Am I the only one who doesn't put her child on the bus???

[Robinrs]

Okay, I admit I am not from rural America, never grew up without a threat to human safety so I know I'm different from MOST of the people on this board and in the world... :rolleyes:

But I have never gotten over the "school bus" nightmares I grew up with, me being the perpetrator believe it or not, so I drive my son to school everyday.

I know I have to get over this since I don't live in BROOKLYN anymore, but I still have a problem with it. And everytime I hear a nightmare about a child on a bus, I feel more and more justified. Maybe if I grew up differently I'd think differently, but it's a hard thing to shake.

[PandyPaws]

I am with you, Robin! We live a scant half mile from the school, so DS doesn't qualify as a rider, but even if we were further, I'd still drive. I have seen what goes on in those buses, even on field trips with parent/chaperones present....sometimes I will even drive the field trips with DS, following the bus instead of riding. Often the bus drivers offer no assurance either....we had one run out of gas on the way to West Point :rolleyes:

[Mermaid02]

I tried to put Jack on the bus last week but he cried and I had to ride too..... the driver then proceeded to ask ME where the streets on her stop were (some of which she had already been on) I told Jack he wouldn't have to ride the bus again. If the driver is that incompetent that she doesn't know the area and they send her out anyway.... I have no confidence in the bus company's ability to take care of my 5 year old.

[Mom2Em]

ME! My DD gets driven to and from everyday... I have some safety issues with school busses... When I was younger the bus I was riding in was hit from behind... The car was only going about 15 mph but 3 of the kids had broken bones out of it... Now granted, I am, ehm, getting older :) and some things may have changed... but I just feel more comfortable doing it this way...

[danacara]

From the opposite perspective, some of my best elementary school memories come from the bus. I made a few of my best buddies there. :)

[Robinrs]

Wow, I was beginning to think I was a loon...

I'm glad you have great memories, danacara, I wish I did. The school bus was a place to intimidate, humiliate and terrorize people when I was growing up. If I had to ride with someone like me I'd rather walk! :earseek:

[caitycaity]

"The school bus was a place to intimidate, humiliate and terrorize people when I was growing up. "

me too. after elementary school (which was too far away from where my mom worked for her to drive us), my sister and i always got rides to school from my mom on her way to work.

[browneyes]

I take my kids to school. We're not zoned for the one I want them to go to, so I have to take them.

As a kid, I hated riding the school bus. I had to ride it for an hour and a half in the am, and 2 hours in the pm. Too much riding.:rolleyes:

The school bus was a place to intimidate, humiliate and terrorize people when I was growing up.I saw that on my bus, too. Luckily I had a crazed lunatic for a brother, so most people didn't bother me (they were either afraid I was like him, or they were afraid he'd come beat them up).

[MosMom]

My daughter doesn't start school until next year but I will be driving her. An elementary school bus driver here was arrested for driving the bus (with kids in it) drunk. His blood alcohol level was 5X the legal limit. They gave the guy time served and probation.

That combined with no seat belts, punks, molesters, and everything else that makes me a paranoid parent helped me come to my decision. :)

[Pin Wizard]

DS is in a private school and they don't have buses. I drive him every day and like it that way. If he were in public school, there's NO WAY I would ever put him on a school bus. I've almost been side swiped by 2 on major roadways. Next time, I'll get the bus number and call the county! Others I've seen don't use signals and just cut in. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by caitycaity
after elementary school (which was too far away from where my mom worked for her to drive us), my sister and i always got rides to school from my mom on her way to work.
I live 4 miles from the hospital I worked at. I could have driven a total of 8 miles a day if DS were in the public school across the street from our development. However, I love his private school and am willing to drive 40 miles a day total to get him there and back. ;)

[Straycat]

My DS who will be 13 next week would rather ride the bus than have me take him up to the school. His friends from the neighborhood are on the bus and its a chance to socialize before and after school. We have yet to have any problems with intimidation or harrassment on the busses.
But, today is the 3rd day of school this year and I have a big problem with the busses this year. My son informs me that there are too many kids on the bus and he has had to stand for the two and a half mile trip to school both thursday and friday and the driver isnt the carefulest of drivers. I am going to give the school till this afternoon to have that problem fixed and then its time to raise hell.
Get this dilemma, he told me about friday afternoon that he got a seat but there were many standing including girls, well, i let him know that i expect him to be a gentleman and offer his seat to a girl that is standing next time that situation arises. I know that leaves him in danger, but he is built like a football player, he can handle the bumps and turns better most likely than a girl. Taking him myself everyday is not an option as i start college again next week and will not be free anymore.

