Walking schoolbus!

This week we presented our first "Mini Project." I love my project and the idea behind "Walking School Bus," but my group has had a very difficulty time reaching members of our target audience. We are trying to meet with the parents of students who attend Montgomery Middle School in Linda Vista, a low income area known for its ethnic, racial, socio-economic, and religious diversity. The goal of "Walking School Bus" is to get students to walk to school together in groups, in order to increase daily physical activity and safety. The few parents we have interviewed have said safety is a major concern and determinant in allowing their children to walk to school. Most of the parents also said that they would allow their children to walk if they had adult supervision. Although we have not yet interviewed any students, I think the idea of adult supervision is going to be somewhat of a conflict. I highly doubt that the students (especially 8th graders) will be excited about the thought of walking to school with one of their parents supervising. But, we'll see. We finally received information about meetings and events that will be taking place at the school and throughout the community, so I am hoping we will have better luck reaching parents. I was very surprised to learn that this school does not have a busing system--- which definitely helps our campaign-- and how unsafe Linda Vista is viewed by its community members. We received results from a Safe Passage Student Survey taken in March of 2007, and about 50% of all students at Montgomery Middle School feel unsafe walking to and from school. Sixth through eighth grade students reported being harassed by gang members, engaging in physical fights, and being threatened with a weapon. Others reported witnessing shootings, stabbings, and drug transactions. When I first arrived at Montgomery Middle, it wasn't nearly was "scary" as I had imagined. I saw children playing in the neighborhood and students walking to school. However, as I was driving home after the PTSO meeting, I passed by the elementary school and stopped at a four way intersection. The car to my right totally ignored the stop sign and almost ran over a teeny tiny little elementary school boy walking to school (alone). I felt so bad for the little boy... until he turned around and gave the speeding car the finger!