Once a week I make a 42 mile round trip to collect a nine-year-old from school. During the evening his mother makes a 42 mile round trip to collect him from my house. He lives 75 yards from the school gates, but it's out of the question for him to walk home alone and be in the house by himself for twenty minutes until his 17 year-old sister gets in.
I greatly enjoy the boy's company. He is cheeky and clever and we love each other a lot. But I can't help reflecting that when I was his age and I also lived very close to school we all walked home alone right from Day Two of our school careers, crossing a fairly busy road. At home the kids whose parents worked would be on their own until about 5.30pm.
Times change. For the better?
Bill