Well, DUH!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-10-environment-walking_N.htm

You gotta clicky on the link. Did you know that kids should be encouraged to walk or bike to school?

Wow! What a news flash! If I had kids, I'd pull them away from their Playstation and march them right out the door!

Why in the world is this news. Kids are fat. Kids are fat because they lead sedentary lives. Schools are some of the most dangerous places around in the mornings and afternoons because you have a mix of parents trying to pick up their kids, buses trying to take kids to stops 1/2 mile away and the rare kid who will actually walk home. Try dodging that maze!

I live in the country. Most houses near me are on 3-5 +acres. However, around the corner from me are some small shacks with kids. The bus stops at EVERY driveway. The driveways are less than 20' apart. I can understand not making the kids walk the 5-7 miles to school from my road, but not walking 20' to a group bus stop?

Goochland just got a VDOT grant to put in sidewalks from the courthouse to the schools. I know that Jake Helmbolt is working tirelessly to get more counties in the Commonwealth to make walking/biking to school safer. Maybe if more kids walked, the actual dangers around the school (being struck by a harried parent trying to do 9 things at once) would diminish. And maybe the BMI of the average 5th grader would drop a little bit.