Young children left on school buses.

[DawnCt]

It seems like every year, after school starts, a young child, usually of kindergarten age, falls asleep on the school bus...somewhere, and is "overlooked". The panicked mother, notices several hours after school gets out, that her child is missing, a search is instituted, the child is found asleep and the bus driver is fired. When it comes to school policy in many towns, the policy states that an adult or guardian should be at the bus stop to meet the child. If the mom was at the bus stop, wouldn't she notice that the bus didn't stop? With four boys, I can tell you, that this has happened to me. (My kids have also accidentally gotton on the wrong bus to come home) My youngest fell asleep, the driver didn't see him and she continued up the road. I went back to the house, got my car and followed the bus up the street and into the bus lot and retrieved my sleeping son from a very embarrassed, worried bus driver. Total time that said child was missing? 5 minutes. This incident remained between me and the bus driver. After all, I got my child back and he had a nap to boot. Shouldn't the parents be held responsible also, if they don't notice that their child didn't get off the bus within a reasonable amount of time? Do these issues always need to make the paper?

 

[poohandwendy]

It makes the paper because it is sensational. Yes, IMO, it is the responsibility of the parents to make sure someone is awaiting the childs arrival from school. It should never take more than 15 minutes to determine that a mix-up has occurred.

Another example of people shifting their responsibilities on others.

 

[sha_lyn]

notices several hours after school gets out, that her child is missing, a search is instituted, the child is found asleep and the bus driver is fired

All bus drivers should be (and in most areas are) required to make a walk through of the bus before it is parked. If several hrs have passed then IMHO the bus driver has also "dropped the ball".
In most of the cases the parents depended on daycare workers, neighbors etc. and were not notified until they went to pick up their child that the child didn't get off the bus. I don't see how this is the parents fault. I doubt a parent who is at home just notices several hours later that their child didn't arrive home from school.

There have been times around here when DS was in PS that the bus would be delayed up an hour due to mechanical problems etc. The kids aren't allowed to get off the bus until a replacement arrives and the school doesn't call the home. On one occasion the school had no idea what was going on. I was about to call the police when the bus arrived. Another time I believe the kids were still at the school waiting for a bus to arrive. This got so common that I really could see me not knowing the bus had went by and DS didn't get off until an hour os so after the usual drop off time.

 

[DawnCt]

Originally posted by sha_lyn
1. All bus drivers should be (and in most areas are) required to make a walk through of the bus before it is parked. If several hrs have passed then IMHO the bus driver has also "dropped the ball".
2. In most of the cases the parents depended on daycare workers, neighbors etc. and were not notified until they went to pick up their child that the child didn't get off the bus. I don't see how this is the parents fault.
3. This got so common that I really could see me not knowing the bus had went by and DS didn't get off until an hour os so after the usual drop off time.

1. All bus drivers are required to do a walk through of the bus, which is why, in my son's case, the driver was so worried. She would have definately lost her job.
2. If parents are depending on day care workers, neighbors, etc to meet their child at the bus, then they had better darn sure be there. If they can meet the child at the bus, so can a perpetrator. Someone who can assume responsibility needs to be there.

3. Buses run late on occasion in every town. If I didn't see the bus go by at the expected time, I would be on the phone to find out why, even if it were a weekly occurrance. One of my children had gotton on the wrong bus and it went to the opposite end of town. Geographically, our town covers a large area and is rural. When he didn't get off of the bus , I stopped the driver, and I learned that he had never gotton on the bus. They were able to find him before he got off where he shouldn't. It is ALWAYS the parents' responsibility to be sure the child is safe or the adult that they designate that direct responsibility to.

 

[sha_lyn]

It is ALWAYS the parents' responsibility to be sure the child is safe or the adult that they designate that direct responsibility to.

I agree with you to a point. In your situation that you described, the school had "custody" of your son and allowed him to get on the wrong bus. That is no ones fault but the schools. In many situations I know of it was someone working for the school's fault that the child was on the wrong bus, didn't get off at the right stop etc.
For example I had a conversation with someone a while back ( a cashier at Wal mart). This is what happened to her a few days before that. She had 3 children I believe. Because of her work schedule she always sent in a note when her kids were to ride the bus home. Most afternoons they stayed in the schools after school program. On the day "in question" the teacher insisted to her K son that he was to ride to bus home that day. The bus driver dropped him off knowing the older 2 kids were not on the bus, nor was the mother or grandmother waiting at the bus stop. The mother didn't know her youngest was missing until she picked the other 2 up at school. (IMHO the after school program should have called when the other 2 insisted their brother was suppose to be there). She "flew" home to find her son asleep on the front porch.

INHO the only people at fault were the teacher, the bus driver and the after school workers.

 

[disykat]

My second grader didn't get off the bus one day. My 4th grader didn't even notice he wasn't behind him until the bus had left - and the bus had pulled up further than usual and I couldn't see the door past the bushes. First we thought he was hiding in the bushes, because my son had seen him on the bus. We spent a minute or two calling and searching. Then we ran the two blocks home to get the cell phone. I called the school while we were running back to the bus stop in case the bus came back by to drop him. The school then had to call the bus shed and they called the driver. She found my son and the message was relayed back to me that he was still on the bus and fine (he was so embarassed that he missed his stop he was hiding in the back). All of this took quite a few minutes - during which I worried he would get off at another stop and try to walk along a very busy, 55 mph, road home.

I don't consider this my fault. I don't consider it the school's or the bus driver's either. My son was too young to be "at fault" - though as a 2nd grader it was his responsibility to watch for his stop and you can bet he never did it again. Things like this just happen sometimes and it is up to every adult to help the children stay safe.

 

[CajunDixie]

Do your buses not have radio communication with the schools? All of our districts buses have radios and can call the school to verify if a child is getting off at a friends or if a sibling went home sick. And the school secretary can call a bus back to the school to pick up a child that missed the bus or to ask if they are running late or have forgotten a stop. We have our schools frequency on our scanner so as to hear the drivers and the transportation director on bad weather days too. We had one superintendent that rarely canceled or delayed school. One morning we heard him call the bus garage to ask the mechanic to come pull him out of a ditch. Needless to say we had no school that day.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Ahhh you know what, this brings up what my 7th grade dd did in school last week for Social Studies.

She had to answer a question of what "in loco parentis" was in relation to school. Basically it means that the school IS responsible for your child, ie they have "custody" of your kid. I believe that this is across the USA public school system. So ultimately if this statement is true then if a child is left on the bus it falls under the school being at fault, technically anyway.
Also the bus driver should check the bus before going home for the day as just pure common sense.

I wish I could say that parents are at fault but reality forces me to say that until the child exits the bus the school is "in custody".

BTW Yesterday my 1st grader DID NOT get off the bus. I hopped in my car, older dd called the school while I ran up to get her. So stuff does happen. I am thankful that our school has many safety features in place & and trust them.