Enjoying a break from the school run? There’s three more weeks to go before parents, minders and kids are back in the car for that daily dash.
There’s the whole palaver of getting the kids into the car in the morning, and the traffic with everybody rushing to the same place at the same time. Then there’s the competition for a parking spot, having to pay for parking, or maybe even playing roulette with the traffic warden. You’ll do it all again in the afternoon. Those with younger and older kids at primary school have the daftness of two afternoon pickups, an hour apart.
It was better in the 80s
It didn’t used to be like this. In 1986, just 24 per cent of primary aged children travelled to school by car. Now it’s 55 per cent, according to Central Statistics Office figures from 2022. Indeed, just 24 per cent of children travel to school on foot these days, a fall from 45 per cent in 1986. Ireland’s little walkers have become passengers.
Where there isn’t a viable bus or safe paths, a car may be the only way for some to get to school. For the thousands of others living within walking distance of school, there used to be a better way.
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Walking in the air
Cars in transit or idling near schools, or anywhere else, emit pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and “particulate matter”. This contains solids or droplets so small they can be inhaled, causing serious health problems. It has been linked to poor lung growth in children, asthma, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, according to a Royal College of Physicians report, Every Breath We Take.
This is bad news for children. They are more susceptible to air pollution due to their smaller size, their developing bodies and their closer proximity to fumes from cars, according to the Asthma Society of Ireland.
One in five Irish children experience asthma at some stage in their lives and this is directly linked to poor air quality, according to the society.
“Any parent who has been near a school can picture children in buggies and little ones walking past cars that pump out toxins in their faces,” says Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore. She introduced the Protection of Children’s Health (Idling of Mechanically Propelled Vehicles in Vicinity of Schools) Bill 2021. It sought to ban the idling of cars within 100m of schools.
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I’ll just drop them here...
Can’t find a parking spot? Or maybe time is tight so you stop in traffic and let the kids out. Maybe you hoik the car up on the path and put your flashers on to say your goodbyes. If that’s how you roll, it’s a dirty business. An idling engine can produce up to twice as many exhaust emissions as one in motion. Those kids walking by and their siblings in buggies are getting a mouth full of your emissions.
An idling engine costs more too. Idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel and produces more CO2 than restarting the engine, studies show.
‘Walking bus’
One way to save time, money and improve health is to organise a “walking bus”. This is where families share the responsibility of the school run and kids get to walk together, instead of being driven.
How does it work? There’s one adult “driver” at the front, one “conductor” at the rear and in between are six kids walking to school. Green Schools Ireland recommends a ratio of two adults to six kids, with a maximum of 18 pupils. Up to 12 parents get to dodge the school run every day.
The bus follows a set route with agreed pickup and drop-off points, at, or near pupils’ homes. Instead of everybody having to do the school run every day, they take turns. Cars stay at home, the air quality around the school improves, kids get more exercise and independence and participants save time and money too. Yes, it does mean another WhatsApp group, but this one might actually be worth it.
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