We didn’t agree until year 6 – 12 years old.

I think 6 is a bit too young. I’d be more comfortable with 8/9. Simply because they need to develop more road sense and awareness of their surrounding areas and the danger that can pose,

I’d wait till they are in high school.

I live right next door to our school and still won’t let my 8 year old out the door without me…too scary these days. I’d rather be over cautious.

I think it’s a personal choice but I wouldn’t until my kids got to high school

Yes I think you should do what you want, if you don’t feel comfortable, don’t do it.

Six is much too young, our school doesn’t allow children below primary age to walk to school on their own. my daughter is in yr 3 and i would not be letting her walk on her own and we are only a street away. maybe if you let him walk ahead of you? i also think that if children are going to be walking to school that walking together in a group would be safer, due to stranger danger.

I’d think 6 was too young.. Maybe let him walk a bit in front of you but keep an eye out. Make sure he isn’t playing with a ball or anything while walking.. Seen too many accidents happen that way!

Depends whether walking alone or not. Also, having a phone is a good idea so a text is sent once they have reached school.

I agree that six is too young… I’d probably think ten years, but it could be different for different kids.

16. Honestly though it probably depends on the maturity of your child, distance and how comfortable you feel. Sadly, our communities are not like they used to be.

I think its different for everyone.
My kids could not walk to school because we live too far away. They had to catch the bus 11kms to school each day.
I think it would depend on how far the child had to walk and if there were major roads to cross and if there were other children walking the same route.
As you dont live very far from the school i would think that at age 6 he is old enough to manage on his own. When i was a kid we didnt have such strong fears as parents have now and I walked quite a distance to school at age 5. But in those days all the kids walked.

Depends on the child. Are they mature for their age? Are they walking with siliblings or friends? Do you live close to the school?

Depending on how far school is i will wait till high school. If they walked or rode with friends maybe a bit younger. I will probably secretly stalk them for a few weeks on their walk.

If you don’t feel comfortable, don’t do it. All children mature differently and every school walk is different, so I don’t think there is a black and white answer to this. The RTA recommend that all children hold an adults hand when crossing the road until they are 10 because they don’t have the ability to gauge the speed of an oncoming car and make a safe to cross decision, if that helps. Some things I would be asking myself are, is the school crossing manned, if not could it have a crossing guard on it, could he walk with an older student or another family.

10-12 if I lived close and in what I felt was a safe neighbourhood. At this age they are more than capable of knowing how to safely cross a road and about stranger danger

My oldest two were at high school (12 going on 13) before I felt really comfortable, and I still look out for them when they are walking home. My youngest – maybe never!

High school

If he didn’t he to cross a road he’d probably be fine. We were allowed at 10 to cross roads by ourself. You’ll know if your son watches out for cars or is still a bit unaware. Walking his sister to school next year might provide some responsibility to help with awareness! You could do the first term with them and shown him everything he needs to look out for.

I would talk to the school as they may have their own policy on it. For my son’s school for them to walk/ride/scoot to school without supervision they have to be in Grade 3 (about age 9-10) and the school must be notified so they can notify the parent as soon as kid doesn’t turn up.
Are there other families/school friends who live/walk near your place? If so, maybe they could walk with him. We have a school family who live near us and once my son is older enough he will walk with them to school as well as our neighbours kid.