The teacher traffic cops at Tecumseh school encountered an odd site Oct. 9 – a steady stream of kids and parents walking to the school.
The backpack-laden lads and lasses and many of their parents took part in International Walk to School Day.
As a result, the parking lot was merely busy instead of “chaotic,” according to one teacher, as parents and grandparents drove up to deposit their charges at the school.
Tecumseh is located on a very busy street – McNaughton Avenue – which is possibly why so many parents opt to drive their kids to school rather than let them walk, said Krista Parker of the Chatham-Kent Health Unit. The health unit partnered with the school to promote the healthy exercise effort of walking to school.
Parker understands parents may be fearful of having their kids walk along such a busy street. But she thinks the parents who drive their children who live within walking distance contribute to the problem.
“There is less traffic and less congestion when kids walk to school,” she said. “We know there are kids who walk to school every day, but we would like to see more of them do so.”
Parker, a registered nurse, commends the efforts of Tecumseh’s teachers in getting their students walking.
“They do a really good job promoting this,” she said.
Even the children dropped off early to day care got involved Wednesday. By 8:45 a.m., they headed outside to walk around the school grounds, Parker said.
Waking up the body with a strut to school seems to wake the mind as well.
“Kids who walk to school are able to concentrate longer. They’re more alert for the six-hour school day,” Parker said.
The month of October is Walk to School Month. Max Lowther, a nursing student at the University of Windsor who is working with Parker, hopes to see students and parents keep up the foot power.
“Maybe parents can walk with their kids to school two times a week,” he said.
Lowther said work is being done to make it easier for kids to put their rubber soles in action.
“We’ve asked the kids to identify barriers they encounter when they walk to school, such as no sidewalks,” he said. “We can work on these issues.”
According to the health unit, 58% of Canadian parents walked to school each day, while only 28% of their kids do so.
Furthermore, if children who lived less than a kilometre from their schools walked to there and back each day, they would take an average of 2,238 more steps each day, translating to another 15-20 minutes of healthy activity. That is a substantial contribution to the 60 minutes of activity kids need for overall good health, the health unit said in a press release.