[Mamu]

Robinrs I live in a small town. Like most it has swelled in size so it's not what you call a rural town anymore.

We live on the outskirts of town. So my children always took the school bus. They would tell me horror stories about, their bus trip to and from school. About a bus driver who allowed this to happen.
Complaints never seemed to work. Everyone shut their eyes to the problems.

My children were outspoken and defenders of the underdog. When I sit back now and think about what torment some children went through I am horrified.

In the 6th grade my son was struck by a vehicle while crossing the street for the bus. Minor injuries, Thank God. None of my children ever took the bus again.

Between the horror of what went on inside the bus and the thought of them having to cross a busy street. That was enough for me.

[Blondie]

would rather ride the bus than have me take him up to the school. His friends from the neighborhood are on the bus and its a chance to socialize before and after school. We have yet to have any problems with intimidation or harrassment on the busses.

That is the way it was last year....we'll see how it goes this year. Hopefully they'll be no problems.

If there are problems, I won't hesitate to drive them in.

[Pin Wizard]

Standing on a school bus? I thought they all HAD to be seated and the bus couldn't even leave a stop until EVERYONE was seated! :mad:

[gina2000]

I wouldn't put my child on a bus.

Think of it this way....one adult, 20/30 kids. What happens when someone acts up? I know most buses have school kids acting as bus monitors but still....kids taking care of kids. The bus driver can only drive, yell and perhaps pull over if things get ugly. I wouldn't trust anyone to be able to effectively drive and discipline. And if there is no discipline? Well, you take your chances.

JMHO.

[disykat]

I let my kids ride home on the days I'm not working at their school. We are the first stop so they ride less than five minutes on the way home. There is a different story - they would be on the whole 1/2 hour route. It's tons easier for me to get up 1/2 hour later and take them myself. Sometimes my friends give me a hard time for driving my kids, but I always have the excuse of how much easier it is for me. The reality of it is I don't want them on the bus for very long.

Our route used to have a terrific bus driver. The new one is making me reconsider allowing five minutes. He got taken off the route at the end of last year after I called to complain. I hear I wasn't the only caller. I guess we'll see what this year brings.

[dizneenut]

All 4 of my boys ride the bus, and we have never had a problem.

[John Smith1]

I don't, and won't.

[PRINCESS VIJA]

I drive my DS to school and back as well. Our bus system is not right as far as I am concerned. they bus middle schoolers with the primary school kids. some of the kids after being picked up at the primary school have to switch to a different bus when they pick kids up at the middle school. That is insane. First of all I don't think the primary kids should be exposed to what the middle schoolers say and do on the bus. AND I don't think that the little ones should be the ones that have to switch buses. It is all very confusing. A lot of parents drive where we live.

[Kallison]

My kids have had the same driver for 7 years - he is the best! They are on the bus for less than 10 minutes, I trust him completely. I was training to be a bus driver but decided the hours weren't going to work, driving 6 to 7 hours per day is a bit much for me. Yes it is hard to concentrate on a 16 ton vehicle and discipline the kids sitting behind you. That is why it is important to review bus safety with your kids occasionally. I teach my kids to have the utmost respect for their driver. Most parents do not, they only complain when their little angel is told they can no longer use school district transportation.

Mermaid02 - In our school district there is a rule, no parents are allowed on the bus unless it is to chaperone a school trip. I would not find it surprising that the driver does not know all the streets -- is it the beginning of the school year? There will be days when the driver is out and needs a sub, that driver will not know every street either. It's not unusual to ask the kids to help you out with the stops, my son often does it for a sub driver.

