Traffic, gas prices, and laziness among students. Car prices, insurance, and automobile accidents. It's not been only a few times that I have asked myself the question "Why does everyone drive to school?"
"I would have no problem biking to school, except I have no place to park my bike," confessed one sophomore Monte Vista student.
Buying and placing a bike rack is not expensive, time consuming, or difficult. A good rack can cost as little as $200, and imagine how Mother Nature would thank us if that much was put forth to this cause.
Another problem presented is that many students are just so used to driving, they wouldn't think to go to the corner of their own street without their beloved Toyota.
What the students need is a reminder, not that the world is a terrible place doomed to be burned by the emissions of their own transportation devices, but of how they themselves can help to lower gas usage on a daily basis.
Most students do not live too far to bike to school, especially in the coming of the Dougherty Valley High School to be functional next year. Many students live close enough that they could get to school in an hour or less on a bicycle. Also, that is not the only option-for those with their legs still functional; one could walk, roller blade, skateboard, or scooter to school with no problems.
If the morality lesson does not strike the students, nor does the list of reasons listed in the first sentence of this article, perhaps a quid pro quo is in order. If students were offered PE credit to bike to school, then they might see the positive implications of such a decision.
While the new parking lot is appreciated by many, what we need is not more accommodation for gasoline-powered vehicles, but inspiration and opportunity for students who are a little less superficial, and a little more caring about the environment.
[email protected]
