Evening star., 1936-08-31
Damson and Ounces Make Their Annual Bow the Preserving
Children
Need tOUSe
Their Legs
Walking to School Is
Excellent Preparation
for the Days Work.
BY ANGELO PATRI.


OUR children are likely to forget
that they have legs. Cars are
at their disposal for trips to school,
to the country, to the store a few
blocks away. 81 know it Is only a
little way, but I have things to carry.
! can't carry all that stuff" They
would be astonished to find how much
they could carry and how far they
could walk if they needed. They do
need to walk, and wise parents and
helpful teachers will do their best to
see that they get opportunities.
If school is within a mile or a
mile and half, children of school
age can certainly walk there on pleas
ant days. A morning walk before
entering school is about the best prep
aration for a days work child can
have. At noon recess he should have
hot lunch served in school and then
60 outdoors to play hard for time.
Those who live Is minutes away can
go home. Then after school there Is
the walk home where something good
to eat is waiting.
There are many reasons why this
program of walking to and from
school becomes next to impossible.
The traffic may be dangerous because
no walks have been provided. Just
why a road to a school should have
no walk where children can proceed
in safety is something to be left to
the town planners to answer. Every
road, no matter where it leads, ought
to have its parallel walk protected
from the traffic. This is due the chill
dren, especially those of the smaller
towns where walking would be pleas
ure if the sidewalks were maintained.
Some mothers are afraid to let
their children walk on the roads
because of threats to their safety
made by the lawless. We have police.
The school children should be under
their protection going to and from
school. Usually they are. If such
protection is not afforded children it
is the duty of the mothers to see
that it is given without delay. Chill
dren need to walk. The bus Is q
necessity for the long distances that
children have to go to the central
rural schools, but even then, there
are children who can walk If they
are told to do so.
There is a delightful spirit among
. group of children who walk to
school together daily. They talk over
their troubles, their hopes and fears
and joys. They quarrel and make up,
and so are closer friends than ever.
They share difficulties met along the
way and learn to help each other
In ways never learned in books.
1t is those lessons. never learned in
books" so very precious to childhood,
that the daily walk bestows. The feel
of earth underfoot, the sound of run
ming water, the bird songs, the rain
and wind sweeping over ones face,
the sound of crisp snow underfoot,
the familiar things along the road
from the red squirrels in the stone
walls to the Judge. dressed in morning
coat and high hat on his way to the
court house, all these and countless
others are woven into a colorful fabric
of memory to form fine background
for years to come.
And all the while the legs are grow
ing sturdier, the lungs cleaner and
bigger and more powerful. Minds are
frightened and vision is sharpened.
The subtle relations Of children to
earth becomes deep-rooted and sure.
Health walks on sturdy legs.
(Copyright, 1860