I encourage everyone to participate in this event to promote physical activity, pedestrian safety or concern for the environment. We, School Board Members and I would like to use the walk or bike to school event as the first step to change community culture and create environments that are more inviting for everyone, young and old. Here are some reasons to support walking and biking to school:
Physical Activity: Free, convenient, enjoyable and does not require special equipment or training. Walking is a great way for adults and kids to be active, besides having less traffic, safer streets, and cleaner air. Lack of physical activity is a major cause of chronic illness and death for our country’s adults. Being overweight can cause health problems like diabetes during childhood and research shows that physically inactive kids are more likely to grow up to be physically inactive adults – and are therefore at high risk for obesity and related illnesses.
Air Quality and the Environment: Walking or biking to school protects the environment and your health. When children decide to lace-up their sneakers to walk, or strap on their bike helmets to pedal to school instead of riding in a car, they reduce the amount of air pollutants emitted by automobiles. These toxic air pollutants, such as ground level ozone, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide, all can be especially harmful to children.
Safety: The promotion of bicycling and walking to school provides an opportunity to address safety. Every year, thousands of child pedestrians are injured or killed by motor vehicles. Reducing the risk of injury includes teaching children pedestrian and bicycle skills. It also means reminding drivers to watch for others using the road. Hazardous conditions along routes to school need to be identified and fixed. Some of the best ways to increase the safety of a child's walk or bike to school are to: provide safe, well maintained walkways, require children to cross streets at marked or monitored crossings, and slow traffic in neighborhoods and around school.
Parents and other adults worry about children encountering bullies or strangers on the way to school. There may be a fear of kidnapping or assault. While the actual occurrences are extremely rare, consideration should be taken to address parent fears and create a plan to reduce risk. Parent accompaniment of children on the walk to school is one way to solve this concern. Some communities use walking school buses as a way to have an adult presence on the street.
The promotion of safe walking and biking to school addresses the risks described here. When there are more adults and children walking and biking on the road, the community becomes accustomed to their presence.
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