At what age do you think a student would be allowed by the bus driver to get off the bus, cross... - Page 3

[LynnS6]

Originally Posted by bigeyes

From the driver's POV, their job is to drive, and to ensure the child's safety while they are on the bus and crossing the street. If they don't let them off, are they supposed to take them all the way back to school?

that's what they do in our district! Ds' bus coming home was 35 minutes late one day last week because a child from the previous route (a different elementary with an earlier start time) had gotten on the wrong bus. Ds' bus couldn't come pick the kids up until they got the other child off to a safe spot.

[bigeyes]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

that's what they do in our district! Ds' bus coming home was 35 minutes late one day last week because a child from the previous route (a different elementary with an earlier start time) had gotten on the wrong bus. Ds' bus couldn't come pick the kids up until they got the other child off to a safe spot.

Our driver at our current school keeps them until the end of the route and then they go back to the school, afaik. At the beginning of the school year she had all of us sign a paper stating whether or not she could drop our dcs at the bus stop if we were not there to pick them up.

[mommy68]

I chose the age of 10. I didn't even ride a bus until 5th grade when I was growing up. It scared me to have to ride a bus even at that age. I think kids are pushed way sooner to act older than they are. I know your question is about crossing the road and I feel some kids are too young to do that.

I definitely feel under the age of 8 is too young to get off and cross the road. But I also understand there are kids that have to do it so I'm not here to judge them. I just feel that children can be very forgetful, get sidetracked, whatever.

[tm2840]

I chose six - assuming the bus driver has his lights flashing and traffic stopped!

I don't know why 6 was my magic age. My 8 YO walks home from school, and I think his friends are also capable of that. So why not 7? Or 6? Or 5? And then I stopped; 5 YOs, Kindergarten aged children, are very new to the whole school system AND many are still developmentally unable to follow directions.

Of course, if your child is 12 and you think he lacks the skills to do so safely I think a note to the school/driver asking for them to help keep an eye on this would be a good idea.

I guess I believe in giving the majority of people/kids freedom and responsibility and then make it possible for those who need extra consideration to ask for and receive it.

I misread the poll, but my answer is consistent with the regulations in our school district. K-kids are taken back to the bus depot, 1st and 2nd grade are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED (but not required) to meet their children.

[bu's mama]

the district I live & work in has a policy of K & 1st graders have to have a parent meet the child at the bus, but like it for all kids up to 3rd or 4th grade. If there is no parent there, they bring the child back to the school.

Walkers need to have a parent meet the child at the door of the school & they are released individually (yes, it's a big production to do dismissal every day). 5th graders can walk home by themselves if they have a note.

I think it's a bit much, but they would rather err on the side of caution.

When I was going to elementary school (1970's), we walked (about a mile) starting in kindergarten by ourselves. There were always a group of kids of all ages walking together though. I think we had a bus in 2nd & 3rd & there were no parents in the morning or afternoon.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

A lot of kids around here ride public transportation. Ds is not in school yet, so I don't know what the rule for riding the subway or bus or trolley is, but I bet it's pretty young, because I've seen little bitties on the subway by themselves or with older siblings.

[Viola]

Now I don't feel quite so bad about letting my younger dd play outside in the front yard by herself every once in awhile.

[CarrieMF]

At what age were you (or would you be) comfortable with your child crossing a country road without adult supervision?

depends on the road. If it's the road we lived on by age 4, but we'd play on the road too. By 6 we were walking 1/2 mile on the road to the neighbors to play. By 11 we would just take the quad through the field. In 1 day maybe 10 vehicles would pass. The road was only 4 miles long before you HAD to turn & only 6 people lived on the road. If it was a busier road then by kindergarten so 4 or 5 depending on the birthday.

I couldn't imagine the busses here having to go back to the school if a parent wasn't there to pick up their kids. Some of these busses are 10-15miles away from the city. Growing up our bus was 30minutes from the school.

[Momily]

Would they? Around here only kids with disabilities are bussed, and the buses go door to door and the aides walk the kids to their door -- I'm not sure at what age they'll leave if noone's home, but the kid has a key. In the neighboring school district I think it's 8.

However I also have a goddaughter who got off at the wrong stop on the first day of Kindergarten, and noone stopped her. As soon as she recognized where she was she told her bus driver "I see my house" and he let her off -- 3or so blocks before the stop for her actual house where her Grandma was waiting for her. Luckily she just walked home, but crossed at least one super busy street in the process. So my vote for "would they" is 5.

To those people who say that there's no way to check -- my son goes to camp on a school bus, that picks up 15 or so kids at each site. For the little one's (4 and 5ish) you walk up to the door, say your chld's name and they let them off. For the older kids, they just tell the driver "I see my mom" and point. If noone's there for a specific child (most of us have arrangements with other parents -- if for some reason I don't make it another mom would "accept" my kid and vice versa) then they call on the cell, and if there's no response they take them to the next stop. I know they wouldn't let my 9 year off unsupervised unless I specifically told them too, and I'm pretty sure that's true up until 14.

[phathui5]

Around here the bus drivers don't keep track of who gets off where, they just drive the bus.

