What ever happened to taking the bus to school?

[Jennasis]

I read on here all the time about problems people run into taking their kids to school or picking them up. problems withe the pickup line, problems dropping off at school, etc. So my question is this: Why doesn't your child take the bus? I recall briefly when I was a freshman in high school, our district lost it's budget and had to operate on an austerity budget so anyone living within 3 miles of the school lost bus service (that would be me!)...so my best friend and I got driven in the morning and WALKED home three miles after school. Then as a senior in HS I had a problem with my back that made sitting excruciating, so my mom drove me the 5 minutes to school rather than endure 30 minutes on the bus. I still had to take the bus home though.

Outside of those extenuating circumstances (like being bullied, or missing the bus, or a medical issue) why do so many kids get driven to school? My mom would have laughed right at me if I had asked to be driven everyday.

 

[golfgal]

Our kids always rode the bus. The only time they would get rides would be if they had big projects to bring in or too much stuff to carry on the bus--generally during golf season, DD would have her golf bag, saxophone, backpack and another bag with her golf clothes. I HATED the drop off line at school. If I dropped them in the morning we had to get there early and if I picked them up, they had to walk 2 blocks to meet me.

DS17 drives them to school every day now--he takes a class at another high school in our district so he needs a car in the middle of the day otherwise they would take the bus.

 

[cepmom]

I drive my kids because in our town, if you live less than 2 miles from school, you need to pay for bus service(up to 6th grade; after that you pay regardless of how far you live). I believe the cost is $230 per child, so I would rather drive them than pay that kind of money. The schools are about 1.5 miles away so I don't mind driving.

When DD goes to the high school in 2 years, she will take the bus since the school is 5 miles away. I carpool with my neighbor so I drive both ways toone school, while she drives both ways to the other school.

 

[MM27]

I don't have kids, but the school district where I work doesn't offer bus service beyond 2nd grade. The district where I went to school only offers it if you live a certain distance from the school, so I only qualified for elementary school and I did take the bus. In middle and high school I walked.

 

[blanq]

My 16 y.o. takes the bus to/from school every day, and always has. Once in a while, if he stays after school to meet with a teacher, etc. I might pick him up; but, then he has to sit and wait until I am done with work to get him.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Much to my kids' disappointment, if they were to attend public school--there is no bus service until 9th grade b/c we have what is classified as a neighborhood school. Kids will ride their bikes in non-inclement weather with parental escort until a certain age, then the kids can buddy up if they have a bike buddy.

The bike path skeeves me b/c it is behind a neighborhhood and anything can happen with no witnesses. But if the kids go in a group, it is much safer.

My most liberal of friends when it comes to the leash on her child--will not let her 3rd grader ride alone to school, yet. Her dad is always fetching her on tne bike or they drive to pick her up.

Our private school of choice does not allow walkers or bike riders for any reason. It is out of a strict sense of safety--so the poor parents have no choice but to deal with the car line.

We school at home--so a very short commute.

Bus service begins in 9th grade b/c it is too far to walk (probably about 7 miles or so--but I haven't measured lately.)

 

[pilotwife_02]

I grew up in a small town and we didn't have school buses So every parent was responsible for getting their child to and from school every day.

My boys are still too young (2 and 3) but when they go to school they will be bused to school since they live far enough away from the schools. But in our town if you live within 1 mile of the school you do not get bused to school.

 

[golfgal]

My 16 y.o. takes the bus to/from school every day, and always has. Once in a while, if he stays after school to meet with a teacher, etc. I might pick him up; but, then he has to sit and wait until I am done with work to get him.

Walking to that high school isn't really an option either.

 

[laurie31]

My DD rides the bus home, but I take her in the mornings. Because of the way the bus route goes, she would have to be picked up over an HOUR before school starts, but I can drive her in 6 minutes. It's not worth it to me for her to get up (and go to bed the night before) a whole hour earlier, just to save me a 12 minute round trip.

Drop-off isn't a big problem, but pick-up is a nightmare. It would take me nearly an hour to pick her up; she can be home on the bus just 5-10 minutes later than if I went and got her. So she rides the bus home. I'm not spending an hour in my car to save her 5 mintues. However, 3 days a week, she has sports after school, so she has to be picked up at 4:00. That's not too big of a problem either, as there are ony 45 kids being picked up then, not 300-400. (there's a total of 750, but about half ride the bus).

 

[java]

Well I go to the high school on the days my son is staying after for something. There is a late bus 2 days a week. Never on the days that my son has something. And the late bus drops him off about 4 miles from my house. So I still have to go get him.

The high school is 15 miles from my house- not walkable.
So I could say don't join anything and take the bus- but I am happy that he is interested in things and I don't mind picking him up a couple times a week.

