Kids now days get kidnapped in their own yard…alot of things can happen in a few blocks. I personally wouldn’t allow them to walk alone…get out there get some exercise walk with them…
Depending on where you live I’ll go against the majority and say if the younger two will hold the eldest’s hand the. Trial it for a week and see if they feel
Comfortable. Where I live plenty of kids walk home, I’m a teacher and on crossing duty so they get across safely
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hoping people have enough common sense not to let the world know if their kids are walking home alone or not 
Now a days no but we did as kids do they offer after school program
Maybe the first couple of days figure out a way to sit somewhere were u cannot be seen and let them walk home w u watching from a distance so they don’t think u are there and see how it goes this way u have eyes on them for the first couple to know whether or not u can feel at ease w it or not
I dont trust society. Its a cruel world we live in! My kids are 11 12 15 and 16 and i still dont let them walk anywhere…
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The fact you need to ask is your answer.
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In today’s world, I wouldn’t
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Ummm no, if you have to ask on social media you already know the answer
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I live in a small town and also same distance from the school bus stop, my 5th grader and 2nd grader has been walking home for about 2yrs
In today’s society? Hell freakin NO.
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Not in my opinion. They’re too young. We did at that age but it was the 80’s and different. Today, no way.
No. Too many variables & I don’t think it’s a good idea for the older one to have the responsibility of getting the younger ones home okay.
This world is crazy! Don’t risk it.
Is there anyone older in your neighborhood or maybe a high schooler that would like to or be able to walk with them daily? If you HAD to go this route?
I honestly wouldn’t even be comfortable with my elementary school aged kids riding the bus … maybe never lol
I agree with the above, maybe they can go into aftercare for a short time?
I had to pick my kids up at two different schools across town from one another last year and their let out time was the same time. My daughters school had aftercare so I would pickup my son first and they would put her into aftercare if I wasn’t there to get her at let out. Sometimes it was only for a few minutes but, it was a huge help! 
I wouldn’t. It takes one time for one of those kids to do something a kid would do and get hurt for that fourth grader to live with the guilt forever.
Definitely not. There’s a lot of perverts out there and idiots driving too fast. Your children are too young to judge the speed of traffic and too young to defend themselves if someone wants to take them.
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Yes it is a good idea. Make sure the oldest has a phone.
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No way. Even if your child is “fully prepared” if something happens, there are dangerous ppl and they will literally do anything to get what they want. Id have my kids wait at the school and pick them up
Ill add that even walking to school in high school i felt unsafe so many times!
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Absolutely not. If it’s not a need, it’s not worth risking.
Not in this day and time. Too, much evil inthe world
You know your children best. You have a child on Gr. 4 and they are responsible and aware of enough at that age (guessing 10/11?) to walk children home.
I walked home from school 20 minutes each day at 8 years old. My brother was 10. We had 1 hour until my parents were home from work. In that time, we cleaned the house and had dinner ready and laundry on the go. At 8 and 10. Because my parents believed we were capable and taught us life skills, social skills and safety awareness, we grew up to be confident and independent. By 10, I was babysitting infants and cleaning housings to earn money and at age 11, I purchased my own horse. I have had earned my own money since age 10. My parents ran us all over playing competitive sports all year 'round. Why am I a successful woman today who is confident and capable of doing anything? Because my parents let me walk home when I was 8 years and believed in what I was capable of. 
Teach your children, don’t bubble wrap them. There are safeguards you can have in place. Childrens GPS watches that have calling for $10. Cell phones. They didn’t have any of that in the 80’s! There were creepers and dangers then too.
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This day in time I wouldn’t
No !! A 9 yearly old is too young to walk with siblings
I truly believe this is a decision to be made by you as a family. Very dependent on your own situation, neighborhood, and children’s maturity. My daughters walked home when they were little and we lived in a small town.
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Have them wait at the school for you to pick them up since you get off work around the same time as they get out.
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4th grader shouldn’t be responsible for the 2 younger ones yet.
Nope definitely not!
Where I live a child cannot stay home with younger siblings until they’re 12 or older and cannot stay home alone until they’re 10. I think your kids are way too young to walk that many blocks home alone. Especially because the oldest being a 4th grader is probably only 8-9 years old.
