How transporting your child to school has changed

When I was young I use to live across the road from my primary school so I could stay in bed till the last moment before making a mad dash across the road.

My father use to go to school on a horse and he doubled his brother on the back. Bareback, just a pair of reins acting as brakes.

By the time my children went to primary school we lived in the country and the school bus was the mode of transport.

Except one day my son wanted to ride his bike. He knew how to ride a bike and he knew the road rules so with helmet firmly attached off he went. I received a phone call from the school headmaster.

“Please do not send your child to school on his bike, the bus driver caught him weaving in and out of the centre line while biking to school”, he said. Well that put a stop to any chance of him ever biking to school,it was back on the bus for him.

My grandchildren get picked up in a small bus and they adore their driver Ray. A kind of grandfather figure, he doesn’t hesitate to wear bunny ears at Easter or an elf hat at Christmas.

Some schools have walking buses which I think are great. This is where children meet up and walk together with an adult. They usually follow the same route and they learn about road safety along the way.

I really enjoy seeing children heading off to school on bikes or their little scooters,getting exercise on the way, while chatting to their school friends.

Unfortunately now for safety reasons a lot of children get dropped off by parents.

Bring back the day when children could make their own way to school safely and without huge backpacks that seem to weigh them down! The only thing that they had to be concerned about was not bruising that apple!