ve seen out on the road on their bikes.
I’ve seen kids weaving around, no helmets, thinking they’re cool, playing at giving hand signals when they clearly have no idea of road rules. Cycling Proficiency isn’t done until Y5, and then it’s voluntary.
There isn’t a uniform age when common sense kicks in, and even with older kids several of them together often encourage each other to muck about (same with youngsters on scooters).
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Well I have enough worry to go around. I don’t worry any more or less but am quite frankly just worried that there seems to be 5 year olds wandering to school (and wherever else for that matter) unsupervised.
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