I think most people are missing the point here.

When an 11 year old girl walks 1.5 miles alone, how hard it is on her feet are not likely to be the parents' primary worry.

We had the same risks when I was 11, that's not a very good excuse IMO.

You know what's changed the most since I was a kid? 24 hours a day news channels. Things that make national news nowadays, never would've made it past the local news when I was a kid. Think about it, the news channels have to justify themselves being on air all the time somehow, don't they? IMO these news channels have parents overly sensitized to the dangers of the world...the same dangers that were present in my childhood.

Bus missed her, so she had to walk home, parent was upset that she had to walk home in the first place and was threatening employees.

No further information do I have, but her primary statement was "I can't believe she had to walk a mile and a half home."

The parent overreacted anyway, judging by the OP. I walked that far to school every day when I was 6, and so did everyone else.

When I was a young man I would walk 5 kilometres to school, through the snow, uphill in both directions.


Yes. Is Tempe, Arizona filled with rough neighbourhoods?

I walked 15 miles to school in the snow when I was five, and it was uphill both ways.

EDIT: Ninja'd by srk.

Nope.

I was surprised that I still had the opportunity.

meh, i walk about a kilometer (0.6 miles, i think)or more a day just to get to school, and another one to get back home afterwards. 2km is about 1.2 miles.
i sometimes walk three to four km to visit a friend's place. 1.8 miles. boo hoo for that kid.

Time to get a rascal for the kid.

Lol, I walked more than that to get home. 3.5 miles roughly. I also walked it in the middle of freaking winter with only a sweater and school pants on while it was snowing and icy as hell. Granted it was my choice, but still.

Edit
I ran away from a hockey game i was taken to watch (boring) and we walked about 4 miles to get home. When I was 9-10 years old. In the middle of the freaking night. I had like a quarter on me. Me and my friend made it back just fine and we weren't even tired. I'm not even old.

Seriously I'm only 22 and making your most feared accomplishments look paltry. Imagine if I ever made it to 60? Good god. I think I would lose my mind.

My Grandad walked (or cycled) 8 miles to school each day. Kids these days... Oh yeah and I've had to walk home when the last train to my house wasn't running.

i walked to school in shorts and a short sleeve t-shirt while it was snowing

Well I'll take the story here.

1) The student made the mistake and was late to the bus or bus line. Teachers don't have rosters for busses. Tough bananas Mom, talk to your kid.

2) Teacher held the student late. Why did the teacher hold the student late? The teacher had better have a DAMN GOOD reason for it. Talk to the teacher in question and your child.

3) An 11 year old should be able to make it to the bus by themselves, it's the kid's responsiblity.

And other brainstorms:

1) Helicopter parent who is over protective
2) Is this a vulnerable child?
3) Has the child EVER walked home? This could be scary for a parent.
4) Did the kid need to be somewhere at a certain time? It's was probably a 30 minute walk.
5) What kind of area did the child need to walk through? Our kids have to walk past some six-offenders if they were to walk home.
6) Change in routine can be scary
7) Some districts don't have busing at that distance, or up to 2 miles away. (like I said, I'm brainstorm and just spouting out statements)
8) I used to walk across a frozen lake to school, and yes it was up hill both ways...it was a kettle lake
9) Parent who reacts before checking in with child

I think the situation is quite different when you take transportation home everyday and now suddenly you have to walk vs. walking to and from school every day.

My old middle school was about 1.3 miles from our house at the time. One time when I was 13 my mom was really late giving me a ride home. I waited about 10 minutes and, not knowing what else to do, started walking. I got about half-way there (which felt like quite a walk for somebody with a sedentary lifestyle) before I saw my mom's car pull over next to me. I was extremely agitated, and she was very apologetic. Luckily she made up for that by buying me a computer game I wanted that day.

I started to ride my motor scooter to school when i was 10
one of the many perks of living in a small town
no one cares

1 1/2 miles is fine for an 11 year old. When I was in sixth grade (11) I began walking two miles home from school because the bus changed the schedule had my street as its last stop and I could beat it by 15-20 minutes walking. The exercise was good for me. The only issue I can see is if her neighborhood is sketchy.

I never really bothered to check how long I walked from school to other places... I should find out right now.

2.7 miles for middle school to the Capital
2.4 miles from old home to new forgot which city bus to take home in middle school or elementary

I remember when a soccer mom in a minivan offered to take me to college in middle school...