Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think it really depends on how the bus stop is situated and how old the kids are. I never drove my kids to the bus stop when we lived in a gated community but now we live in an area where the bus stop is on a somewhat busy street. I let my kids go to the bus stop when they were in K. However, where I am living now I am not so sure I would have a 5 year old wait for the bus without an adult. There is much more traffic at the local bus stop. I used to let my kids walk home from the bus stop. They liked the independence. Again, in other situations I may have made a different decision.
My district only busses for PK-1, 2-8 walk and then 9-12 is bussed to a regional high school. Parents or an appointed caregiver are required to pick the kids up at the bus stop, but there is no rule about needing a parent there at dropoff. With that said, pretty much every parent takes their kid to the bus stop as you are dealing with 4-7 year olds. Even if the parent doesn't walk all the way to the bus stop, they will still stand in their driveway and watch until they are picked up.
I think part of the reason for this may have to do with the numbers of homes where both parents work. It is ironic, but I think SAHP are more inclined to let the kid walk to the stop themselves. Meanwhile working parents are already up and leaving themselves, so it isn't a big deal to take the kid to the bus and make sure they get off OK. This may also drive the numbers of parents at the bus stop in cars. If you need to leave for work and the bus stop is a block away, I imagine many folks just drive so they can go straight to work afterward, especially if the weathers bad.
we have a mix. Some parents wait. Some don't. Some kids walk by themselves. I can see the bus stop from my front yard, and would be perfectly comfortable letting my almost 8 year old walk by him self. But I walk with him every day and stay until the bus comes. He seems to like it, and there is no reason I can't do it. I am surprised at the number of parents who drive to the bus stop. I don't think it's THAT far from home for anyone. I do know some drop off on their way to work, though.
I have a few neighbor moms who walk with and stay every day. If ever one doesn't make it on time, the others make sure that kid makes it home. It is nice, but it also makes me feel like I'd be putting them out a little if I just decided not to meet the bus every day. I know at least one of them would walk the extra few houses with my son.
ETA we were asked to send a contingency plan to school in case the kids were ever released early and they couldn't reach a parent on the phone. I said to put him on the bus anyway, and I told him he could go to the back yard, or go to neighbor x, y, or z's. My neighbor told the school that she'd pick her son up the whole point was "what if we can't reach you!"
And what is interesting, is on the days when this hovering mom works, the dad walks the 1st grader to the bus stop, barely making it on time, sending the kid running down the street as the bus pulls up, and dad turns around and walks back home while the kids are loading. I wonder if mom knows this.
The bus stop for us was literally right in front of our house - I just booted him out the door. And he sometimes STILL managed to barely get out there in time! Go figure.
I had people shocked I would let him ride as a kindergartener since they were in the same bus as up to fifth grade. It never occurred to me not to. I had to ride the bus to school out in the middle of no where as a kid with high schoolers. And I had to walk about a mile to the stop.
My daughters bus stop is on a fairly busy road and she is the only one at the bus stop. So, we walk to the bus stop every morning. The bus picks her up on the opposite side of the street. Atleast twice the bus driver has had to honk at people driving through the bus stop. I have confidence that at her age she could go to the bus stop by herself, but she enjoys my company and sometimes we don't quite make it. Then I have to drive her to school.
Most of the time she walks home by her self. Sometimes I will meet her half way. The only time I ever pick her up in the car is if it is raining hard. I have met her when it's raining with an umbrella.
I think part of the reason for this may have to do with the numbers of homes where both parents work. It is ironic, but I think SAHP are more inclined to let the kid walk to the stop themselves. Meanwhile working parents are already up and leaving themselves, so it isn't a big deal to take the kid to the bus and make sure they get off OK. This may also drive the numbers of parents at the bus stop in cars. If you need to leave for work and the bus stop is a block away, I imagine many folks just drive so they can go straight to work afterward, especially if the weathers bad.
^I agree that this is probably a factor with the folks in cars. My oldest will start kindy next year and we will probably just drive her to school instead of putting her on the bus since we have to drive right past it anyway. (Plus I have reservations about her riding the bus since she's so small)
Around here, it is typical for adults to be with the kids at the elementary bus stops, but not for the older kids. But this was also typical when I was a kid in elementary too, so it doesn't seem out of place to me.
We don't have bus service where we are, too close to the school. I do walk my children to school though (going into 1st & 4th grades in Fall). I will continue to walk them to school until they are in Middle School.
I am sorry ,but things happen and CAN happen, even in the suburbs where there are low crime rates.
I live in an affluent suburb where there is very little crime as well, I still would not allow my 6 year old and 8 year old to walk to school w/out an adult.
I realize we cannot protect our kids from every little thing that may happen in life, but if it is as easy as walking them to & from school to be sure they arrived there safely, it isn't that big of a deal to me... most parents here do walk with them, so I know I am not the only one that feels this way.
btw.... I am a stay at home mom and I would never use the excuse that I "don't have to go anywhere" so why bother walking them.... I think that would be very easy to do & also very LAZY.
We live in a semi-rural area. Most kids are picked up and dropped off at the end of their own driveways. Then the bus pulls forward 200 ft to the next "stop."
Some parents wait at the end of the driveway with the kids and meet them there after school - in the car!
At least twice the bus driver has had to honk at people driving through the bus stop.
This is a really important point, even if you walk your kids to and from the bus stop, they must understand basic road safety. We had a terrible tragedy occur earlier this year one neighborhood over, a kindergartener jumped off the bus, and assuming the drivers were concentrating ran in the street. One driver was not concentrating, overtook the bus when she shouldn't have, and the child was killed.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
the whole point was "what if we can't reach you!"