Depends, is 4th grader mature and good with little siblings? Do they respect n listen to the 4th grader? I think if you consider that, walk that walk with them at first then maybe it’d be fine.
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No that’s to much responsibility on the 4th grader
In this world today I wouldn’t
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Absolutely not. I don’t care how safe you think your neighborhood is!
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I wouldn’t, but I’m that very careful mom when it comes to my kids. I stayed home alone at nine, but I wouldn’t let my kids stay at home alone or walk home from school by themselves.
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I feel like if you feel that they will behave well and go straight home and be safe about it that it’s fine…
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I’m nervous for my 12 almost 13yr old to walk home and the only big road she would cross there is a crossing guard I’d say they are too little but that’s just my opinion
Eh depends I walked 4 blocks to and from the bus stop at their age. It’s a family and maturity decision
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10-20 years ago yes this day in age nope !!!
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It sounds like your drive is only 10-15 minutes. Is talking to the school principal about picking up your kids 20 minutes after school gets out something you could do? I know at schools I’ve been to/ my kids have gone to people are usually around for another 15-30 minutes after school gets out anyways.
No. If something went wrong would you really want your fourth grade child to live with that responsibility and would you want to live with that responsibility ? So many things could cause your plans to go wrong. Hire a high school student to walk them home or pay a neighbor to take them home with their children. You never know who might be observing your children on their own. In this time there are too many crazies out there. Be safe not sorry.
Now a days, I would say no. I also have a 4th grader and a 1st grader. We are 4 blocks away from the school. 2 crossing guards after 2 blocks. Back then, I was staying home alone at 8 and watching my sibling(4). Today’s world is different. Back then you could play outside until it got dark out…. Today all it takes is a second of looking away. Very sad times we are living!
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In my town they have some preschoolers walking a few blocks home from the school and my 4th grader walks from her school to high school for her sister that’s about 3 blocks away. My opinion is you know your kids are they mature enough to walk home alone?
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In my opinion, no. My child’s school is pretty close to home as well but I won’t ever let her walk home by herself or in the future with her siblings. This day in age, it’s too risky! Definitely not worth the risk. Again, this is just my opinion!!
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No no no , too many evil people out there
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At my kids school there are a ton of kids who walk, ride bikes etc. Some are young, and I see them every day doing fine. It really depends more on the maturity of rhe children than just their age
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Where I live the bus doesn’t do pickups if your within 2 miles of the school unless they are special education children . I see kids as young as 6 walking to school in the morning
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If it was back in like the 80s or 90s I say yes, but with how many creeps and crazy people are out there these days, I personally couldn’t risk it. Do you have a neighbor or family member that can pick them up or hang with them until you get home?
Yes. I would.
It’s all about knowing your kids…what will they do, what won’t they do?
Are they mischievous or do they listen…will the younger listen to the older and does the older have the “confidence” to grab a hand up if need be?(as in crossing the street)
Just depends on the kid(s).
I would enforce ABSOLUTELY NO RUNNING. My little knows we don’t play in a parking lot
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No ! Not in the evil world we live in today. And what if you got behind a wreck or a traffic jam of some sort and couldn’t make it home on time. No.
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Where I live Second grade and up is allowed to walk home alone. There are buses for kids who don’t live close to the school. Under 2nd grade can with an older child. Do I agree to this? No I would never let my child walk alone at least until 4th grade. However, since you have a 4th grader with younger siblings then it’s up to your own discretion if your comfortable with it. There is always after school programs or possibly ask to leave work 15mins early each day.
If the younger ones are walking with the older I think it’s okay but I’d get him a cell phone or those kids watches incase something weird happens.
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Its not the roads you should be worring about. Its the crazy people who take our babies. So definitely a hard NO!!!
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Eh… there’s a lot of important factors here other than age.
Thier maturity and your area are definitely two of the biggest factors.
A 4th grader probably is not old enough to be responsible for 1st and 2nd graders.
They would not only have to make the correct decision Everytime but also have the ability to get the younger ones to mind them (which can create issues outside of the walk home).
Even if you could find a way to work around that…your area is another factor.
How populated? What’s the crime rate? How do people drive around the area where your children would be walking?
