Oh, God. The memories of waking up at 5:30, just to be showered and ready for the bus by 6:20 (family of five kids = lots of fighting for bathroom time). I hated that about high school. I think the last time I walked to school was in the 8th grade.
This WSJ piece by Lenore Skenazy examines the the absurdity of the new normal: kids can’t walk to school. In addition to wasting gas and parents’ time, it encourages sedentary behavior. But there’s another side effect that she doesn’t mention: it makes all the teenagers sleep deprived.
It’s the first day of school in my burg, and the streets are lined with sleepy teenagers waiting for the bus. School starts at 7:20 for them, a schedule dictated in part by the need to run buses in shifts so the high, middle and elementary schools can use the same set of buses.
Early start times are bad for teenagers, and school districts that start later report good results, but it’s hard to change a culture that believes that a child walking to school is a kid in grave danger. (via)
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