Should kids show respect for adults on buses?

[noodleknitter]

If I get any snide comments or glares whilst we're at Disney, I'll happily offer her seat to said individual and put her on my lap. I guarantee that within a minute or so, that person will be begging me to give her her seat back.

I think that would be too funny! Too bad you couldn't do it!

 

[billysarmywife]

ok, I guess I'll take the unpopular stance.

For safety reasons I'd rather see kids sit and adults stand. Not all children are small enough to comfortably sit on people's laps (7 and up), but neither are they tall enough to reach the overhead straps/bar to hang onto. The buses often make rather sharp turns. In some spots on the bus there is no vertical handrail to hold onto, particularly if you are near a wheelchair accessible area. If the bus made a left or went fast around a curve a child could be pitched to the side. It's hard enough for adults to hang on sometimes let alone somebody who can't get a good grip.

Frequently on buses, I gave my seat to a kid who was too big to sit on somebody's lap, or those laps were already full. A healthy adult can stand just fine, but I didn't think it was reasonable for somebody who would have a hard time holding on to have to stand. To me that would include anyone elderly, pregnant or under about 5 foot tall. I would give up my seat for somebody who looks like they need it, but for reasons of safety I wouldn't make my 6 year old son. (who is 4"4 & 70 pounds and not sitting on my lap. lol)

I agree with you.....when the bus was full my husband would stand, and I would sit with our dd on my lap to allow others to sit. If the bus was too full for us to even get one free seat then we would wait for the next bus. I don't think that someone should get on a full bus and expect for someone else to give up their seat so that they can sit (of course that is the nice thing to do) they should wait for the next bus.

 

[amdisney1107]

Let me start over.
When I'm talking kids, I'm talking kids well over the age that it's safe for them to stand on the bus. And when I'm talking adults, I'm talking about elderly adults or people who may be in pain standing. I don't mean perfectly able people.
I didn't mean to cause people to get all offended. I think we're all looking into this a little to deeply!

 

[taximomfor4]

Let me start over.
When I'm talking kids, I'm talking kids well over the age that it's safe for them to stand on the bus. And when I'm talking adults, I'm talking about elderly adults or people who may be in pain standing. I don't mean perfectly able people.
I didn't mean to cause people to get all offended. I think we're all looking into this a little to deeply!

I would imagine that many of us have had experiences already, on WDW buses. My family has withstood poignant glares, loud snide whispers, etc for having our kids on bus seats. We cannot be the only ones who have experienced this. People who disapprove often RADIATE it, even if they don't intend to. So when threads come up that generalize as this one seemed to, it is already touchy. "kids" is a pretty generic term, and there is no magic age where kids are developmentally ready to be the standers on buses. "Adults" is a pretty generic term also -- as opposed to "people with mobility challenges" or whatever. The added toss-in of parents letting kids sit on the buses equating the lamentable decline of manners and respect for elders in this society probably further incited negativity.

I hope that anyone reading this thread, no matter who they agree with, learned a bit about the thought processes of the others.

Just for the record, my kids (who must be in their own seats on the bus) DO give up their seats in dr's office waiting rooms, etc, for adults...ANY adults.

 

[jlsDisney]

We just came back from WDW on 9/29. We had our dd4 and dd2. Whenever we got on a crowded bus a man always immediately got up to offer me and the baby a seat. However, on a trip to DTD on a crowded bus, a man, his mother, and her purse were taking three seats in the very back of the bus (the long seat in the very back). The man immediately got up and offered his seat to me and the baby. I tried to get DD4 to sit in the seat with the purse (she had kind of moved it). My DH and DD4 had gotten separated from me and DD2 and she was a little ways away. The bus started to move and DH said he would hang on to her until the bus stopped at the next location. The woman next to me then kept asking the man (her son) to sit in the empty seat. He kept telling her he was fine. She kept getting angrier and angrier at him. She was very upset that he had offered his seat to me (by the way I'm also pregnant) and then refused to sit in the seat that her purse had occupied.

When the bus stopped at the next location she asked him yet again (by this time it was at least 6 times he had told her no), he said no, so I moved DD4 into the seat. It is NOT safe for her to be standing on a moving crowded bus. She's little. When DD4 sat down, I looked at the woman and very politely said "well, he really didn't want to sit down." She replied, "I'm so angry with him I can't stand it." I replied, "Well, it was very nice of him to offer his seat to me." She then turned and stared out the window.

We later saw them at DTD at the Rainforest Cafe shortly after getting off the bus. He had met his wife and children and they were all, including mom, sitting at a table near us. I have to say, they ditched mom pretty quickly to look around and didn't come back until the food was on the table. I have never experienced such a thing as this before. Perhaps the woman had problems. I don't know.