For me personally…
My area is rural. We don’t have a high crime rate. But honestly I’d be too concerned about the way people drive to let my kid walk without someone older/more mature who could/would pay attention to the traffic.
In addition to that, my 2nd grader is just not mature enough. He would not mind a 4th grader and I’m not sure he would be able to handle walking straight home and not detouring to something “fun”
No.is to hard to know what people is thinking too dangerous now days
Not in these times!!! Never
We don’t know your neighborhood… use your best judgement and check the law… if you feel safe and the 4th grader is mature enough, then sure… let them walk.
Yes it is fine. There is no more danger today than there ever was. Remember, there will be a lot of other kids and adults collecting kids. They should be fine to walk that far. If you are truly worried, is there another older child who lives near you, you could offer them $10 a week to walk with your kids home.
If you trust them to come straight home and not fight amongst themselves and as long as they all 3 walk together, I would.
My guess would be no. Not with a first grade. But I’m not their momma either…so?
Honestly no because after recently watching criminal minds I wouldn’t let me boys walk I started to take em to the bus stop and picking up
I started walking home alone in the 4th grade but it was a really good neighborhood. Plus you can’t really expect an 11(?)yo to be able to handle a 1st grader around traffic, and in this day and age it’s just…, people suck and you never know if someone could kidnap them.
In today’s world? Absolutely not.
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Times have really changed. That all depends on a few things. How responsible are your kids? What kind of area do you live in? My daughter is 11 and in 6the grade. Her bus stop is literally a block from the house, but we make sure we walk down with her in the am and she gets picked up there when the bus drops her off as well. We dont live in a good area, and simply do not trust her to stand down there alone. When I was a kid in the 90s I walked to school and home and all over town and it wasn’t weird or looked down upon at all. Times have really changed though.
1st day of school here some guy was catching kids walking to bus stop asking them of they need a ride, so now even though last year they walked to bus stop alone, they aren’t allowed to one is in 7th grade. We live in a small town. They were waiting for mom in front of house when he asked my grands if need a ride
My kids are in kindergarten and 3rd grade, we live literally 2 mins from the school and I won’t let them walk. They ride the bus.
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Check the sex offender list as well before you decide. I thought I lived in a good area and found out there’s pedophiles almost every block, and can you trust them to come straight home and not be lead astray? There aren’t just bad adults sometimes it’s kids too.(I watch a lot of documentaries)
No, I wouldn’t. Too many bad people out there.
Nope.
Check with the school. I’d be surprised if they allowed children that young to be dismissed by themselves.
I would let mine at that age but where I live a lot of people do. So it really depends upon your comfortability if the neighborhood and the maturity of your kids.
No!!! You’re just asking for them to get abducted 
I guess it depends on where you live. We live in a community where everyone knows everyone, and everyone watches out for “our” kids. So, I would let them walk. If you live in a bigger town or city, no.
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I would personally wait another year or 2… for the oldest to be more responsible, because you will be putting him
In charge correct? That’s a big responsibility for a 4th grader… so it’s a no from me.
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Nope. I definitely wouldn’t be comfortable with that. But I stand at the door and watch my daughter, just as she checks the mail. No way I’d let her walk a couple blocks away, without (trustworthy) adult supervision.
You know your community, you know your children. When my oldest started school, we were in a small school district that didn’t use buses. Everyone lived within walking distance of the schools. (Small community, still in the city, long story how that works…lol). Crossing guards at major intersections. My oldest was walking home in 1st grade. Now, we’ve moved, she’s in middle school, and walks again, because we live 4 blocks from the school. I was comfortable with her walking at such a young age because I knew my community and I knew my child and felt comfortable with her walking. There were also other children walking and they walked in packs. I would have conversations with them about strangers and set a “password.” If someone were to come to them and say “your mom told me to pick you up” they need to ask the password. If they don’t know the password, then the kids know to run. Set up safeguards, but still give them some independence with walking. Make sure the oldest knows to not leave the youngest and they HAVE to walk together.
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My 3rd grader walked with the neighbor kids who are the same age and a couple years older. We live just one block away from school in a very small town.
I would say yes! Give it a try. They might like the independence.
I can see our elementary school doors from my backyard. I’m still going to walk them all when they start school.
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Not the way this crazy world is now!
