I'm a big proponent of kids walking to and from school. It helps them meet their daily physical activity goal, plus is more environmentally friendly than riding in a car or school bus.
But if your child has a cell phone, walking could be more dangerous than you'd realized. When kids try to cross streets while they're on the phone, they don't do it as safely as they should. So says a study published in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics, conducted by researchers at the University of Alabama. Using a virtual-reality simulator, the study's authors observed as 77 kids, ages 10 and 11, tried to cross a street while distracted by a phone call and while undistracted.
"While distracted, children were less attentive to traffic; left less safe time between their crossing and the next arriving vehicle; experienced more collisions and close calls with oncoming traffic; and waited longer before beginning to cross the street," the study reported.
So if your child is a walker, and has a cell phone, consider making a rule that the phone must be in his pocket when he crosses streets. Better yet, instruct him to save his calls for before or after his walk. A cell phone can be a helpful safety tool—but only if it's used carefully.