'Walk Your Way' to school week

The most recent National Travel Survey found out that less than half of young people aged from 11 to 16 (41%) walk to school.

National charity 'Living Streets' is campaigning for safe, attractive and enjoyable streets around the UK to help encourage more young people to walk to school. As part of this from the 17th to the 21st May is ‘Walk Your Way’ to school week.

A lot of young people may well have a long way to walk but if this is the case Living Streets are trying to encourage people to leave the car or bus early so that they get to walk a little way each day. Even for students living close to school, walking is still currently not always the natural transport choice with 39% of journeys that are less than 2 miles not walked.

Girls are more likely to travel to school in a vehicle (56% go by either a bus or a car) compared to 51% boys. Girls are also far less likely to be cyclists – only 1% of girls cycle compared to 6% of boys. This very low level of cycling suggests that walking may be a more attractive alternative to the car than cycling.

Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets, said:

At secondary school we truly start tasting independence, and make the free choices and habits that we will carry with us throughout our adult lives .. including daily activity, like walking to school, in their lives is a choice young people want to make for themselves - bringing huge benefits for their health, and local congestion and pollution

One in five cars on the road at peak time is on the school run, and figures show the number of secondary school pupils being driven is still rising. Not only that, but a quarter of under 17s say they never walk for 20 minutes or more at a time, serious consequences for their health. We need to make regular walking an attractive option again, and this campaign will be a major part of doing that in secondary schools over the next few years

Walking to school brings with it a host of benefits:

Freedom and Independence

Walking is a great way to achieve independence when you don't have to rely on getting lifts all the time and you have places to go and people to see! It is also a great way to get to know your local area.

Health and Obesity

Walking for just an hour extra each week (returning our activity levels to those of 1975) would reduce average weight gain over the next decade by over 12 kilos

Environmental

The average journey (3.4 miles) to secondary school by car releases enough CO2 to inflate 60 balloons.

Teenage Road Safety

In May 2008, Living Streets published the Back Seat Children Report this ground breaking research made the link for the first time between our protective culture of not allowing children to walk to school independently and the spike in teenage road accident victims.