What do they fear more? Not obesity.

At Overlawyered, Ted Franks writes:

“Childhood obesity is up, in part, because, while 90% of kids who lived within a mile of school walked to school a generation ago, that figure is now 31%. (And, ironically, the tendency of parents to drive kids to and from school has increased traffic near schools, increasing the chances of pedestrian-auto collisions.) An article in Salon discusses the Safe Routes to School program. SR2S hopes to encourage more kids to walk to school by assuaging parents' safety concerns by using elderly volunteers to create "walking school buses," but the program has found trouble getting off the ground because of liability concerns. Don't expect John Banzhaf to bring a class action against lawyers for their role in the obesity epidemic--or Salon to remember this problem the next time they fulminate against tort reform. (Linda Baker, "Walk to school, yes, but don't forget your lawyer", Salon, Oct. 13).”

We have neighborhood schools, we have sidewalks, we have traffic jams at our elementary school. It isn’t safe for the elderly at the senior center to even be in their own parking lot because the parents cut through there in huge SUVs. I went in to the principal’s office and talked to the administrative assistant, the same one who was there when my children attended in the 1970s. “What’s up with the traffic?” I asked. I was told that parents are afraid to let their children walk to school, even a few blocks. Afraid of what? Terrorists? Kidnappers? Traffic accidents? Apparently not obesity.