When the length of a commute can be recognized as not acceptable for a kindergartner?
I have learned of kids with crazy long commutes in their school bus for public schools. I'm surprised of having such longs commutes (1 hour) for a 4-to-5 year old starting kindergarten.
I understand that sometimes a long commute might be the only option to get a child to school, but I think that a long commute, along with an early starting time, could be counterproductive in the academic performance of kids, and much worse in kindergartners, who might be having their first school experience ever.
In the state of Massachusetts (USA) a child can only be on the bus for an hour, but authorities can decide than an even longer bus ride is OK if needed.
I guess that that is the rule for all children, but obviously is going to affect some more than others.
Is there any research or documentation about when the length of a commute can be recognized as not acceptable for a kindergartner? (in the sense of, "longer than this is counterproductive for the child to have a productive school day and can cause mood issues, attention or performance problems or the like, and should be avoided if possible").
While it may not directly answer the question I would really appreciate additional information (via comment maybe) about similar regulations in different States (do all states thin that one hour is the longest a child should be on the bus?), or even different parts of the world. That could help comparing specific rules and understand what is adequate for a kindergartner (4 to 5 years) and what is not.
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Geography has a lot to do with it - rural areas require longer commutes. Children in West Texas have 100+ mile commutes to school and so do many other children across the US.
You cite Massachusetts as an example, but it is a very small and densely populated state compared to New Mexico for example.
South Carolina has 3 hour round trips for many students (link).
While I agree with the sentiment of feeling an hour commute is too long, the privilege of an education (and transportation) for the children of this country is a great one. Many go through much more for much less elsewhere in the world.
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