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No, but if you get ahold of your school and ask if they could get you in touch of a parent who walks their child home the same way or an older student who you could pay to walk your child home and sit with them a few
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I don’t even let my first grader walk to the bus stop alone ands it’s not even a block. But that’s me.
If ur comfortable with it that I’d say go for it. My oldest is in 5th grade and I wouldn’t put that responsibility on her because she’s not the one who chose to have more kids it’s not her job to make sure her sister gets home safe that’s mine as a parent. There are so many possibilities that could come up that I don’t expect her to be able to manage at her age. I’m not saying she’s not responsible and helpful but that’s a different level of responsibility.
Get them one of the tracker watches or something that can connect to your phone and you can see exactly where they are and get your oldest a safety alarm just incase. Have a serious conversation with your oldest to make sure they all hold hands and she has alarm in her hand,dont talk to anyone and go straight home and give her a house key. If your comfortable with the area then yes,its not that far but id still get the tracker and alarm.
Too many pervs in the world! I say no.
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You know your children best! Really just depends on their level of maturity/responsibility and the area you live in.
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It depends on your kids and what your comfortable with. Mine is in 3rd grade this year. I started letting her this year. She is being watched closely the first month but its a big responsibility.
No, to many perverts out there. Scary times for all kids😪
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it depends where you live. if you live in a neighborhood with multiple families having kids going to the same school maybe organize a neighborhood walk where there a bigger group with multiple age groups. and they all walk together to each house and have a couple older mature students in charge to make sure everyone gets in side safely. there’s also the possibility of them waiting for you to drive to the school and you pick them up that way the school can see that trusted parent
I might have 10 yrs ago but not today…to many crazies…give it a couple more years…for the younger ones…just to be safe…I would anyway…
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My third grader does. We live in a smaller, Midwestern town. She also has a gizmo watch so I can track her and call/text
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Depends on where you live and how mature your fourth grader is honestly. If they’re mature enough and it’s a safe enough neighborhood I’d get them one of the calls to emergency people only phones with a tracker and let them walk home together and have a serious discussion on rules.
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No way. You might be able to trust your kids but you can’t trust others! If your only a few minutes later, I’m sure the school won’t mind them waiting behind the gate an extra few mins
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My daughter is 14. I still stand and wait for her to get on the bus. It only takes a second for one to be snatched. I just watched a video of a woman being snatched yesterday while walking down a sidewalk. Happens way to quick. And where I live sex trafficking is big and people going missing happens all the time. I think it is starting to be that way everywhere
Absolutely not and it’s illegal to leave them home unsupervised even for just a few minutes. What happens if you can’t leave work or get into an accident? What if there’s a robber or fire at home and you are still not there? Is there maybe a college age student or SAHM in your neighborhood or friend /family group that may be able to help for that time after school? Or does the school have an after school program (when mine were that age they had a program where you could do hourly, part time, or full time and it was super cheap). Or maybe the school bus route will allow you that time to beat them home.
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Nope, there is no way your fourth grade could fight someone off if they were to try to grab your smaller ones.
It’s not the walking home part that’s the main issue. I found various solutions to this because I knew there would be days when I’d get stuck coming home. The worst was when I got stuck in a freak snowstorm for three hours. Luckily my neighbour took mine in as they’d forgotten their key. Get a friend to walk back with them, ask someone to take them home for a small amount (sometimes I got to their house for pick up before they did!). We agreed I’d pay for half an hour’s childcare every day which was just to cover snacks.
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I’d say it depends on the area you live. Kids do where I live. But today’s world has horrible people in it.
Is there an older child that walks the same way if so talk to the parents and see if they can talk to there child about keeping an eye on your little ones on the way home
Depends on where you’re from honestly. Where I am yes that’s completely acceptable and done often. Small town. Little too no crime. Every one knows everyone.
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Get a sitter to pick them up and wait for you to get home. Kids that young can easily be abducted. I wouldn’t do it.
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I lived in the neighborhood across from my daughters school and I wouldn’t let her (walk alone)till fifth grade. Not to say I wouldn’t have let her fourth…but there we’re still older kids she walked with.
My main worry would be the younger ones listening and following directions given by the older kid. That a lot of responsibility for the older one.
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