Independent active travel - Information for parents

One of the most important aspects of being a parent is teaching your children to become independent, however teaching your child to be safe while being independent is equally vital.

Parents are in the best position to judge when their children are ready to undertake the trip to school by themselves, however, it’s a natural feeling to be concerned about your child’s safety. The trip to school provides an opportunity for your child to build independence and resilience skills. Here are some tips on how you can help your child travel safely on their own.

This resource also forms part of the Independent Active Travel - Year 7 Transition Guide resource, which is packed with activities for high schools to consider using to help encourage a culture of active travel at their school.

Allowing children to get places on their own is important

Increased ‘independent mobility’ gives children the opportunity to:

• Develop self-confidence;
• Get some physical activity into their day;
• Play and socialise with friends, including making new friends;
• Learn responsibility and independence;
• Get to know the neighbourhood; and
• Learn coping skills, which in turn helps to build resilience.

What can you do to make it easier?

You can help your child become independently mobile in stages that are appropriate for their age, skills and the environment. It’s a gradual process, going from being fully dependent on you or another adult, to ‘pre-independence’, and finally independence. 

Practice, assess and reinforce safe active travel skills with your child before allowing them to travel independently. Here are some tips to help you with this.  

• Plan the route they will take using Google Maps or the Your Move Journey Planner and walk or ride the route with them a few times to build confidence. 
• Use the Transperth Journey Planner to plan public transport trips and make sure they know how to use their SmartRider correctly.
• Make sure your school is promoting and reinforcing active travel skills and safe traffic management processes.

How will you know the time is right?

As parents, you’re always in the best position to judge when your child is ‘ready’ for independent mobility. There are several things to consider, such as:

• Your child’s age, maturity and ability to handle challenges on their own.
• Are there footpaths and crossings on their route and can they avoid high-traffic areas? , 
• Your level of confidence in your child’s ability to travel independently and how much it might benefit your child to have more independence.
• How a change in routine, such as transitioning to High School, can provide opportunities for your child to be more independent.

Once you’ve made the decision to let your child travel independently, make sure you reinforce that confidence in them. Make sure they know you believe that they can do it and that you trust their ability to make safe decisions and think for themselves.

Other resources

Lesson plan - Independent active travel trip planning 

Transperth – Parents Information (Get on Board program)

How_to_Help_Your_Kids_get_around_safely_on_their_own – Victoria Health resource