Primary school students driven to school "fail to know where they live"

Researchers found one in five children who were driven to school by their parents failed to give their home address. Despite living within two miles of their school, three in four could not even give their suburb’s postcode.

According to the survey of more than 2000 primary school students, they found that parents who regularly drove their children to school were “destroying” their local knowledge and awareness of their area.

Asked what they could see when driving to school, the majority of students failed to identify landmarks throughout the area. Instead, they could only pick out on houses and trees, researchers found. More than one in five children in Bristol and and Newcastle did not know their postcode, where just over a half of students walked to school.

School students in London, where driving is not as common, more than three in four walked to school each day, with 86 per cent being able to recite their address and almost two thirds knowing their postcode.

Steve Kitson, of Kia Motors UK, which commissioned the survey, said: “Just like a proper breakfast, walking to school is a great way for children to start the day.

“Not only are they more alert when they arrive at school, it is good exercise and improves children's awareness of their local area.

“More than three-quarters of British kids live within two miles of their school, so there's every reason for parents and children to ditch unnecessary car journeys and travel to school on foot.”

Figures show about half of British primary school students are driven each day by their parents.


/Telegraph.co.uk/