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The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

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Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#151

Post by bink »

mmooss wrote: post #125
aklemm wrote: post #5

Well that headline sums it up. After 10 years of dealing with it and wondering "how the f did we get to this point", it's satisfying to hear it called what it is. A small win in our family was in my son's final year of elementary school when he finally decided to try walking home 1.5 miles; that Spring was a delight for him. He was properly decompressed and had logged a minimum amount of physical activity for good sl…

Everyone here should watch the Japanese TV series, Old Enough! . 2-4 year olds are sent out on their own to run errands, etc. Yes, really, 2-4 years old. And they succeed and are fine. https://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/2011/02/old-enough.html

I really dislike it when Japan is brought up as a comparison with the US, especially when it comes to crime or schooling. The cultures, poverty levels, and crime rates are so vastly different that it's never helpful.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#152

Post by [deleted] »

ainiriand wrote: post #85
mmmlinux wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"he decided" is probably one of the issues here. back in the day it would have been "this is what your doing now kid"

That kind of upbringing worked out really well for the boomers, we are in this mess because of that. Kids should have agency and independence, but also a feeling of safety, trust, and security. You cannot force a kid to work against their own safety instinct because of your own selfish comfort.

[deleted]

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#153

Post by messe »

EA-3167 wrote: post #149
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'll take a car line Push this out thirty years. One set of kids was navigating the real world since they were 4. The other has been mollycoddled with overparenting and screen time. Which cohort do you think will be happier, better adjusted and better off? Then realise that it's not uncommon to see grade schoolers taking the subway to and from school in New York.

There's more to growing up and being "well adjusted" than walking around as a child, for example the freedom to explore who you are without the "nail that sticks up is hammered down" treatment. I also enjoy a certain amount of diversity (in every sense, from thought to people) that simply isn't tolerated in Japan.

Forget Japan for a moment. Walking to and from school unattended is perfectly normal in many countries in the EU. The normalisation of car journeys in the US is bizarre .

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#154

Post by Aurornis »

lvl155 wrote: post #127
01100011 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are raising your kids in a neighborhood that is prone to this level of violence?

Kids go missing roughly every minute in this country. I am not risking anything to feel good about implied negligence.

About 95% of children reported missing to the FBI were found to have run away.

Child abduction by strangers is extremely rare: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wisconsin-missinggirl-dat...

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#155

Post by lotsofpulp »

toast0 wrote: post #54
lotsofpulp wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US has a lot of 4ft+ hood height pick up trucks with drivers on their phone. Basically, all the cars are heavier, higher, and cause more damage. Although, that specific picture’s grassy area is sufficiently large that there is room to walk far away from the cars.

We used to have smaller pick up trucks, but they were eliminated by fuel efficiency rules that require larger trucks. :P

I don’t buy that. People like to sit higher than others, and be in a bigger vehicle. It’s a power/status thing.

That is why an SUV is chosen over a minivan.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#156

Post by aqme28 »

Aurornis wrote: post #103
me_smith wrote: post #63

My mom walked me to school until I was in 4th grade. She was a single mom and needed to work, so she decided to let me walk to and from school from then on. I made friends on that walk. 30+ years later, I am still friends with many of them even though we live hours away from each other. I'm not a parent, so I don't know what I don't know; but, I've observed so many kids being shuffled between school, events, "play da…

There's an entire section and even a chart in the article that explains why this is different now In 1969 only about 30% of kids lived too far away from school for walking to be a realistic option. In 2009 (and today) that numbers is around 80%. Walking to and from school is great if you can do it. Most people cannot do it.

why are schools farther away now? That's interesting.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#157

Post by dylan604 »

aqme28 wrote: post #145
hombre_fatal wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The traffic is caused by vehicles queuing up in line, period. The system you describe isn't necessary to cause the traffic. It's not the root cause.

If children can't leave without their parent, then they can't walk home, or bike, or take a bus.

That's a lame take from this. Kids/parents fill out forms that state the typical way the students arrive/depart the school. If they are on a bus route, those kids exit the school from a different exit (side/rear of building) so that the buses queuing up do not interfere with the car queue. Walkers typically exit yet a different set of doors.

The parents that arrive early but have kids that are not ready to be picked up is precisely why the queues get out of control. At least with this method the cars are moved along much faster. If a car arrives in the queue but the kiddo is not yet found, when the car reaches the front it is asked to move to a holding spot out of the queue--much like fast food places do when your order is going to hold up everyone else in line.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#158

Post by alistairSH »

Aurornis wrote: post #132
Sohcahtoa82 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I understand that we live in a different world Do we, though? Kidnappings have been dropping steadily for decades, though maybe it's because kids are indoors more often now. Though FWIW, most kidnappings are from an insane relative, not the random guy promising candy in his van. I was allowed to play outside unsupervised when I was only 9 years old in 1991, though maybe being on the Keflavik, Iceland US Navy base p…

> Do we, though? Yes we do, and it's covered in the article. It's not kidnappers. It's distance to school. 80% of kids live too far to walk. It's not that their parents are afraid of kidnappers, it's that they literally cannot feasibly walk to and from school every day.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10917142/

And yet, even for students who live within 0.25 mile of school, a minority walk.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#159

Post by JumpCrisscross »

EA-3167 wrote: post #149
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'll take a car line Push this out thirty years. One set of kids was navigating the real world since they were 4. The other has been mollycoddled with overparenting and screen time. Which cohort do you think will be happier, better adjusted and better off? Then realise that it's not uncommon to see grade schoolers taking the subway to and from school in New York.

There's more to growing up and being "well adjusted" than walking around as a child, for example the freedom to explore who you are without the "nail that sticks up is hammered down" treatment. I also enjoy a certain amount of diversity (in every sense, from thought to people) that simply isn't tolerated in Japan.

> more to growing up and being "well adjusted" than walking around as a child

Sure. Which of those cohorts do you think has more freedom?

> also enjoy a certain amount of diversity (in every sense, from thought to people) that simply isn't tolerated in Japan

You’d have a point if Japan were the only culture in the world with competent 4-year olds. They’re not. We’re the exception. To the extent there is a bubble it’s the American culture of isolating and surveilling kids to and from school.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#160

Post by DavidPeiffer »

mmooss wrote: post #125
aklemm wrote: post #5

Well that headline sums it up. After 10 years of dealing with it and wondering "how the f did we get to this point", it's satisfying to hear it called what it is. A small win in our family was in my son's final year of elementary school when he finally decided to try walking home 1.5 miles; that Spring was a delight for him. He was properly decompressed and had logged a minimum amount of physical activity for good sl…

Everyone here should watch the Japanese TV series, Old Enough! . 2-4 year olds are sent out on their own to run errands, etc. Yes, really, 2-4 years old. And they succeed and are fine. https://www.ntv.co.jp/english/pc/2011/02/old-enough.html

In grad school, a friend from China explained that he stayed home on his own starting at like age 3. He was going down to the market outside his high rise apartment, buying basic groceries, and entertaining himself all day. It blew my mind, he saw nothing wrong with it.
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