School run is detrimental to children's local awareness and knowledge 
(18/05/2010)
The UK school run favoured by thousands of parents has been identified as detrimental to children's local awareness and knowledge. According to research released by Kia Motors UK, being driven to school has a negative impact on British children's familiarity with their surroundings. While parents may be aware of the environmental effects of the school run, few consider the impact that driving to school has on a child's local knowledge.
The Kia Motors Walk to School Report surveyed 2,011 primary school children to find that there is a strong correlation between walking to school and basic geographical knowledge:
* More than three-quarters (76%) of children in London walk to school each day. London children are the most savvy when it comes to their surroundings; 86% know their home address and 61% know their postcode.
* In comparison, 57% of Welsh children are driven to school. In Wales, less than two-thirds (61%) of school children know their home address and 75% don't know their postcode.
* Equally, over one in five (22%) of Welsh school kids do not know the route from their home to the school gates. In London, 89% of children recognise their route to and from school.
* In England, vehicle usage peaks in the South East, where 48% of primary school children are driven each day. Three-quarters (75%) of kids in the South East cannot relate their postcode and a fifth (19%) do not know their home address.
* Just one in five (21%) children in Newcastle and 22% in Bristol know their postcode. In both cases, just over half of the regions' school kids walk to school
In the UK, 82% of primary school children know their home address, yet less than 1% of those questioned know the name of the road next to theirs
* This indicates that local awareness is extremely low. Steve Kitson comments: "There are ways to improve children's observation skills and awareness during a walk to school- games such as I Spy work really well as kids have fun at the same time."
* When asked what they see during their journey to school, the majority of children couldn't identify local landmarks. Instead, they picked up on houses and trees
Almost half (47%) of children said there were no zebra crossings on their journey to school (7% did not know). This is precisely the sort of concern that resonates with British parents, as Kia Motors UK found that:
* More than half (57%) of British parents would prefer their children to walk to school, but cite safety concerns as the chief barrier
* 48% of parents claim that the roads are dangerous and that the streets surrounding their child's school are too congested for them to walk safely
Steve Kitson, Communications Director at Kia Motors (UK) Limited, commented: "Just like a proper breakfast, walking to school is a great way for children to start the day - not only are they more alert when they arrive at school, it is good exercise and improves children's awareness of their local area."
"More than three-quarters of British kids (78%) live within two miles of their school, so there's every reason for parents and children to ditch unnecessary car journeys and travel to school on foot, especially as we offer free Walking Bus set-up kits to all primary schools and parents in the UK. Setting up a simple Walking Bus rota would satisfy parents' concerns and ensure that children arrive at school safely, energised and with a greater understanding of their local area." Kitson added.
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