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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

#381

Post by jhot »

aqme28 wrote: post #156
Aurornis wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

At least where I live, most families are moving to new development areas to get more square footage per dollar. So the schools in the established part of town are seeing declining attendance and having to consolidate to prevent high administrative overhead. The new development areas are car-only hellscapes (neighborhoods on random parcels of land that have been bought up and developed with no forward thinking) with pickup lines as described in the article.

It's also fashionable for parents to choose a school across town for arbitrary reasons in order to signal that they care more about their children (in my opinion). We have tried advocating for the local options and the positives it has had for getting to know others in the community but most don't even consider.

I'm lucky to live in an older neighborhood with an elementary school, middle school, grocery store, and a few other shops. There are also safe ways for kids to cross from adjacent neighborhoods so there is still a lot of autonomy for the kids getting to and from school.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#382

Post by robertlagrant »

jamesblonde wrote: post #272
robertlagrant wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My kids having been cycling a mile each way to school since they were 5 years old. It's definitely doable, although we're fortunate enough that we aren't both working long days, and are well off enough that school is that close.

A mile is not close. Disclaimer: I am european. Grew up in ireland. Lots of cars, but unless you're in the countryside or its raining, it's generally walk/cycle to school. In Stockholm now, you are 'shamed' if you drive to school to drop your kids off. "Normal" parents have cargo bikes to bring their small kids to school if it's a long distance (like 500m or more).

> A mile is not close

It's close enough for a 5-year-old to cycle, which is my point.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#383

Post by fatnoah »

alwa wrote: post #208
fatnoah wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I know I’m behind the times, but I was surprised recently when, at an elementary school in the US, they showed me painted lines on the floor of the classroom, indicating the zones out of the line of fire for somebody shooting through the small, jail-like window in the door It all seems overdone and ridiculous, but when you get a phone call from your child as they sprint from the school building to the safety of the…

Uff. I can't even imagine. I'm so sorry for you and your kids alike. And I guess it's not the precautionary floor lines that strike me, it's that this style of violence really is so pervasive—and we've concluded that it's such an inevitable part of childhood now—that the reasonable thing to do is to reify it in the physical architecture of their day-to-day lives. And in training young minds to imagine themselves unar…

> it's that this style of violence really is so pervasive

Agree, and it's tragic that this is were we are in the US, and the only concrete action we're willing to take (thoughts and prayers don't count) is to try to mitigate the impact of a shooting rather than preventing it.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#384

Post by robertlagrant »

cogman10 wrote: post #316
devilbunny wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must have a lot of schools. I walked or biked about a mile each way to school starting in third grade (age 8-9), and the only reason I didn't do it a year earlier was that the two other kids who would accompany me were a year younger. I only got dropped off if it was raining (that can be quite severe and thunderstorms are common) or if I was so late that I couldn't make it. In the latter case, I walked home. Four…

Housing in Europe is very different from what it is in the US. A lot of it will look something like this [1]. In England, it's actually somewhat unusual to have any space between two homes. Semi and fully detached homes command a fairly high price. Roads were also not built for cars, so they tend to be much narrower than what you'd find in the US. All that means you'll find a much higher population density. You can e…

I was brought up in the UK and not all of it is a city centre. My schools were miles away. We lived in the suburbs.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#386

Post by mmooss »

ryandrake wrote: post #380
cogman10 wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

CPS agents didn't come in guns ablaze (that aren't armed). It's a simple investigation and interview with the parents. It's quite literally the same thing as a cop checking up on someone for a reported domestic disturbance. It's not as instant jail sentence or separation of parents from their kids. Like I said, those are literally tools of last resort. Things have to be really bad. Like, for example, a kid that shows…

Family separation is the most extreme outcome. There is a long spectrum of stress and uncertainty between "CPS merely knocks on your door and leaves" and "Forcible family separation." You really don't want to land anywhere on that spectrum. Encounters with the government and law enforcement tend to escalate depending on how busy/belligerent/bored their agents are, so what might be a routine "checking up" today can sn…

> depending on how busy/belligerent/bored their agents are

Or on how caring, responsible, and capable they are. You're making a lot of assumptions about a lot of people.

People say these things casually but let me point out that it's not at all trivial: Demonization is the first step used by the right-wing to oppress and harm people: Democrats, liberals, LGBTQ (esp trans people), immigrants, FBI, CDC, any regulators, high-ranking government officials in national defense, government workers, city residents in blue states (when will the National Guard be sent in?), ...

The casual spread of such ideas, which makes them more insidious because few people notice their significance, is a big part of demonization.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#387

Post by mmooss »

bitsage wrote: post #328
mitthrowaway2 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It takes a lot more than legislation, but Japan's modern culture is in large part the product of its education system. It has a strong focus on teaching exactly that sort of prosocial behaviour.

Even then, Japan’s homogeneity allows its government to teach a certain lifestyle to kids with no backlash. That’s unworkable here in the US.

> Japan’s homogeneity allows its government to teach a certain lifestyle to kids with no backlash.

Are they teaching 'lifestyle' - how specifically? Does the US not teach it? And do you have any evidence that homogeniety has something to do with it?

Often "homogeneity" is a dog whistle for blaming minorities.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#388

Post by mmooss »

subharmonicon wrote: post #363
mmooss wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

My dad grew up in 1930’s Detroit and would tell us about how when he was five his mother would give him a little money and have him walk a few blocks to the baker to get a loaf of bread. I grew up in the 70’s where after maybe eight we had pretty much free rein. I rode my bike several blocks away and crossed two busy four lane roads to get candy at 7-11. The world is no more dangerous now than it was then, and yet he…

> The world is no more dangerous now than it was then

It's a lot safer than the 1970s in most places.

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