School Bus Hierarchy - An Observation

[grinningghost]

I was just following an empty school bus when he stopped to pick up his first kid. I assumed this kid would immediately go right to the back seat since he had the whole bus to himself. Nope. Sat right down in front.

Next stop - two boys get picked up. They run right to the two back seats. LOTS of empty space between the first kid and these guys.

Next stop - one girl. She runs right to the back seat to sit with one of the boys.

Don't know what happened after that, but it's apparent there's still a "school bus hierarchy" at work. Cool kids in back, nerdy kids up front. Sad, but true.

 

[powellrj]

I know on my kids bus its age. The bus driver makes the younger kids sit up front and as they get older they can move farther back on the bus. Once they get in the 5th grade and can sit in the back of the bus its a really big deal!!!

 

[ely3857]

I know on my kids bus its age. The bus driver makes the younger kids sit up front and as they get older they can move farther back on the bus. Once they get in the 5th grade and can sit in the back of the bus its a really big deal!!!

Sounds a lot fairer than a 'nerd & cool' split!

We dont have school buses in the UK but school kids are school kids the world over and there is a pecking order to deal with everywhere!



Jodie

 

[grinningghost]

These kids were middle school age - about 13ish.

A very tough age to start with.

 

[Melrosgirl]

Were you following my dd's bus? She's the first stop - by herself. She sits up front. They are assigned seats. She has no choice.

 

[grinningghost]

Were you following my dd's bus? She's the first stop - by herself. She sits up front. They are assigned seats. She has no choice.

No, I was a little too far away. And it was a boy that got on first.

 

[phisigprincess]

I know there was when I was in elementary school back in the '80s. You weren't cool until you could sit in the back of the bus. The last seat was the best. The 6th graders got to sit back there and you were just DYING to be old enough to move to the back. It was more a heirarchy based on age (which of course equalled coolness factor).

 

[disney4us2002]

Our elem and middle have assigned bus seats too and if they don't like their seat partner in middle school they have to write a request/report about why they'd like to move and with whom they'd like to sit. In elem the younger kids sit closer and the further back the older. In middle I'd say it's the reverse of the nerd/cool with the "trouble makers" assigned in the first three rows to be kept watch on. My boys have had the same bus driver since kindergarten so she knows the neighborhood kids very well. The kids also must whisper on the bus or she'll pull over and wait for silence. She's a tough one!

 

[Kimberle]

Our school bus seats are assigned.

 

[Annette_VA]

Sounds a lot fairer than a 'nerd & cool' split!

We dont have school buses in the UK but school kids are school kids the world over and there is a pecking order to deal with everywhere!



Jodie

Just curious - does everyone have to take their kids to school or do they take public buses?

 

[grinningghost]

Just curious - does everyone have to take their kids to school or do they take public buses?

My kid takes the bus, but she'll be driving soon and I'm sure driving to school will become a quick priority.

 

[golfgal]

Wow, I am surprised that there are assigned seats on busses. I remember way back when there was a bus accident and some kids were killed. They were all in assigned seats and some of the parents sued the bus company claiming that if their kids had been allowed to sit in a different seat, they would not have been killed.

Growing up the back of the bus was the cool place to sit but for some weird reason in this town, the front of the bus is the place to be. WHen I was coaching, they younger kids sat in the back of the bus and shared seats, the varsity sat in the front and got their own seat-this was going on long before I coached. It was just a "perk" for being on the varsity, I guess (the younger kids also had to pick up the bus after the trip, too). DS said it was the same way for the cross country team, too, the JR high kids were in the back and the older kids in the front. The varsity boys/girls got to ride in the van that they also had along because the bus was full.

 

[barrett7890]

Just curious - does everyone have to take their kids to school or do they take public buses?

maybe englands different but where i live in scotland there are school buses for kids that live more than a mile away (primary) or 2 miles (secondary).

apart from that they either walk or get public transport

cami
x

 

[SillyMe]

My dd5's bus has assigned seating, but my dd13's bus doesn't.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

I remember everyone on my bus sitting in pretty much the same place every day, kind of like having a certain lunch table.

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

When I was in junior high I sat in the very back with my friends. I don't think it was a cool thing though. We weren't very "cool." But then in High School we had assigned seats (which was so lame) but I stopped riding the bus after sophomore year so I didn't care anymore.

 

[aprincessmom]

Our busses have assigned seating

 

[TheOtherVillainess]

Our busses never had assigned seating, but the bigger and meaner you were, the more likely you were to get a seat you wanted.

TOV

 

[my3princesses]

Our school shares buses with two different highschools and two elementary schools. All 13 buses go to our school and hundreds of kids get off and transfer to another bus which will take them to their school. Therefore we have some 3 year olds in Junior Kindergarten with 18 year olds on the bus. Some drivers have assigned seats, some have the younger students sitting in the front. Sometimes there is a hierarchy (depending on the attitude of the students on that bus and the control of the driver).
Our bus in one of the fullest in our system with 65 students (on average) riding at any one time. There are 22 seats on a bus which means that there are 3 per seat. Quite often kids are standing because in realistic terms you cannot fit 3 teenagers in one seat (along with backpacks and here in Ontario you are also dealing with snowsuits). I have spoken to our principal on several occasions because the bus is too full and the driver has no control. It's one thing to have a full bus another to have a full bus with 65 kids misbehaving. The policy for the Ministry of transporation is that a bus should have no more than 72 kids on it, so we are within it's policy.
The general rule on our bus is that the younger students sit at the front however if you are one of the unfortunate last to get on the bus you are forced to squish in with 2 teenagers in the back, sit with 3 other younger students (which makes 4 per seat) or stand. The first stop (because we are in a rural area) is 10 minutes after going down a busy highway. It's getting to the point where my kids are begging me to pick them up as they often come home with headaches from the ride. Plus this is an accident waiting to happen.

Sorry about the venting, but my theory is, as long as they HAVE a place to sit, I don't care about hierarchys.

 

[simba928]

I am a freshman in High school. We generall have self-assigned seats. We pick a seat at the beginning of the year and that becomes "our seat". There is nothing that is making us sit there (bus driver did not assign seats or anything), we just do. On my morning bus (I ride two different buses), I sit in the front and on my afternoon bus, I sit in the middle. As for the front vs. back, generall the upperclassmen get the back and everyone else gets the middle and front, however, on my afternoon bus, people are a lot friendlier and the freshman and upperclassmen are all mixed together. In elementary school, the 5th graders sat in the back and everyone else got the front.