[Mermaid02]

Kalliso.... this was a week of "practice" school for kindergarten students only..... and I'll tell ya something- I would wonder what was going on that they were afraid of a parent seeing if they refused to let a parent ride with a crying kindergarten student. Would I expect a driver to know every single stop the first ride of the year?? Of course not- but she asked me where 3 VERY well known streets were and where one street "ended up" as well as saying, "Isn't the school on 4th street??" (it is NOT) I don't blame the driver- I blame her supervisor. He/she had no business sending her out to drive a bus full of babies when she had no idea where she was going. BTW that first day of school we were 20 minutes late...... :mad:

End of rant;)

[CJMickeyMouse]

My kids won't ever ride a bus to and from school. I have enough problem with them going on field trips and to/from athletic events.

As a coach, we were nearly broadsided by a semi (senior boys were running for the front of the bus and we could see the headlights shining in... that's how close it was) on the way to a game. Those kids were VERY shook up. The adults involved all sent letters to the school board and this driver 'retired'.

I am very picky about what parents my sons ride with too... when going out of town. For parties and such I will volunteer to help 'haul the herd' so I know the kids are safe. Some people are just a little more careful than others.... I don't like taking chances.

[Kallison]

Sorry but I agree with the no parent rule. It's not a case of being afraid of seeing anything. How many days should all the parents be riding with their crying K student? The 1st day, 2nd day, 2nd week, month, etc. How about the child crying in class, should the parents be comforting them until they stop? The 1st day of school should all the K parents be sitting next to their child so they don't get scared, upset, etc. That is very disruptive to the routine.

[Jennyfyar]

Today was my DD's first day of public school. (1st grade.)
She will not be riding the bus anytime soon. I am too worried about the driver, the other cars on the road, the other children on the bus. There are a lot of things in life you cannot control, but this is one that I can!

[WilmaBud]

NO way would I let my kids ride the bus. We live in a walking district, so it's a non-issue anyway. But even in a bussing district, I'd drive. A friend of mine lost his 14 year old son in a bus accident 3 years ago. I never liked buses before that, but that tragedy sealed it for me.

[Mermaid02]

That is good that you agree with that rule since it's in your community.... I'm afraid it would take my son a long time to adjust so we aren't going to do the bus thing..... Anytime I am REFUSED access to a day care or a school or a bus ride though- I will assume they are doing something they think they shouldn't be... call me cynical.... the world is a scarey place nowadays.

[CamColt]

This is an interesting topic to me since DS will start Kindergarten in a few weeks.
I took the school bus up until High School. I was lucky enough that the stop was out in front of my house. We had a lot of kids in the neighborhood so taking the bus was fun. Now, DS's bus stop will be at the end of our street(not very far) and across the road. We can easily walk it in 1 minute. I will definitely drive him the first day, but I do want to get him in the habit of taking the bus. School is less than 1 mile away but parking stinks. We are fortuante that DS's best friend will also be going with him and an older kid from our neighborhood takes the bus too. Hopefully he can show the young ones the ropes.

[Nancy]

The school district my kids are in is pretty good as far as their bus situation goes. Some days my 9 yr old is on the bus, sometimes I drive her. We are the last pickup so she's not on the bus that long. I know of situations where if a child was acting up the bus returned the school and the parents were called to pick that child up. the other kids were late getting home, but we did get calls from the transportation department. My 12 yr old is on open enrollment and does not get a bus, but if she was able to, I would have no problems putting her on the bus. And my 14 yr old starts high school this year and we live too close to the school for her to be bussed. In bad weather I'll probably drive her, but she'll have to walk home every day.

[Boots]

My children are all grown now. They rode the bus to school but I picked them up in the afternoons. They were the last ones on in the morning, but would have been the last ones off in the afternoon. I thought they were tired and just didn't want them on it that long.

