La movilidad independiente infantil en los caminos escolares: la percepción de los niños y niñas sobre las dificultades en su entorno

[EN] The rate of children's independent mobility has declined significantly over the last few decades. This situation has made it more difficult for children to explore, play or walk independently through the streets of their neighbourhoods and cities. The aim of this research is to find out the reasons that encourage or make it difficult for children to have experiences of autonomy, as in this case through the school journey without an adult figure, to see how they perceive their environment, how parental decisions influence them and to find out what their own personal capacities are like. A total of 1,002 boys and girls between 8 and 16 years from various municipalities in Bizkaia (northern Spain) took part in the study. The answers were collected through open-ended questions and analysed using Iramuteq software. Three types of analysis were carried out: the Reinert method, lexical similarity analysis and specificity analysis. The results show that children who obtain permission from their families to travel to school independently have a greater perception of safety in their environment. On the contrary, those who are accompanied to school perceive their streets as more unsafe and repeat more frequently the difficulties that may be involved in making the journey independently. Finally, it has been observed that children with higher rates of independent mobility perceive themselves to be more mature and better able to move around their surroundings.The rate of children's independent mobility has declined significantly over the last few decades. This situation has made it more difficult for children to explore, play or walk independently through the streets of their neighbourhoods and cities. The aim of this research is to find out the reasons that encourage or make it difficult for children to have experiences of autonomy, as in this case through the school journey without an adult figure, to see how they perceive their environment, how parental decisions influence them and to find out what their own personal capacities are like. A total of 1,002 boys and girls between 8 and 16 years from various municipalities in Bizkaia (northern Spain) took part in the study. The answers were collected through open-ended questions and analysed using Iramuteq software. Three types of analysis were carried out: the Reinert method, lexical similarity analysis and specificity analysis. The results show that children who obtain permission from their families to travel to s