Walk this way

Long ago, in the days before text messaging and MySpace, students walked to school if they did not take the yellow bus. Through feet of snow, and uphill both ways, of course.

Nowadays, youngsters have it easier, many enjoying chauffeured, door-to-door service to school and back home again. Worried about their children crossing busy roads, parents drive, making the roads busier still. And busy mornings leave little time for even a short stroll -- even if legions of largely sedentary children could use the exercise.

But now, a growing walk-to-school movement is trying to make a dent in the car-centric suburbs and the prevailing drive-to-school culture. At Abington's Center School, some parents have been leading a weekly "walking school bus" on a short jaunt to school, and similar walks are now taking place in 40 communities across Massachusetts, including Canton, Hingham, and Scituate, as part of the state's Safe Routes to School program.

On a recent brisk Tuesday morning, a hardy crew of Abington fourth- and fifth-graders met at a neighborhood pizza shop about a half-mile from school. Bracketed by a pair of parent volunteers, the students set a sprightly pace and arrived at school in just 15 minutes.

Yet, as they approached the school compound, a convoy of cars and SUVs crept past, rolling to a stop and dropping off their precious cargo just yards from the building's front steps. It's a common scene, principals and parents say. Visit any elementary school, and you will see the same thing: Walkers vastly outnumbered by passengers.

The reason? Parents find it simpler to drop off their child on their way to work, and are spared the worry of their young ones crossing busy streets or encountering unsavory strangers. And children enjoy the ride -- particularly in inclement weather. The result? National surveys indicate that fewer than 15 percent of students regularly walk or bike to school.

With rising childhood obesity rates a growing public health concern, school, transportation, and public health officials are taking more aggressive steps to promote walking among today's youth, hoping that even a modest amount of exercise will improve fitness and encourage regular physical activity.

School officials also hope it will help thin out the caravan of exhaust-spewing SUVs that clog neighborhood roads and school driveways. To no surprise to commuters who live near schools, school-bound parents make up as much as 25 percent of morning traffic during the school year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"A little exercise, a little less congestion, a little less pollution," said Center School principal Marilyn Weber . "That's the goal."

Growing up, Weber and the parents escorting the children to school all walked. But they acknowledge that families today lead far more hectic and tightly scheduled lives, a constant sprint that elbows exercise aside.

Statistics bear out that view. In 1969, approximately half of all schoolchildren walked or bicycled to school, including 87 percent of students who lived within a mile of school, according to the CDC. But many parents today, frightened by a string of highly publicized child abductions, are reluctant to let their youngsters walk even a short distance on their own.

"Parents today are very protective," said Susan Kerrigan , principal of the Thomas W. Hamilton Primary School in Weymouth, which last year started a club where students walk around the school before class and during recess. "It's a different time."

What's more, suburban sprawl and a growing tendency to build new schools on large tracts of land on the outskirts of town have put many schools beyond walking distance. Forty years ago, 34 percent of students lived within a mile of school; today just 21 percent do.

That's why Paula McLaughlin of Westwood has to deny her 13-year-old daughter's wish to ride her bicycle to school. She doesn't want to pull the reins too tight, but Thurston Middle School is 3 miles and several busy intersections away. "It's just too dangerous," she said. "There's no way we could let her."

Donna Smallwood , a Hingham resident who spearheads the state's Safe Routes to School program, said McLaughlin's daughter is far from alone. Many children want to walk or bicycle to school, but too many obstacles -- heavy traffic, far-flung schools, lack of sidewalks -- block their path.

"My guess is most kids want to walk," Smallwood said after watching the "walking school bus" in Abington reach its destination on the recent Tuesday. "It's all an issue of unintended consequences."

That's what has happened in Scituate, where higher bus fees initially prompted more Jenkins Elementary School parents to drive. But when the morning rush started to resemble the Southeast Expressway, the popularity of "walking Wednesdays" surged. Now, about 25 percent of students walk, said Lisa Fenton , who coordinates the program.

Earlier this year, Smallwood was named chairwoman of the National Safe Routes to School Task Force, a group of transportation, education, and health specialists that is developing a plan to boost walking and bicycling programs across the country. The program is allocating funding to all 50 states to build bike paths and sidewalks and launch education campaigns to coax children to shed their sedentary ways.

With less time allotted for recess and physical education, and more time devoted to television and video games, children are leading largely inactive lifestyles, which can result in dire health consequences, specialists say. On the other hand, with the intense pressure for even young children to achieve high academic marks today, a walk to school could help students even after they have arrived. After all, nothing clears out the cobwebs like a brisk walk.

"Good way to start the day," said Joe Graviano , who was walking to the Center School with his third-grade son, Brett. "My son's wide awake and ready to go."

Tom Kenney, the head of K-8 physical education for the Brockton schools, is trying to get a walking program off the ground to check what he has documented as a sharp decline in children's physical fitness in the past several years.

"We have to get these kids moving however we can," he said.

Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.