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Thursday, February 18, 2010

Kids don't need to be driven everywhere...

Kids don't need to be driven everywhere


Walking is one of the many things I do for therapy and to try to stay in shape.

On a recent walk past the Kapaa High School and elementary schools I was blown away at the traffic on Kawaihau Road. More than 30 cars were waiting to pick up kids from school. I saw no kids walking or biking home; they were all waiting for their chauffeurs (parents) to pick them up.

We have created a society of obese children who no longer get out and enjoy the freedoms of walking and biking to school. When I was a kid we walked three miles to and from school daily. It was refreshing, since our minds and bodies circulated before a day of learning.

Society wonders why there is so much teenage and childhood type 2 diabetes, which in previous generations was almost nonexistent. The reason is that parents think they are doing the right thing by driving their kids everywhere, when in essence they are creating laziness and obesity in many cases.

Parents, quit pampering your kids. Let them walk and bike and enjoy kid stuff. It will save you gas, money and time by not having to drive them to and from school every day and will make your kid feel energized along with a little independence

This blog was published in the  (09-15-12) edition of the Kauai garden Island news"Let them walk and give them wings..."



http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-saturday-september/article_39707cb6-ff8b-11e1-bacb-0019bb2963f4.html

3 comments:

Sneezer222 said...

I could not have said that better myself! Even when we lived at our last town, we lived just at the border of what the school bus would pick up. So it was walk that one mile to school and back twice a day. I don't drive, so we did it, rain and shine.

And let me tell you, it was WONDERFUL! I wouldn't trade that walking time for ANYTHING. We got to walk the dog {mornings only, she was too old for a hot afternoon walk} and talk and laugh. I heard all about his day and about his friends and his teacher.

Here we lived only a few blocks from school, but it still was a treat to walk him every morning.

Now in middle school its miles away so he has to ride the bus and we both miss our walking time. We try to go out for several hours on Saturdays, just wandering the town and walking along the river.

KimoRosen said...

sneezer, G-d bless you, to my number one fan, or should I say my only fan, mahalos for the comment.

Chester "Unc" Lau said...

via facebook;"totally agreed ,if Abraham Lincoln can walk to school,this generation can do it too,look at all the high priced gas we can save & avoid traffic gridlock too,Rabbi Kimo for president :-)"