Walking to school alone: Preparing children to make the journey safely

Travelling to and from school independently can be the first real marker of growing up for many children. And for parents, it can understandably be a great source of worry.

But, seeing your child being more responsible for themselves and feeling their first taste of freedom can be a rewarding time and needn’t be fraught with anxiety.

Here we offer some top tips to help your child make the transition safely and give you the confidence that they’re well equipped.

Peak time for accidents

Travelling to and from school alone or with friends brings more risk. As children start secondary school, the number of journeys they take may increase and they may be travelling longer distances or using busier roads.

Child pedestrian accidents do peak at age 12, linked to independent travel. And unfortunately, over half of serious child pedestrian accidents occur between 3pm to 7pm, coinciding with after-school hours. But remember these are far from inevitable.

Why are accidents so common at this age?

• Children of this age can still find it difficult to judge speed and distance as accurately as an adult.
• Their smaller height makes them less visible to drivers and means they may not be able to see over cars and other obstacles clearly if crossing in unsafe places.
• They can be easily distracted by their devices and listening to music and step out without looking.
• Their behaviour can be unpredictable if they’re full of pent up energy and excited to be out of school or they’re in a rush.
• They might take more risks when they’re with friends.

When can children walk to school alone?

In the UK, there isn’t a minimum legal age to walk to school alone. But your school may have rules in place to help keep children safe.

You know your child best. And the age they will be ready to walk to school on their own depends on many things such as environment, distance to school, and their confidence and maturity levels.

Getting ready to make the transition

Before your child starts walking to school independently you can help prepare them by:

Exposure

Give children as much supervised experience of crossing roads as you can before they start to go out and about alone. Remember they’ll copy what you do, so set a good example and explain how to cross the road safely. Getting your child into safe habits early will really help when they’re more independent. Take it in turns to be the leader crossing the road so they can practice.

Judging speed and distance

Children have difficulty judging speed and distance until they are at least eight. Older children are still at risk. Have a competition to see who can guess how many seconds before an approaching car passes. Remind your child that if they’re ever not sure, the safest thing to do is to wait until the traffic passes.

Plan

Encourage them to sit down and plan their route to school. They can map out what route to take and talk you through it. They can think about which friends they might travel with too. Remember the quickest route won’t necessarily be the safest.

If it seems they haven’t thought something through or you think something needs changing ask them to consider alternatives. Can they see a different road, bus route or direction to go in? Or can they give themselves more time so they’re not rushing and then taking risks?

Build confidence

You can help build their confidence (and yours in them) by practising the route together or starting with easier routes and building up to the school route. Present your child with different scenarios along the way to help them prepare for the unexpected.

Ask questions

Help them think through consequences and talk to them about what they would do in different scenarios. Focus less on instructing them on the rules of the road and more on listening and asking questions to encourage them to think for themselves:

For example,

• Where are the safe places to cross the road?
• What might happen if they kick their ball rather than holding on to it and it goes into the road?
• What should they do if they see their bus and they’re on the other side of the road?
• How will they tackle pressure from friends to do something they know is dangerous?

Think about devices

Devices are a major distraction. So, encourage your child to put their phone in their bag or pocket on the way home and take headphones out while crossing roads so they can concentrate.

You could get them to put their headphones on and, with music playing, ask how much traffic they could hear coming. Or, have them read messages on their phone while you fire questions at them. This shows how hard it is to concentrate when they’re distracted.

Consider the journey home

It’s really important to think about the journey home from school.  It’s when the risk is highest as children bolt out of school full of pent up energy after being sat in a classroom for long periods of time.

Talk to your child about how they handle themselves on the journey home.  Keep emphasising that grown up behaviour is responsible behaviour.  If they need to let off steam before travelling home, is there a place they can go to run around or play football with their mates before heading home?  Or are there particular friends they want to travel home with who they can rely on?

If you’re able to, check in with them when they first start travelling home from school with a gentle reminder to stay aware of what’s going on around them.

Final reminders

Equip your child with simple reminders for when they are unsure to keep them safe.  For example:

• Remember the quickest route isn’t necessarily the safest.
• Reassure them that being late is better than being hurt.
• Heads up when walking home, not glued to their phone.
• Get them to ask themselves ‘would I do this with Mum or Dad here?’. If the answer is ‘no’ that’s their answer.