I was thinking about that when I was dropping my 6 year old off at some hobbies earlier - it’s pretty much expected to have learned how to ride a bicycle before starting school, and it massively expands the area you can go to by yourself. When she went to school by bicycle she can easily make a detour via a shop to spend some pocket money before coming home, while by foot that’d be rather time consuming.
Quite a lot of friends from outside of Europe either can’t ride a bicycle, or were learning it as adult after moving here, though.
edit: the high number of replies mentioning “swimming” made me realize that I had that filed as a basic skill pretty much everybody has - probably due to swimming lessons being a mandatory part of school education here.
Going by yourself under at least 13 is nonexistent in the United States.
We’re in the US and my son has been walking home from school since he was six. It’s only a two mile walk. In the mornings I drive him up to half a mile from the school on my way to work. They don’t have bike racks at schools anymore it seems otherwise he’d ride his bike. On a few occasions I’ve had him walk to school also. His older brother goes to the bus and back but that’s only half a mile away. They regularly go roam the neighborhood alone or with each other.
Our son’s public elementary school gave no leeway about letting him walk 4 blocks after school. In the mornings they couldn’t prove where he’d walked in from but after class they could only release him to an adult they had on their list… Nobody walked home from that school. I assumed it was insurance bullshit, but I also read stories about police being called by nosy neighbors for kids playing unattended in their yards.
As a 90s latch key kid I don’t get this modern American hysteria. I’m sure kidnapping/assault stats are better than they ever were in decades past… yet its less socially acceptable than ever to let a kid have any independence.
I had to fill out a form and get a laminated tag for my sons bookbag that identifies him as a Walker so staff know why he’s just bouncing after school. I don’t want anything bad to happen to my son obviously but I remember being able to just do my own thing growing up (80s-90s) and I believe it did wonders for my development, decision making, and confidence.
I’m glad I have the option to let him do something that I just assumed was still relatively normal. I had no idea walking home from school wasn’t a thing for a lot of schools anymore.
That’s crazy…four blocks away and he couldn’t walk.
I’m currently bringing her to that specific hobby as it’s a bit further away than the area she’s usually roaming around in, and she needs to cross one major road (connection to the highway) to get there - but I guess in a year or two she’ll be able to do that by herself.
She sometimes gets brought to school in the morning as it’s the same building her brother is in for daycare - but if she starts at a different time than him she can get there by herself, and of course she comes back by herself when it finishes. She’s also not required to take the direct way home - or could even decide to go home with friends, as long as she calls us if she’s coming unexpectedly late.
Good luck getting around the suburbs without a car
Why we won’t raise our kids in suburbia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHlpmxLTxpw