Can an app really lead to cleaner air, safer students and less bullying?

Can an app really lead to cleaner air, safer students and less bullying?

(Hans Koepsell, Deseret News)


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RIVERTON — Nichole Campbell loves to check things off her list, and getting her kids to school is one of those things — and an important one.

A smartphone app she downloaded about two years ago is not only making it easier for her family to accomplish the daily task of walking to school, but it is also playing a part in clearing up the air and making the trip to school safer.

The extra time she gets with her kids while walking to school each morning is an added bonus.

"We talk about things that we wouldn't in the car, if we were to be driving to school," she said. Walking to and from school just over a half-mile, Campbell said, also helps her three school-age children use up some of the energy they have.

"My kids, like most kids, have a lot of energy," she said. "It's a good transition for them so they can focus and get some of that energy out."

The family used to participate in carpools to get to and from school each weekday, but when Southland Elementary School started touting the Utah Department of Transportation's Walking School Bus app two years ago, Campbell decided to give it a try.

"My kids really love it," she said, adding that one of her oldest kids recently said, "'I think we should walk to school every single day this year.'"

The app allows parents to coordinate walks to school with other parents and kids, resulting in a bigger group with parental supervision the entire route. The app then notifies other parents who aren't present that their kids made it safely to school.

Derek Smith, right, talks to Heber MacPheren as they walk to Southland Elementary School in Riverton on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. (Photo: Hans Koepsell, Deseret News)
Derek Smith, right, talks to Heber MacPheren as they walk to Southland Elementary School in Riverton on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016. (Photo: Hans Koepsell, Deseret News)

As part of UDOT's Student Neighborhood Access Program, the app also tracks the number of car trips have been saved by the more heart-healthy method of getting to school. Since launching in August 2014, the Walking School Bus app has ushered more than 850 groups across Utah to their respective schools, tracking about 200,000 miles walked by parents and students, who burned 20 million calories, collectively.

It has also helped to eliminate 77 million grams of CO2 emissions from cars that would have been making those trips.

And Michael Douglas, principal at Howard R. Driggs Elementary School in Holladay, said he's discovered even more benefits.

"We've seen a huge decrease in the amount of traffic in the drop-off zone, which makes everything run smoother," he said. "But there's also been a tremendous decrease in bullying."

Students are reporting, through an annual survey conducted at the school, less verbal disrespect from their peers, fewer encounters with disrespectful students and last year, there were zero reports of physical altercations on the routes to and from school.

"We attribute that to walking school buses," Douglas said. The theory, he said, is that students tend to act out more when adults aren't around to witness it, but with the program, parents are accompanying groups of children to and from school, eliminating the temptation for kids to bully other kids.

"It is fantastic," he said. "It's changing the culture of the school."

And the benefits of physical activity is likely helping students learn, Douglas said.

Stephanie Fuellenbach, of Herriman, said her oldest son has walked to school more days than not throughout his six years in school and has only missed four days of school due to sickness from kindergarten to sixth grade.

"We grew up walking to school. I believe it is good for kids to get outside, even for just a moment," she said. "It's an important thing for kids to learn another way of getting around. We grew up feeling more independent because we could and did walk to different places. It reinforces a responsibility for time management, too, because you have to get where you need to be on time."

Fuellenbach likes the added security her kids have of having other children with them on the trek to school, but she also values the exercise for herself.

"It's not something someone can do spontaneously," she said. "It takes a little bit of planning, but it is important enough for me to do it, so I make it a priority."

The app provides a warning 15 minutes before a scheduled walk, helping families get out the door on time, and Fuellenbach said walking to school becomes easier to accomplish if it becomes routine.

(Graphic by: Heather Miller)
(Graphic by: Heather Miller)

"It's just something we do," she said. "We walk to school even though we could drive, even if the car is there in the driveway."

Douglas said the app has helped transform his school into a "walking school," getting kids to and from school safely.

"Public schools were designed to be walked to," he said. "They weren't designed to have 400 cars drive through in a 15-minute window."

Feedback from the schools has helped UDOT make updates to the Walking School Bus app, and Cherissa Olson, the agency's school and pedestrian safety program manager, said they are always working to improve the technology and make it more user-friendly. Other states, and even nations, are taking note and asking for help with developing their own system, she said.

"We want to make sure people are safe on and off the roads," Olson said. "Having more parents take an interest in walking with their kids to school is helping to make safe environments for schools and the communities they serve. Safety is our main priority."

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