How can I determine if it's safe for my child to walk to school?

How can I determine if it's safe for my child to walk to school?

It can be difficult to determine how safe it is for your child to walk to school. You have different factors to look at. First, you have to look at the climate, the environment, and the neighborhood. Is there gang graffiti? Are there other indications of high crime? In any environment with children, we have to be concerned about sexual child predators who will seek out access to children. So a low crime neighborhood may be the kind of place they seek access to children, because people are not as alert. Also you need to look at the inherent risks. What about traffic flow and patterns? Next, we look at our child. What is their emotional and maturity developmental level? Will they be walking alone or with a group of children that you trust their judgment, maybe with older children that you know. Another thing you might consider is to really look at the route that your child will take. Make sure that they're picking the best route, and then you should go with them and identify the proper route that they should take, because children may not be as aware of risks as you are as a parent.