[catsrule]

I always walked to school......even in the 10 inches of snow, rain, below zero temperatures, 4 miles both ways. The kids have it easy today compared to us old timers..... ;) :p

[Cindy B]

Well, I do send my kids.

But our district does have very strict bus policies and bus monitors with the bus drivers.

I would drive, but the school doesn't open until 845 and the bus is there at 830. They will not open the school doors until 845.

[snoopy]

My brothers and sister and I never rode a school bus. We always went to Catholic school that was in the neighborhood, throughout 12th grade. I always sort of wanted to ride the bus, but we always walked.

My kids don't ride one either. The school in our neighborhood is 2 blocks away.

[tnkrbell]

I drop my dd off every morning (and walk her to her classroom) and pick her up every afternoon!! I have my job schedule 9-1:30 so it doesnt interfer with picking her up or driving her!! I will not let her ride the bus@!

[Mary Jo]

<font color=navy>The rascals go to a Catholic school, so I take them every morning - however, I start at 7:15 (used to be 6am), and I leave them off early in the morning.

This year, my ds starts high school, and the school is in the opposite direction of where dd goes, so he's going to have to take the city bus (and transfer) to go to school and come home.

I kind of tossed the idea around to let dd take the bus home (again a city bus), but she's only 13, and with this rapist on the loose... well, I just won't take any chances -- I keep envisioning someone watching her walk home by herself from the bus .... nope - she'll have to stay in daycare until I get out of work, and then I'll pick her up.

[janette]

I grew up riding a bus but we were in a rural area and driving wasn't practical. There weren't any more problems on the bus than in school.

The elementary school my girls attend buses everyone. It's on a major street with very few houses kids could walk from without crossing the street. Traffic is also a big issue, I could drop off but it would take at least an hour each day waiting in the car line.

This is the second year here, and I've found I like the schedule. I get the girls up and out before I get dressed for work. They have some down time before classes and are never tardy. The bus stop is across the street so I can watch them wait / board from the window. That combined with a great bus driver ( who I was very happy to see this morning :) ) make it a pretty easy decision.

[MaryAnnDVC]

I moved when I was a sophomore in high school and had to start taking a bus...I hated it. As soon as I got my driver's license, my dad let me take the car (I dropped him off at work first).

But my kids have taken the bus from day 1, and have always enjoyed it. I adore the bus driver and the monitor (for elementary school)...they've become my friends. When my oldest DD was sick last year, the bus driver got permission to pick up my youngest with the middle schoolers (and kept an eye on him on the bus) when we needed to be at the hospital early in the morning, and also assured me to never worry about being late getting back from the hospital because if necessary she'd just take him home with her. She's been a lifesaver.

This year, my kids will be in 3 different schools, starting and ending at different times. To take them all to school would involved getting them all out of the house at 6:45 AM to go to the high school, then going home for a few minutes or killing time until 7:30 for the middle school dropoff at 7:30, then going home or killing time until the 8:15 dropoff for the elementary school...and then the same type of situation for pickup in the afternoon. Luckily, I don't have to do that. They do get picked up and dropped off at the end of the driveway, so that's nice.

[disykat]

I think there should ALWAYS be a parent or other adult on the kindergarten bus the first day. When I used to teach our school had a staff member (like teacher, aide, or principal) ride on each bus that had kindergarten students on it. I did it myself as a teacher - the kids don't always know where their stop is and the bus driver needs to concentrate on the route.

I also rode the bus home the 1st day my son was in kindergarten as a volunteer. We live 5 minutes from school and my child was on the bus for over an hour. The noon bus was dropping off kids from am and picking up pm at the same time. Some of the bus stops were used by two schools. I was glad to be there to reassure the kids while the bus driver dealt with her job. It would have been very hard to do with kids crying or falling asleep etc.

[MerryPoppins]

I drive both of mine. This year we'll be going to the High School and the Middle School. Both are in different directions, so I'll be busy. We always pick up our bus passes, just in case they ever need to ride, but I feel better if they ride with me.

[abaldacci]

The bus is fine for me. i took my dd the first two years, but after that she rode the bus. Shes fine with it. :D