Understanding the drive to escort: a cross-sectional analysis examining parental attitudes towards children’s school travel and independent mobility

Abstract

BackgroundThe declining prevalence of Active School Transportation (AST) has been accompanied by a decrease in independent mobility internationally. The objective of this study was to compare family demographics and AST related perceptions of parents who let their children walk unescorted to/from school to those parents who escort (walk and drive) their children to/from school. By comparing these groups, insight was gained into how we may encourage greater AST and independent mobility in youth living in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Canada.MethodsThis study involved a cross-sectional design, using data from a self-reported questionnaire (n =1,016) that examined parental perceptions and attitudes regarding AST. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to explore the differences between households where children travelled independently to school or were escorted.ResultsFindings revealed that unescorted children were: significantly older, the families spoke predominantly English at home, more likely to live within one kilometer from school, and their parents agreed to a greater extent that they chose to reside in the current neighborhood in order for their child to walk to/from school. The parents of the escorted children worried significantly more about strangers and bullies approaching their child as well as the traffic volume around school.ConclusionsFrom both a policy and research perspective, this study highlights the value of distinguishing between mode (i.e., walking or driving) and travel independence. For policy, our findings highlight the need for planning decisions about the siting of elementary schools to include considerations of the impact of catchment size on how children get to/from school. Given the importance of age, distance, and safety issues as significant correlates of independent mobility, research and practice should focus on the development and sustainability of non-infrastructure programs that alleviate parental safety concerns.

The Effect of the Social and Physical Environment on Children’s Independent Mobility to Neighborhood Destinations

“…Programs aimed at educating parents about the real (from actual crime data) versus perceived safety concerns about children traveling independently around the neighborhood are required. 49 These programs should also emphasize the child benefits derived from developing independence and address the issues of parental peer pressure to constantly supervise children and an underlying riskaverse culture. [50][51][52] Whole of community approaches to improve sense of community and social capital may help to reverse social norms associated with the restriction of children's independent mobility by creating neighborhoods where people look out for children and support the development of their independence.…”

Active living in Saskatchewan: A review of official community plans

“…School travel plans may be an effective strategy to promote greater active school travel. 29 Although active school travel may be decreasing due to confounders of independent mobility such as age, distance, and safety issues, 30 school travel behaviour is still sensitively influenced by the neighbourhood construct. 31 Despite the growing evidence, many SK cities do not have any plans for active and safe routes to and from school documented within their OCPs.…”

School Transport- Growing Concern, Health Problems and Safety of school Children

“…In many families escorting children to school had been a norm up to recent past. [1] This was the reason we used to get peak traffic densities co-inciding with the school timings. Active school transport like walking or biking up to school was also common in recent past.…”