As the new school year begins, so do the familiar complaints about traffic. This year, the outcry seems less intense—whether because it’s genuinely quieter or simply because I’m paying less attention. Perhaps parents have grown weary of airing the same grievances annually, opting to vent more privately among friends. Or, maybe, it’s simply too early to tell.
Reflecting on this, it’s impossible to avoid the obligatory comparison to our own school days. At fourteen, we navigated to school independently without issue. We often took two buses or walked a kilometer, yet no one troubled us. And if there were ever trouble, someone was always ready to step in. But nowadays, how often do we intervene when witnessing a child being bullied by older kids? We tend to look the other way, thinking it’s not our responsibility.
Nonetheless, when you hear parents lamenting about traffic, try asking them what solutions they envision. It can be quite entertaining to hear their responses.
Interestingly, some parents in my area now drop their kids at bus stops and continue in a different direction. The child takes the bus, knows where to alight, and doesn’t always have eyes glued to their phone. This independence is because the parents have trained them well, not chauffeuring them to the school’s doorstep. It demonstrates a possible shift towards fostering independence in children and lessening the morning traffic chaos.
This insight offers a perspective on changing attitudes towards school commuting and independence. While parents’ anxieties about traffic remain, the strategies employed by some to empower their children suggest promising solutions that could alleviate the perennial traffic woes associated with school start times.