School Bus

The other day,I left the house at 2:30 for a doctor appointment. At the corner of the court we live, on a school bus had just arrived and was dropping off a child. The bus then turned in the direction I was going and I fell in behind.

A hundred yards down the road the bus stopped again and discharged another little one. About 100 feet further another one child drop. Then we motored along another 200 yards and 2 more were deposited. Then we turned another corner and sped along for about 200 yards before disgorging about 6 more of the tykes. At this point, the driver of one of the five or six cars behind me had had enough and sped past the waiting cars and the school bus (wish I had been a cop). We went along another 100 yards before releasing two more kids. I didn’t mention that at each of those stops there were Mommy’s waiting for their children, some in SUVs, to transport them to their final destination as much as 300 yards away. The bus driver then pulled to the side of the road to allow the motorcade behind to pass.


Other than the idiot who passed the bus, this didn’t really bother me because I had plenty of time to make my appointment. But it set me to thinking about how times have changed.


I started kindergarten at age five. Although I don’t remember it, I’m certain my Mother accompanied me the first day or two to ensure I knew my way to the school which was only about a half mile from our house. After that, I was on my own and I apparently did quite well. In those days, we didn’t have an automobile and there were no such things as school busses in the relatively small town (pop. ~30,000) that we lived in.


I’m not talking here about a “how hard I had it compared to the spoiled kids of today” scenario, but it occurred to me that the world has changed so much, that the idea of a six or seven year old walking half a mile to school is now unthinkable. In fact a parent would likely be considered unfit and derelict in their duties to allow such a thing.


Why is that?


Granted, there are very few neighborhood schools these days, due to the suburban sprawl that has taken place, and traffic is considerably more hazardous, particularly when we talk about elementary school children traversing intersections. But I believe it may be more than just that. Is it really necessary for children to be delivered to within one block, or even closer, of their homes? And even then for someone to be waiting to escort them to their front door? There seems to be paranoia in society today that leads us to fear and even expect the worst possible situations.