When I was 8 I rode my bicycle to school every day. Lots of us did. It was 1 mile each way for me.
Jr high, was 1.2 miles each way. But we always took the short cut to both. That was a dirt path that was literally 6 feet next to the LIRR railroad tracks.
Then in Jr high I had a morning paper route with 75 customers before school. After school Thu and Fri I had to go to each house on my route, knock on the door and collect the 40c a week for the paper.
Times sure have changed.