Parental/Student Control

[Rufus T. Firefly]

There is a good chance that the infrastructure around here was set up for other reasons (probably weather related) and that it was then adapted for these other issues. I live in a suburb that is between Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit. The demographics and geography also play a part. I will say that the number of unattended kids walking home from the elementary school behind our sub is way, way down. I checked the enrollment and that's about the same as when my kids were there 30 years ago. World is changing!

I had a 2 mile walk to high school all uphill both ways....

Don't forget wrapping barbed wire around your bare feet to trudge through the snow.

Across the tundra, mile after mile with my favorite baby seal at my side.............................until I got to St. Alphonso's and had a stack of pancakes,

[robert.]

Schools round here you could drive right through the front doors.....nothing in the way except people. I hav enot seen a new school built or designed taking any of this into account......yet. Maybe when they replace one someday....

There is a good chance that the infrastructure around here was set up for other reasons (probably weather related) and that it was then adapted for these other issues. I live in a suburb that is between Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit. The demographics and geography also play a part. I will say that the number of unattended kids walking home from the elementary school behind our sub is way, way down. I checked the enrollment and that's about the same as when my kids were there 30 years ago. World is changing!

I had a 2 mile walk to high school all uphill both ways....

Are you saying kids now have parents walking with them or there's less kids walking? My wife drives a school bus and a lot has changed in the last 10 years. Schools are responsible for your child from the time they leave their house till the time they return home. My wife must watch kids touch their house door knob before she drives away. If a child is in kindergarten or first grade it needs a parent to meet the bus. No parent no drop off. my wife will drop off the rest of her students. Then circle back to see if a parent is there. See needs to call dispatch and tell them that see did not drop off said kid. Her dispatch will text a parent saying meet your kids bus. If no parent is there. She takes that kid back to school. If she takes that kid back to school her route will be delayed.
If she is delayed an alternate bus picks up her second route. This plays out everyday. Her dispatcher has half a dozen floating buses. Ready to go fill in for a delayed route. ( They dont have enough fill in buses) This is a big problem for them It puts a monkey wrench into their schedule.
Some parents get angry that their kid has to walk to school. If a parent call a school and says " i want my kid bused". Then they get bused. This comes down to I pay taxes for some other kid to ride a bus. I ant my kid on a bus. It's also a safety thing. It can stop child predators.

[chuck]

Are you saying kids now have parents walking with them or there's less kids walking?

Yes, aka both. Less walking, either driven by parent/sibling or they ride the bus. I suspect the buses have cameras in them as well. I know the Ann Arbor City buses do.

I just pulled up Google Earth and measured my walk to high school, about .75 mile and it was uphill, but only in one direction , going to school. Going home was all downhill

[robert.]

Cameras inside and out. Sound recording inside. Hd camera outside on stop sign arm. Pass a bus with it's red lights on and arm out. You lose. Owner of the car will lose their license . Unless they turn over who was driving. Photo quality is so good it will confirm who was driving. Several times a week people get caught. Kids are no longer allowed to cross a road to board the bus. Buses have aides aboard to see if all the kids that exited are on the sidewalk.( Not all buses. Only buses with long noses) When they are on the sidewalk. The driver can go.

[Tom Dempsey]

Across the tundra, mile after mile with my favorite baby seal at my side.............................until I got to St. Alphonso's and had a stack of pancakes,

Sometimes I still hum tunes from that album while I'm flossing my fangs.

[rogruth]

My hometown, for many years had eight elementary schools (1-7}, an eighth grade and a high school. No school buses.
This changed about ten years ago when K-5 and a 6-8 schools were built. Now everybody needs to ride something.
I understand that not many parents saw this as an improvement.

[E7]

And the next assault weapon will be the assault pickup truck or van. It just hasn't happened yet but it will.....

Unless they're planning a demolition derby event in the parking lot it's pretty unlikely. We don't even have sidewalks coming up to the high school complex (three schools on a one square mile plot). I have to route around the traffic in the morning to get to work. Either it's the kids driving (80%) or Mom or Dad (maybe 3%) and the balance are on school buses.

Already happened! Not school kids, but could just as easily have been:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cana ... SKBN1HU2IY

[rogruth]

My favorite SF writer, Robert Heinlein, wrote a story in the late 1930s or early 1940s named the Year of the Jackpot (I think)
and referred to those times as the Crazy Years. I think he had the story in the late 20th century but came pretty close.