I’ve seen this 2015 documentary of some sort from the perspective of Japanese vs Australian kids being able to commute to and from school on their own without parental supervision. The thing is that parents in Japan encourage kids to be independent from a young age without being “babied” too much while apparently in Australia it’s common for parents to drop kids at school.
Now: why is it common for American parents to either drop kids off themselves or kids using the stereotypical yellow school buses on commuting to school rather than letting the kid use public transport themselves or walk to school on foot on their own? I’ve heard that a father got arrested in the US just for letting his son walk to and from school due to accusations of “child endangerment”.
Those of us whose kids can commute on our own, take it for granted.
Taking a real example (but not exactly where I live): 916 Clearview Dr in South Carolina has a nearby school that is a two-minute drive and about 16-minute walk. However, most of the way there doesn’t have any sidewalks, so kids can’t walk safely (which means there will be very few crossing guards), and the cars only have stop signs. Some of the areas that are passed are very run down and may have gang activity (which makes it unsafe for the kids). There might also not be any school buses as they could be considered too close, or the area doesn’t have the funding.
We also can’t forget about the parents as they may have a tight schedule and it’s better for them to drive (ensuring both the kids get to school, and they get to work).