A Clear Voice: Get Off My Lawn, Whippersnappers

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March 16, 2005

Get Off My Lawn, Whippersnappers

Here’s a really cute AP story I saw on CNN today.

Third-grader commutes to school by mule
Saje Beard's half-hour commute to class is the envy of her four classmates at a one-room schoolhouse just south of here.

Most mornings, the third-grader makes the trek on Ruth the mule.
…
Saje, 9, is an old hand at maneuvering mules. She's been doing it since she was in first grade.
…
Saje would ride Ruth every morning, but her dad won't let her if the temperature is below zero -- "even if she insists."

Saje proved just how much she's willing to endure on a recent trek to school in below-freezing temperatures and strong winds.

"My cheeks are burning," she said, "but that's OK."

Saje gets up at sunup to prepare for school. She brushes Ruth and feeds her grain, then hoists an old saddle that weighs nearly as much as she does over the chubby mule.

Not only is it cute, but I always like hearing about kids who are still required to be age-appropriately self-sufficient and responsible. In today’s world it always seems that a lot of kids are being too coddled by their parents. Even ten years ago when I was a kid, this was often the case. Throughout my school years I almost always walked or biked to school, work, and friends’ houses if they were within a certain radius. My parents were never ones to shuttle me around, so I never really expected it. In fact, I usually enjoyed the walk.

One morning when I was about 15, I was walking to school,which was less than a half mile away, in the snow. (No, it was not uphill both ways.) A woman stopped to give me a ride and was simply horrified that my parents wouldn’t drive me to school. When I was working in a fast-food restaurant that was about a quarter mile away, my friends were horrified that I walked to work. I thought they were all nuts.

Obviously children who live on busy streets or in bad neighborhoods can’t do this, but for the most part I think providing your own transportation after a certain age is a great thing. It teaches children to trust their own abilities, gives them time to think, and it’s a good way to make ‘em exercise; all things that seem to be missing in kids’ lives these days.

I realize I sound like an old fogey here, but I promise I’m only 25!

Posted by illuminaria at March 16, 2005 12:54 PM

Comments

preach on, Grandma!

(shortly, I'll be 27, and I agree)

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