Figure 1.--A great many New Zealand school children are able to walk or ride their bikes to neighborhood schools.
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Figure 1.--A great many New Zealand school children are able to walk or ride their bikes to neighborhood schools. |
New Zealand until recent years had a largely agricultural economy. Because of all the children living on farms, busses were introduced to bring the chilren to school. Buses continue to be important at many schools, especially rural schools and the larger secondary schools. New Zealand school children have traditionally been noted for cycling to school. Streets used to be full of cyclists in the morning peddling to scgool. This has declined in recent years. Fewer young children now cycle. Here woth increasing traffic there are saftey concerns. Some schools require them to reach Year 4 (Std 2) to ride bikes to school. All children must wear cycle helmets. It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that the bike is in a safe condition and that the child can ride safely. The Police give cyling workshops at school to ensure saftey. Older children now also less commonly ride bikes. An increasing number of children now come to school in cars. Here the prosperous economy is a factor. Many big city schools have parking problems. A problem that just a few years earlier did nit exist. Even so, cycling is still common, but New Zealand children also walk, take the bus, and are driven by mum and dad. Crossing guards ensure saftey. The crossing guards or "lollipop warriors" become friendly faces to the many children walking to school. Many younger children at private schools are brought to school by their parents. Once at school the little ones have a bit of a job getting down to their work uniform, especially at the more formal preparatory schools.
New Zealand until recent years had a largely agricultural economy. Because of all the children living on farms, busses were introduced to bring the chilren to school. Buses continue to be important at many schools, especially rural schools and the larger secondary schools. There are some school buses. Many children ride the regular city busses, some of which make school runs.
New Zealand school children have traditionally been noted for cycling to school. Streets used to be full of cyclists in the morning peddling to scgool. This has declined in recent years. Fewer young children now cycle. Here woth increasing traffic there are saftey concerns. Some schools require them to reach Year 4 (Std 2) to ride bikes to school. All children must wear cycle helmets. It is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that the bike is in a safe condition and that the child can ride safely. The Police give cyling workshops at school to ensure saftey. Older children now also less commonly ride bikes. Even so, cycling is still quite common, especially at city secondary schools.
An increasing number now come to school in cars. Here the prosperous economy is a factor. Here we mean both younger children driven to school by their parents and older teenagers who have their own cars. Many big city schools have parking problems. A problem that just a few years earlier did not exist. Many younger children at private schools are brought to school by their parents. The schools have to work out traffic patterns and places for the parebts to wait.
The most common way of getting to school in New Zealand is walking. This is certainly true of primary children. New Zealand is beecoming increasingly urbannized. Most children now live in cities or small towns and live withn walking distance of their schools. This is a little less true of secondary schools, but still quite common. Crossing guards ensure saftey. The crossing guards or "lollipop warriors" become friendly faces to the many children walking to school.
Once at school the little ones have a bit of a job getting down to their work uniform, especially at the more formal preparatory schools.
