Why are you allowed to go to school on your own? Exploring children's voices on independent mobility

Abstract

This study aims to analyse 1002 children's and adolescent's reasons for going to school alone or accompanied and to explore how parents influence their choice. The findings revealed that children who could go to school alone feel that their parents trust them more. Moreover, children who live close to school are more likely to commute autonomously and those who do so feel their environment is safer. Finally, there are significant gender differences in autonomous travel to school, largely due to parental influence. In conclusion, there is a real need to work with children and families to develop targeted interventions to support the normalisation of children's autonomous walking and to address the fears of parents.