Walking to School: Bad for Health?

According to the Washington Post, there are no national or professional standards for temperatures that adults can consult when considering whether to keep students indoors. School district officials—and sometimes principals—make their decisions on a case-by-case basis, usually assessing factors including temperature, wind chill and road conditions.

AHS senior, Karina Smitts says, “Sometimes there needs to be a line drawn on when cold days get too cold.”

Smitts says she sees people walking to school and its painful to drive by. She says she is always close to asking them if they need a ride.

“Driving past the kids walking to school, it seems like it is almost illegal. No kid, no matter how far [or] close to school, should have to walk to school. There are many studies that show how dangerous that can be. Kids that live within a certain radius from the school do not have the opportunity to take the bus which means they would have to walk if a parent did not take them. In that short amount of time they could get sick,” Smitts said.

According to the Washington Post, frostbite, which causes permanent damage to tissue and can be fatal, occurs at different temperatures and wind speeds. Senior AHS student Mason Wells, on the other hand, says she has a different perspective.

“I know that sometimes in the winter it gets super cold and no one wants to go to school but sometimes you just have to do it because no one can control the weather,” Wells said.

He said he has never seen a kid having to walk to school in seriously cold weather conditions.

“I drive to school everyday and I’ve never seen kids having to walk on extremely cold days. Most kids in the area have their parents take them to school if the bus doesn’t come to their house [or] neighborhood. Never have I ever heard anyone say they couldn’t come to school due to the cold weather,” he said.

Wells said that we live in Wisconsin and we should expect nothing more than cold days and brutal weather.