At what age should kids be allowed to walk to school by themselves?

Depends on the distance to school from their home.

Yeah, obviously you wouldn't anymore let them go off by themselvse at five like our grandparents did with our parents...but I don't don't, 9 or 10 in general I guess. Of course, if possible, if it were me, and there were other children of the same age in the area, I'd encourage they all walk together.

When they are like 14 or 15 maybe. I would not want any of my kids walking to school alone.

^especially these days. I did when I was in first grade but no way would I have let my kids walk to school by themselves.

Supernova wrote:

Yeah, obviously you wouldn't anymore let them go off by themselvse at five like our grandparents did with our parents...but I don't don't, 9 or 10 in general I guess. Of course, if possible, if it were me, and there were other children of the same age in the area, I'd encourage they all walk together.

If it's nearby, but if it's farther, I think through middle school is more where I'd go.

I'm thinking maybe 10 or 11. It would be pretty embarrassing for a sixth-grader to have his Mom walk him to school, but I know safety is the issue here and not what's "cool". In my generation (I'm 23), I remember kids in junior high walking to school by themselves and they did okay. Anyway, I say 10 or 11.

I would agree that ten or eleven should be the minimum age, but I've heard of six and seven year olds walking to school by themselves; always thought that was way too young.

I'd say 11 or so, depending on the maturity of the child. Some 11 year olds I'd totally trust but not others.

MandyPerfumeGirl wrote:

I'm thinking maybe 10 or 11. It would be pretty embarrassing for a sixth-grader to have his Mom walk him to school, but I know safety is the issue here and not what's "cool". In my generation (I'm 23), I remember kids in junior high walking to school by themselves and they did okay. Anyway, I say 10 or 11.

It doesn't have to be his Mom necessarily. There may be other options available.

There are too many variables in that situation. In elementary, we lived exactly a mile from school. In fifth grade, my son would have been ok to walk to and from school, but what about bad weather? So, I had to pay for bus service. Now, school is too far for him to ever walk, though some kids bike it. I still won't ever let him do that as I don't feel the route is safe.

Chris wrote:

At what age should kids be allowed to walk to school by themselves?

Depends on the school, distance, time, neighborhood, the kid and most importantly, your options. My elementary school was about 5 blocks from my house where I grew up and my mother started letting me walk to school with these two older girls who went there too when I was about 8. We would walk to and from school together. When I was 9, they went to middle school and I started walking by myself. Most of the time she would walk me there and then I'd walk back home by myself. Junior high and high school of course, I took public transportation like most kids in NYC.

It just depends on how many of them there are and how far away the school is. If we lived closer, I would let my 7 and 9 yo walk with friends to school. But we don't so I drive them both ways. I wouldn't let ANY of my kids walk alone though.

Yeah it depends on the distance, the neighborhood and personality of the kid. My kids are 10 and ride the bus....and they walk to the stop, which is three blocks away.