 

[ajk912]

The kids get home earlier and when you have a busy evening those 20 minutes can REALLY help!! And it's either go to the bus stop and wait for them, or just swing by the school on my way home from whatever. Except for currently (dd uses a walker and I have to pick her up in the classroom) it takes the same amount of time to either pick them up from school or go wait at the bus stop and hope it's on time and walk the kids home from the bus stop.

 

[mhsjax]

Some kids get taken to school because as another pp mentioned, they would have to be picked up over an hour early. In my case, I sometimes taked them, mostly because their bus driver is a JERK. and yes I know this first hand. Also here in Florida it is hot and the bus is way too crowded, I just don't want the kids riding home in 90 plus degree heat while sitting 3 to a seat. Now when it cools off, I do make them ride the bus.

Also if I am running a little behind I take them because I can get 15-20 minutes extra time if they aren't riding the bus.

 

[locolala]

I was almost never driven to school, only if I missed the bus, had an appointment, or was on crutches. I got my license at the end of my sophomore year, and after that I drove myself to school in the car I purchased the summer before Junior year. After I got my car, I never got on a bus again lol. My bus picked me up at 0630 in middle school and school started at 0800, in high school it picked me up at 0545 and school started at 0730. The bus stop was about 1/4 mile from my house. My parents didn't drive me to school because they couldn't do that and make it to work on time.

 

[gregokdisney]

But my kids don't ride the bus because I don't want them exposed to what the older kids spout out on a regular basis. And, I know that they are exposed at school, but on the bus there is a huge mix of ages, with absolutely no supervision. I know the bus driver is supposed to be in charge, but no bus driver can safely drive the bus and control the behavior of 60 kids from age 5 to 18.

 

[golfgal]

The kids get home earlier and when you have a busy evening those 20 minutes can REALLY help!! And it's either go to the bus stop and wait for them, or just swing by the school on my way home from whatever. Except for currently (dd uses a walker and I have to pick her up in the classroom) it takes the same amount of time to either pick them up from school or go wait at the bus stop and hope it's on time and walk the kids home from the bus stop.

We are unusual, our bus drops the kids off before DS gets home because it takes him a while to get out of the parking lot--we are the first stop to be dropped off though.

 

[ajk912]

But my kids don't ride the bus because I don't want them exposed to what the older kids spout out on a regular basis. And, I know that they are exposed at school, but on the bus there is a huge mix of ages, with absolutely no supervision. I know the bus driver is supposed to be in charge, but no bus driver can safely drive the bus and control the behavior of 60 kids from age 5 to 18.

I agree with you and if our bus had THAT mix of ages I would be really worried about my kid riding the bus, too. I can't imagine high schoolers and first graders ride the same bus, that's a huge spread.

 

[JESW]

My dd11 is a precious little snow flake when it comes to riding the bus in the morning... I will admit that I drive her in more for me than her since I like the one-on-one time we get and she can play her music and we can talk. It starts the day off nice for the 2 of us and I have to get out anyway. The school is not too far away so it is not an inconvenience - in 4 years when she is off to high school it will be another story as that school is in another town.

She rides the bus home most afternoons except when she has an after school activity.

The drop off site at our school is very well run and I have never encountered the problems I have read about on this site - lucky us!

Jill

 

[mjkacmom]

Well, since my town is 3 miles long, has 5 elementary schools, and the JH and HS are smack in the middle of town, we don't even have busses! The only reason I drive dd7, ds7, and ds8 to school is because I don't trust ds7 (all of my other kids were walking at this age, and ds11 walks because he's a patrol, and has to be there early). Dd13 has been walking since the 4th grade. I'll walk the younger ones in the spring and fall, but it's COLD now.

 

[blanq]

Walking to that high school isn't really an option either.

Hey...a fellow Minnesotan! Yes, you are right. They built our H.S. away from residential areas, near busy Hwy 36 and Cty Rd 5, so walking isn't a very safe option for most kids. Another problem is the stupid half lockers they have at the H.S.which will not fit a winter coat, boots, backpack and books. You really need appropriate winter gear to walk in our winters. I am thankful our district offers bus service!

 

[RangerPooh]

In elementary school my bus service was canceled as I was deemed as living 'too close' to the school, about a mile away. So I wlaked, rode my bike, or my mom took us. In Junior High I occassionally took it to school, but having to be at the bus stop by 6:35am for an 8:10 start time was crazy! So my mom usually took me. However I rode the bus home daily unless I stayed after school for tutoring. If that was the then I walked the 3 miles home. In high school bus service was canceled so I got a ride to school. Since I played sports I either bummed rides home from friends or waited for my parents to get off of work.