Southampton secondary school students asked to ‘free their feet'
Four secondary schools in Southampton have been selected as the first in the country to run the ‘Free Your Feet’ walking challenge during Walk to School Month, with the aim of encouraging teenagers to walk more.
Southampton secondary school students asked to ‘free their feet' in a pilot scheme aimed at getting more teenagers to walk
The challenge, run by national charity Living Streets through their Step Up campaign, in partnership with Southampton City Council and with funding from the Big Lottery Fund, encourages students to record the amount of walking they do during one week in October to be in with a chance of winning an iPod Nano. Students from Chamberlayne College for the Arts, Upper Shirley High, Woodlands Community College and Bitterne Park School will all be involved.
The launch of the Step Up ‘Free Your Feet’ walking challenge ties in with the start of Walk to School Month in October – and this is the first time that secondary school students have been involved in this major international walking event. Whilst primary school pupils are already taking action to walk more, it can seem that the walking message is lost when students take the big step up to secondary school. Step Up changes all that, using knowledge and inspiration from the pupils themselves to create a fresh way of getting teenagers involved.
Being active in our daily lives is recognised as the most important way to combat the rising tide of obesity – on current trends, over 50% of the adult population will be clinically obese by 2050. To stop that becoming a reality, it’s the young people of today who need to rethink their habits and fit in more daily activity. Walking to school is an easy way to do that and yet at secondary school age only 43% take the trip on foot and trips by car are increasing. Finding out what is stopping students from walking more, and providing answers, is the key aim of Step Up. The ‘Free Your Feet’ challenge is a new approach to inspire teenagers to give walking a go.
Tony Armstrong, Chief Executive of Living Streets said:
“It’s fantastic to pilot this brand new project in Southampton and we hope we can roll it out nationally to get students walking across the country next year. At secondary school we truly start tasting independence, making the free choices and developing the habits that we will carry with us throughout our adult lives.
“One in five cars on the road at peak times is on the school run, and figures show the number of secondary school pupils being driven is still rising. Not only that, but a quarter of under 17s say they never walk for 20 minutes or more at a time, resulting in serious consequences for their health. We need to make regular walking an attractive option again, and this challenge is a brilliant way to start!”
Councillor Paul Holmes, Southampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said:
“I’m right behind any initiative that encourages our young people to get more exercise and this challenge is a great way to get pupils on their feet, providing of course it’s safe and practical for them to do so. I hope as many of our pupils as possible get involved and get inspired to get moving.”
Published by: Travel Actively on Thursday October 01 2009
