My son is 14 very soon and for the first time ever he's taken himself fully off to school. We've taken him half way to meet friends etc but he's never gone from the doorstep.
But the lure of a new bike and him wanting to ride to school has won the day and off he's gone.
School is only 1 1/2 miles away too and yet it still feels very odd and my wife and I are very anxious about it!
And I'm not quite sure what to do with the extra time I have before work. I won't have to pick him up after either although he has sometimes got himself home before.
As a side note, the school bike shed has changed from my day. No longer filled with rusty BMX style bikes and the like. All £££ pedal assist and nice full sus mountain bikes these days.
Great, innit?
We were fortunate that in Dunblane ours could walk from late primary age. It frees up huge time and teaches them a lot of independence.
Same happened to us when my lad started secondary school last summer. He and his mates wanted to walk together and it was hard to let go. Up until that point I'df always walked him and his sister up to the primary school gates.
This coincided with my wife switching careers and going to work at my daughter's primary school so I'm not even needed for that school run!
Saying that, my lad got bored of walking pretty quickly and will nab a lift more often than not. 😆
14!?
When I were a lad we were walking to school at 6 years old - in shorts, through snow drifts, pouring rain, howling gales and all we had was a leather satchel with a jam sandwich and a duffle coat. And you'd have a key to the house.
...kids today - pffft! 😜
You wait til you're hanging around outside a pub in [your local town/city] thinking of which one to go to next and someone jumps on your back going "ey up old man!!"...and you realise it's your 17 year old* son who is out with his mates going to discospoons**.....
*Yes I know he's underage, but weren't we all once. TBF he's done his homework and knows his fake ID inside out!!
**I didn't go with him to discspoons....
Yay. I still feel like we've just got out of the full day wraparound childcare phase.. but actually it's been 7 years.
My son still takes himself to school every day and he's thirty five.
PE teacher
Mine dropped out of school two years ago… and one of them isn’t even a teenager
I've been free of the school run for a year now, with my daughter walking from when she started Year 5 (start of middle school). I kinda miss the walk with her, and the walk back with a couple of other Dads, but an extra 30 mins to myself in the morning is also nice!
My son is 14 very soon and for the first time ever he's taken himself fully off to school.
Genuine Q - that feels really old to be doing that for the first time, is this normal these days?
Genuine Q - that feels really old to be doing that for the first time, is this normal these days?
I agree – our two girls occasionally walked to school with friends in the final two years of primary school (nearly 2 miles walk each way), and have done so always since starting secondary school (about 1/2 mile away). For context, they are 16 now, so it wasn't in the 70s/80s when we all walked to school from an early age.
Stop it you're all making me feel old* & I thought we were all of a similar age 😔
*youngest son started secondary school over 20yrs ago
Genuine Q - that feels really old to be doing that for the first time, is this normal these days?
While my daughter was walking to school aged 9, if she had to cycle (like the OP's son), that would be a different story. Not sure at what age I'd feel comfortable letting my kids battle on road with all the W**k Panzers on the school run!
Yeah, bit different than most, unless the OPs child has additional needs, significant anxiety, they live in a dodgy area etc. Son walked in from age 10 to primary school, daughter has begun the same now she’s 10 but we tail her in from a distance, purportedly walking the dog. All depends on the child, but it’s great to see them get more independent.
Genuine Q - that feels really old to be doing that for the first time, is this normal these days?
Our 10 year old (year 6) started walking to/from school alone/with mates after the Easter holidays. Some of his mates had been doing that since the start of year 6 but we preferred to wait for the lighter evenings and (marginally) better weather. He'll still ask for lift if its peeing down though!
My daughter drove herself to work this morning for the first time. They do grow up quick.
To those that have asked, yes 14 is on the older side but when you're dealing with a child with AuADHD meaning that just getting ready for school and out of the door without a major explosion of rage coupled to, until very recently, his complete avoidance of walking which involves anything more than the shallowest of hills to walk up (and we live in Sheffield!) then just getting him to school by any means has sometimes been a massive achievement on all our parts!
But he's done it now and hopefully, at least through the summer and autumn, it'll continue.
Our main concern is anything happening to his bike as it is a nice one however as per my OP, this doesn't seem at all unusual these days.
And yes, when I worra a lad. I was walking to primary school from a much earlier age and it was much further away. Proper hills on the way home too...
I couldn't remember. I asked my daughter - she said age 7 or 8 which is about right. On the other hand the school is almost in sight of the house and there is only 1 road crossing which had a crossing warden.
I used to cross several roads going home myself aged 5. Not every day but now and then.
Different times though. In the 70s my brother and I aged 15/16 went on an 11 day bike tour of the highlands. Don't recall phoning home.
