Back to School? Let's Carpool!
Posted on by Isabelle Brown
For students and parents/guardians alike, carpooling to school is a breath of fresh air. School drop-offs and pick-ups can be time-consuming and stressful.
With a new school year starting, have you considered sharing the ride?
Here’s why you should:
- You could be saving money on gas
- Sharing the ride is a great way to create and strengthen friendships
- It can make the ride to school way less stressful
- Carpooling is a great step to living a greener life!
You Could Be Saving Money
Gas prices around the US are high to say the least. Driving less will do more for your personal finances. Making a schedule with parents/guardians that live in your neighborhood takes some of the weight off of everyone involved.
For high school students, a perfect carpool buddy can be someone who does the same after-school activity as you or lives in your neighborhood. Carpooling in high school can be very helpful to students who don’t have the resources to get their own license or car. They can contribute gas money to make it a great trade-off for the driver!
Carpooling to save money on gas and parking can be extremely beneficial for college students, too. Driving to campus with friends can hold commuter students accountable to get to class on time. It can also act as a motivator to spend some extra study time in the library while waiting for your carpool friends to get out of class.
Strengthening Friendships
A carpool can be a great time for kids to make friends in a low pressure, calm environment. A parent or guardian being present can help create a conversation with leading questions to help kids get to know each other.
Just as great as kids making friends in a carpool is the support system that comes for the busy families involved. Being acquaintances or friends with other parents/guardians in your child’s school is a great way to stay in the loop for school events and news and to simply have someone in your corner.
College or high school students who carpool also have a perfect chance to strengthen friendships, too. Leaving school together and talking about your day can relieve stress, make you feel heard, and create deeper bonds with your carpool friends. Just be sure you’re being a cautious driver as you should be with passengers in your vehicle!
Reducing Stress
Speaking of relieving stress, sharing the ride to and from school is good for everyone involved, both drivers and passengers. Sometimes referred to as ‘carpool therapy,’ there are many factors that make carpooling a gratifying experience.
For parents/guardians, juggling school drop-offs and pick-ups with your own commute prolongs your day and time spent in rush hour traffic. Just knowing that you have someone to lighten your load can make your work week a lot less daunting.
College and high school students are often facing the challenge of newfound responsibilities during the school year. Being punctual for school on top of homework, assignments, extra-curriculars, and social activities can be difficult. Having a carpool friend or two is a great way to remain accountable, whether you’re catching a ride or are the one driving.
Going Green
Sharing the ride is a perfect way to introduce sustainable lifestyle changes for your family. Teaching children about making eco-friendly choices can begin first thing in the morning as you reduce your carbon footprint by carpooling to school. On days where you lead the carpool, maybe you start conversations about nature, recycling, gardening, and our favorite animals.
Starting to make eco-friendly choices like carpooling can also blend into other green lifestyle changes like packing a ‘Meatless Monday’ school lunch, sharing the ride to a local farmer’s market, or swapping toys and books instead of buying them new.
College students can use the green lifestyle choice of carpooling to motivate other ecofriendly habits. Renting textbooks instead of buying, cutting back on printing at school, thrifting with friends, cutting down on single use plastic, and unplugging electronics in dorm rooms are excellent examples—and these changes will save you money, too!
Buckle Up!
This fall, let’s carpool to school. Even starting with one day a week can begin to make a difference! It can turn into sharing the ride to sports practice, play dates, and so much more!