tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post7907203970585595268..comments2024-03-27T07:18:39.229-05:00Comments on In Medias Res: Walking to School, Slackerdom, and Other Revolutionary ActsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-32894908142935665512009-05-01T16:23:00.000-05:002009-05-01T16:23:00.000-05:00I'm in a somewhat uncommon situation, being on...I'm in a somewhat uncommon situation, being on the leading edge of Gen X demographic (born in '63) yet also being a parent to a Ge Z (just turned 3 this week) child. This seems to impart some rather stick-in-the-mud sensibilities to my wife & me that most of our peers who're younger don't understand.<br /><br />We grew up in a time where there was one TV (with 3 channels) and one telephone in the house. We didn't have technological constraints holding us back or stealing our ability to reason. Instead, we had just the opposite: our bicycles were sheer, unadulterated freedom - liberty on 2 wheels.<br /><br />Y'know, as parents strive to make their kids' lives 'better' and 'easier,' we're actually crippling them!<br /><br />Walking to school - or wherever - serves another purpose that may be all the more important now that children seem to be perpetually plugged-in... It gives kids some input downtime. Time to process. Opportunity to mull what's been absorbed.<br /><br />I've got another few years before this becomes a relevant matter for us, but we'd like for our son to walk to school. However, we do live on a very busy 4 lane street, so safety from that perspective is a legitimate concern. Maybe we can figure out how to walk him halfway to the elementary school that he'll attend (which is only about 4 blocks away). The heavily-trafficked street would be less an issue for a pre-teen, but I'm more than a little antsy about letting a small child navigate that solo.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02101289328294242999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-2259461492240309302009-04-30T10:15:00.000-05:002009-04-30T10:15:00.000-05:00Bob and Matt, good points all. The big SUVs and 4x...Bob and Matt, good points all. The big SUVs and 4x4s do make an already potentially dangerous situation worse. And most cities are much better equiped to sustain the choice of walking, at least if you can get into some of the "built-in" neighborhoods. That's another reason why we consider ourselves lucky (or wise, or whatever): rather than heading out to more distant suburbs, where the promise of isolation and big lawns means minimal sidewalks and no where to walk to on them even if they're there, we bought a home in a relatively stable old neighborhood that's hemmed in on all sides by streets with shops and schools. It's dense enough that some people do choose to walk--enough people, so far, to avoid the tipping problem some speak of, where you just <I>can't</I> slack off because the structuring society around you has eliminated it around you. (Case in point: the elementary school that gives up on cross-walk guards, because hardly anyone needs them anymore.)Russell Arben Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03366800726360134194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-16141539072238316832009-04-30T07:28:00.000-05:002009-04-30T07:28:00.000-05:00Matt makes a good point about the traffic increase...Matt makes a good point about the traffic increase being due primarily to kids being driven by their parents.<br />There is also a huge tendency here to drive in a large 4x4 totally unsuited to our suburban area that presents greater danger to the kids and those of us who walk to work (to quote Bryan Ferry - 'I'm just a lucky guy' (one for Friday Russell?).<br /><br />You also have to contend with bad parking that means huge traffic delays for those who just have to drive to their offices.Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01521511832426982810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-60133688357051659362009-04-28T09:49:00.000-05:002009-04-28T09:49:00.000-05:00My younger brother's daughter (7 or so, I think) g...My younger brother's daughter (7 or so, I think) goes to a grade school where, when I was a kid, most people would have walked to it. (I used to ride my bike to it to play on it's neat playground equipment.) Now, many or most get rides, with increased traffic being the reason given. But most of the increased traffic is due to parents given kids rides. Sad. <br /><br />In my current neighborhood, in Harlem, most kids walk to school, it seems. (Some might take the subway, but most seem to walk.) I see them, usually walking in small groups but sometimes alone, as I walk to the subway in the morning. The school is a neighborhood one, and it seems that the kids who go to it live near-by. In many ways the city is better for this sort of thing than are the suburbs these days, at least in dense cities.Matthttp://www.ssrn.com/author=410582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-22454749598791798002009-04-28T09:10:00.000-05:002009-04-28T09:10:00.000-05:00Bob,
If you walked alone, you got a chance to day...Bob,<br /><br /><I>If you walked alone, you got a chance to daydream or be 'slack'.</I>Absolutely! I can't even begin to calculate just how much of my imaginary world--and hence, just how much of my creative, mental, or even moral development--happened as slowly made my way, through sun and rain and snow, past trees and poking my head into rain tunnels, both to and from school.Russell Arben Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03366800726360134194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-80463687090179640442009-04-28T08:56:00.000-05:002009-04-28T08:56:00.000-05:00Good post Russell. I am about 20 years older than ...Good post Russell. I am about 20 years older than you and the choices for my parents were less obvious when it came to which school and how you got there i.e you went to a local school and walked there.<br />Yes, things may have been a bit different in terms of traffic being lighter etc but walking to school was also about acquiring life skills. Not only the useful ones such as how to cross the road (must have learnt something as I am still here!) but how to communicate with friends and others, observing the world around, pacing your journey to get to school on time and importantly overcoming any fears about the world around you. If you walked alone, you got a chance to daydream or be 'slack'. <br />My daughter, aged 17, walked/rode on a 50-50 basis and is worried about going to a gig due to swine-flu (only 2 cases in the UK) whereas her elder brothers both walked 100% and puzzle over her fears, I am sure because they learned to see 'real' fears whereas perhaps she did not.<br />On a lighter note, you have cross-walk guards whilst we have 'lollipop men/ladies' here in UK! This is on account of their warning sign is similar in shape to a lollipop or popsicle. <br />RegardsBobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01521511832426982810noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-59895859854359129302009-04-28T08:53:00.000-05:002009-04-28T08:53:00.000-05:00Caleb,
Thanks for the link to the poem--like just...Caleb,<br /><br />Thanks for the link to the poem--like just about all of Berry's stuff, it's haunting: "My tasks lie in their places where I left them, asleep like cattle"--and thanks also for the thoughtful comment. We too have had to address concerns about their safety, and we'll keep addressing it as long as they live under our roof, I suppose. But in particular, when it comes to your kids finding their own way home, especially as winter comes on and it gets dark earlier, you start noticing things like just how many of the streetlights between your home and the church building don't always work, or how fast people drive in the parking lot of the apartmen complex they have to cross to get to home. It becomes part of your internal calculation--what activities will we allow them to participate in, and how late can they be out, before one of us will have to go and accompany them home, and is it worth the hassle? So far, we've been fortunate, both in the sense that we've taught our kids to be capable and that we've lucked into a good living situation here in Wichita. Our oldest walks to middle school, and our second walks to elementary school. Next year, our third daughter will start kindergarten, and I'm sure Melissa or I will walk with her for a while. But eventually, we're going to trust her older sister to take responsibility for getting her there and back home again.Russell Arben Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03366800726360134194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-16269566254396258052009-04-28T07:15:00.000-05:002009-04-28T07:15:00.000-05:00By the way, the "word verification" for that last ...By the way, the "word verification" for that last comment was "carcog"--a neologism that a quasi-Luddite could probably appreciate.Calebhttp://clippings.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907752.post-30928763026560310922009-04-28T07:14:00.000-05:002009-04-28T07:14:00.000-05:00Thanks for this post. It reminded me of this poem-...Thanks for this post. It reminded me of <A HREF="http://clippings.tumblr.com/post/101032378/i-go-among-trees-and-sit-still-all-my-stirring" REL="nofollow">this poem</A>--especially the connection that Berry draws between "slacking," as you put it, and letting go of fear. As you note, so much of what drives resistance to things like letting kids walk to school or taking an hour to walk to work comes down to fear--yet slowing down is the antidote to fear.<br /><br />Of course, I'm preaching to myself here. We live a mile from the elementary school where my daughter will go to kindergarten in two and a half years. Right now we often walk there with her to use the playground, and I also see other kids walking both to that school and to the nearby Middle School. But I know when she becomes old enough to walk by herself, I'll feel the pull of fear and wonder about letting her go alone.Calebhttp://clippings.tumblr.comnoreply@blogger.com