WODONGA’S Allen family lives only a few houses away from Wodonga Primary School but say they would walk to school even if the journey was longer.
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Janelle Allen said she and husband, Darren, had accompanied Sam, 11 and Chloe, 8, on a daily basis since they had started school, partly for health reasons but also because it provided some time together as a family.
“Sam likes to have a talk on the way home about the day,” she said.
While other parents are finding somewhere to park, Mrs Allen said parents who walked their children to and from school were spared the trouble and even family friends who lived further away preferred to walk.
Like many parents identified in the Wodonga council surveys, Mrs Allen said safety issues were foremost in her mind and the children would remain accompanied on their school journey.
“The roads are really well supervised but you still worry about safety issues such as strangers,” she said.
“We always say it’s not like when we were kids when you could just ride or walk around on your own but this is a good way of exercising.”
Mrs Allen said walking to primary school also provided a healthy start to school life for her children.
“When they go to high school, they’ll still be walking or riding their bikes,” Mrs Allen said yesterday.
