Walking to school

There are plenty of readers of the Southeast Missourian who remember walking to school and home again in the afternoon. Every day. Year around. Some of them like to tell their children and grandchildren that it was uphill both ways. Or that it snowed every day. Earlier this month, 100 students at Alma Schrader Elementary School in Cape Girardeau walked from Dennis Scivally Park to the school. It was uphill all the way.

The walk was part of Walk to School Day, a nationwide effort to encourage more physical activity by elementary students who generally ride buses or have parents who take them to school. Nationally, more than 50 percent of schoolchildren walked or rode bikes to school in 1969. By 2004, the number had dropped to below 13 percent.

Dr. Mark Langenfeld, a professor in the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation at Southeast Missouri State University, is interested in encouraging more students to walk to school on a regular basis. He has helped Alma Schrader apply for a grant for a walking school bus. This program would designate safe routes and provide adult supervision for students who walk.

Concerns about safety are valid, but programs like Safe Routes to school and walking school buses are ways to ensure safety while encouraging more exercise.