[shelbean91]

Here, the only kids who require parent pick up are the kids who have an IEP specifing that they need 'door to door' service. Other kids, if they're on the bus, they're supposed to be able to recite their full address and the drivers generally only have 2 or 3 stops. And the kids know who's supposed to be on which bus. If there is a kid lost or on the wrong bus, the driver either goes out of their route at the end or takes them back to school. This is starting at kinder.

[LemonPie]

Originally Posted by jennlyn

Our district does not allow kids in K to get off the bus unless someone is waiting at the bus stop to pick them up. Not sure if they are allowed to get off if they are in the company of an older sibling.

Same here. Fortunately for me, they drop him off just a few yards from the edge of our driveway, so I only have to go stand on the front walk where the bus driver can see me.

The bus driver did tell me that someone had to meet him. My parents and 18 yo brother live 3 doors away from us. One day when I wasn't going to make it home in time for the bus, I arranged for my 18 yo brother to meet him and called the school to let them know. This particular bus driver has been driving for years and actually drove my brother when he was in school, so she knew who he was when she dropped my son off (and she knows we're related--I mentioned it to her b/c I figured there were times he might go to my mom's) . Unfortunately, they didn't bother to let my SON know of the change in arrangements and he was a little upset when *I* wasn't there to meet him off the bus

[Needle in the Hay]

When we first moved to a more suburban area of France I was surprised that you could whiz by a bus that was stopped and letting off schoolchildren. Then I realized that the kids were always dropped off on their side of the street--the bus would loop around and the kids got off at the stop that did not require crossing the street. That just seemed really smart to me.

Oh and when I was 5 we had a substitute bus driver and she missed a stop--MY stop!-- and then when I was crying and finally calmed down enough to tell her I was supposed to get off "back there" she just stopped and let me off on some dirt road we'd turned onto and kept going. I had no clue where I was but my mom had followed the bus in her car.

[Oriole]

Originally Posted by Needle in the Hay

When we first moved to a more suburban area of France I was surprised that you could whiz by a bus that was stopped and letting off schoolchildren. Then I realized that the kids were always dropped off on their side of the street--the bus would loop around and the kids got off at the stop that did not require crossing the street. That just seemed really smart to me.

Oh and when I was 5 we had a substitute bus driver and she missed a stop--MY stop!-- and then when I was crying and finally calmed down enough to tell her I was supposed to get off "back there" she just stopped and let me off on some dirt road we'd turned onto and kept going. I had no clue where I was but my mom had followed the bus in her car.

wow

[treemom2]

Here in Japan, in our small area, the bus driver started letting our DD off the bus at 6. However, also at 6, my DD walks to school every morning (45min) while crossing a pretty busy street (they have kind of like a walking "bus" here, all the kids in my neighborhood--6th grade to 1st grade meet then walk together to school with the 1st graders in the middle of the group). My DD then will bring a bus home a couple days a week from after school programs and they just let her off.

[onlyzombiecat]

I voted 7... probably.
When I was in grade school and rode the bus I recall that 1st-6th graders were dropped off at the same stops. All the kids had to walk home from there and there were no adults at the stop nor could the driver see all of our homes from the stop.

I know my nephews get picked up and dropped off at their driveway because they are rural and the oldest is 11. I don't know if the driver waits to see if there is an adult home. I doubt it.

[eclipse]

I voted 8, because that's when I started riding the bus, and no one ever checked for a parent (I had a really long walk, and I had to do it by myself). I dodn't remember the busdriver checking for parents for even the very small kids, though. If we had to cross the street to get home, the busdriver was supposed to cross us (put on the lights, get out to make sure traffic has stopped, then stay while we crossed), but even that they frequently didn't do, unless it was a busy street.

[ecoteat]

The kids' houses often aren't visible from the bus; there's no way the driver would know if there's an adult there. It's the parent's responsibility to make sure there's someone home and that the kids know what to do if for some reason the house is empty. So I'm going to vote 5, since that would apply to K too.

[almama]

It depends where you are . . .

In my old city, no way before 13!!

In my current town where everyone knows everyone else's business, they are not supposed to do it before 5th grade, but it is pretty common for 7 and up. I wish they wouldn't since I try to get there on time for safety (but their schedules keep changing!!), but I see the cases where it would be fine.

[Mom2Abaigeal]

I am a bus driver, students in K here must have a parent meet them at the bus stop BUT as a substitute I have no way of knowing if a K student does not have a parent at the stop if they do not tell me.

The teachers are supposed to bring the K students out to the bus before all the other students are dismissed so it is usually easy to see if the parents are at the stop. Today I subbed on a route that had 2 stops and picked up 52! students that is alot of kids to get on and off and there is no way I could release them one at a time when a parent came up to the door.

I have had K up to 2nd grade students tell me that mom or dad was not there and they don't know what to do, they are returned to the school and the parent must pick them up. Other students will also frequently let you know that so and so is not here to pick up _____.

K is half day here so at the mid day take home only K students are on the bus and it is much easier to make sure the parents are there.

Kids who are in K here are 4-7 years old, my dd started at 4 and some of the students turned 7 during the year.