The world's most harrowing route to school

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So, you had to walk five miles to school, uphill, in the snow? That's absolutely nothing compared to the route children living in an isolated mountain village in China have to take.

In the Atuler village in Sichuan province, 15 children between the ages of 6 and 15 have a treacherous 90-minute journey to school that takes them down a 2,600-foot rock face — some areas have unsteady ladders, while in other sections the children have only rocks to grab onto. When photographer Chen Jie of the Beijing News first witnessed this dangerous commute, he was "shocked by the scene I saw in front of me," he told The Guardian. He hopes that the photos he took of the children carrying their backpacks as they make their way down the sheer rock will change this "painful reality."


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The village's oral history says its founders selected this mountaintop to avoid war. The community is home to 72 people, and the head of the village, Api Jiti, told the Beijing News "seven or eight" people have died after losing their grip and falling down the mountainside, with even more injured. The children now have to board at school so they don't have to make the trek every day, and they only go home twice a month to visit their families. The community is very poor, The Guardian reports, with villagers living on an estimated $1 a day or less, and there isn't room to build a school. The region's Communist Party spokesman said while they develop a permanent solution to the village's accessibility problem, a steel staircase will be constructed to connect the townspeople to the outside world.


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http://theweek.com/speedreads/626835/worlds-most-harrowing-route-school
 
There's a documentary I watched on Netflix recently called "On The Way to School," kind of along similar lines, showing what it takes for some kids around the world to get to school every day.

But yeah, this China example above is rather extreme.
 
Today at an elementary school nearby the parents line up in cars for several blocks to pick up their kids. Many live less than a mile from school but the get picked up. I guess it's a combination of safety and the fact that kids today don't get much exercise and walking a bit is out of the question.
 
Originally Posted By: andrewg
Wow...American kids get driven to school in a minivan if it's more than a block away!
Or the parents risk arrest.
 
Do you suppose they enjoy the beautiful scenery?
Adventure sports enthusiasts in the USA pay to do that, and these lucky Chinese kids get to do it for free!
 
Those kids will become very good rock climbers after some years of practice, twice a month climbed up and down 2600 ft mountain.

Those parents and children are absolutely dedicated to education.

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Six-year-old Chen Muhei is helped up the cliff with the aid of a harness and his father, Chen Guji, 30


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Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: andrewg
Wow...American kids get driven to school in a minivan if it's more than a block away!
Or the parents risk arrest.


That. In this area, the bus will not drop children younger than high school age unless an adult is waiting for them!
 
My younger girl walked home from elementary school when she was 7-8 years old. The distance was a little more than a mile. The door wasn't locked so she could get in without a key.
 
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: hatt
Originally Posted By: andrewg
Wow...American kids get driven to school in a minivan if it's more than a block away!
Or the parents risk arrest.


That. In this area, the bus will not drop children younger than high school age unless an adult is waiting for them!

That's insane.
around here there have been district that cut bussing all together for high school students.
Cuz you know, once you're a freshman, you can automatically drive and the state supplies you with a car right?

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
My younger girl walked home from elementary school when she was 7-8 years old. The distance was a little more than a mile. The door wasn't locked so she could get in without a key.


When I was in first grade, we lived a little over a mile from the school.(it was clear on the opposite side of the village!)
most days i did ride the bus, but occasionally i would ride my bike or walk.
I was 7 years old.
it was 1986.
and it was assumed i had the wherewithal to look both ways at crossings (Crossing Guards? what crossing guards! HA!) and cross 5 whole streets on my own, AND i was entrusted with my own House Key.
and then it would still be 60-90 minutes before mom got home from work( She Left a 7 year old unsupervised for 90 minutes, 5 DAYS A WEEK?? OMG!) not to mention that she had to leave for work about 30 min before the bus came in the morning(WTFOMG!)

once i got to Middle School(Across the Street from the Elementary) they started an hour before the elementary, so mom would sometimes drop me on her way to work, or i'd walk or ride my bike. I rarely rode the bus then, as the Middle and HS kids were bussed together, and I got bullied a bit(6th grade, 12ish yrs old).

HS, basically across the street from my house, cut through one neighbors yard, and I'm there.
the only time i got a ride to HS was one winters day when we had an unusually cold (-20F) windchill. and that was by my dad's insistence. I would have walked it no problem.

and in all those years, no one ever tried to lure me in to their van, or grab me or anything.

though one day when my big sister was walking home from HS, (remember basically 1 street over)a Village cop did stop her and ask what she was doing...
HRM, Teenage girl, carrying a book bag, right after the HS let out, one block away from the school, walking at a normal steady pace... sure sounds suspicious to me! better check it out!
(we of course now realize he was most likely trying to hit on her)
 
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Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Today at an elementary school nearby the parents line up in cars for several blocks to pick up their kids. Many live less than a mile from school but the get picked up. I guess it's a combination of safety and the fact that kids today don't get much exercise and walking a bit is out of the question.


Now that I'm a parent I'll mention that

-- my neighbors have school age too, and while all the kids are friends, I think the adults are a bit skeevy. As in having three "uncles" living there at the same time, unemployed, making deals with bitcoin on their cellphone skeevy.

-- I had a younger kid who was three when the older one was school age. Didn't want the younger one darting into traffic. Car is a good way to control him.

-- aforementioned "needs to be an adult to meet the bus" rule. It's the school's rule and you know if you cross them enough they get the state prying into your home business.
 
It's amazing what other cultures will do for education..

And how much of it is squandered in our western cultures.

We live less than half a mile from the children's schools, and they walk..will get dropped off if I've got a late start, but rain, hail or shine they walk.
 
When I moved to rural Maine, we walked to school. Heck, when a couple of us were high schoolers but before car ownership, we'd sneak off for a cig before school. There were a couple of places to do that on the way.

Right now the wife drives the kids to school. It's all of 5 miles. But if the kids took the bus they'd have to wake up about 45 minutes earlier than they do now. 10 mile round trip drive + an extra 45 minutes of sleeping? vs rushing to get out the door at o dark 30?
 
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