From: A concerned school bus safety dictator, Dear people, I’m going to once again set the relevance of popular opinion aside for a moment to share with you a concern I have about the safety of my kids and my subject’s kids. As much as we are all theoretically aware of the dangers present when you mix cars, buses and unfocused barely awake children together, we seem to sometimes forget our individual impact on the overall situation itself. I mention this because, although admittedly aware of the rules about drop offs, some parents still drop off their kids in the bus lane rationalizing the occurrence as “early enough in the morning”, “it’s just for a second” or my favorite “I didn’t know it was the bus lane”, which just leaves me speechless, you know, considering the line of buses. Now, I would agree that if we lived in a world that only had YOU as the population, your reasoning would be sound. However, if you took the time to look around, you will find that there are indeed several other people involved in the equation, including a lot of “precious little ones” who matter just as much to the world as your little ones do to you. It only takes a little forward thinking to see the potential impact of your choices. If you set it upon yourself to “bend” the rules because of without example, how do you think the other plebes will react upon seeing a car already stopped in the, for some reason, “coveted bus area”? Although your actions themselves may not represent a tangible risk, it’s the example you set and the effect it has on others that does. It seems to me a simple concept, one that we would all welcome considering the hundreds of little reasons behind them. I find myself politely explaining this over and over again while feeling uncomfortable because, on rare occasions, it causes aggressive reactions. They equate my requests as “someone telling them what they can or can’t do” instead of a fellow parent going out of their way to make sure kids are safe. Yes, that must be it, there is nothing I’d rather do in the early morning when I’m half awake and civilized than boss around complete strangers attempting to usurp my reign as unofficial bus safety emperor. I plan to add toll booths shortly. While I have your attention, making U turns in a school zone during drop off is also “pretty duh” adding unnecessary variables to the mix for the sake of savings a few seconds…of driving…in your warm car. Again, I understand that YOU are very safe when executing this maneuver, however, others, that may not be as skilled, will attempt it because of the example you set. So now we have multiple cars making U turns, in a school zone, during drop off, sometimes in the rain, or snow, all so you don’t have to go the extra quarter click around the block in your nice comfy car. And as far as speeding in a school zone, I am at a loss to explain how those mouth breathers survived the evolutionary process. If you don’t grasp the concept that the faster you go, the more time it takes to stop, coupled with the fact children are short in attention and in stature thereby absorbing the brunt of the impact in the head area, once on the car and then again on the concrete, you do not deserve a license or even kids for that matter. I do mean to be abrupt about this point because it’s not a joke. It only takes a force of 15 KPH to cause serious if not fatal head trauma to a child in an accident. These are facts that we all know, yet we choose to prioritize arriving at our job on time as more important than risking a kid’s life, I mean the odds are against it right? It only happens once in a while right? Are we so dumb that we are required to live through the trauma of losing a child in order to adapt a behavior that would go to prevent it? Others have already suffered this loss, we can learn from them and I’m sure they would probably endorse this letter knowing that their loss and our empathy may help prevent pointless loss of life. Perhaps waking up a few minutes earlier in the morning would not only allow you to practice a behavior your come to expect from your fellow citizens but you might also end up spending a little more quality time with your kids in the process. That sounds like a good deal to me. And finally, everything I mentioned so far, it’s also illegal by the way, in case you are concerned about the example you are setting for your children and their future behavior. We are able to personally rationalize why we might not abide 100% by the rules of the road but our children don’t see it the same way. They will not reflect upon those variables you take into consideration since their understanding of cause and effect is one of a child. They will also carry away the lesson that some rules can be broken without the understanding of the potential repercussion on others. And they may one day become parents who are either too lazy, selfish or short sighted to understand the multitude of precious little reasons why we respect the rules of vehicular conduct in a school zone. Your school bus safety dictator…Marc B. Share this with others because every kid deserves a safe school environment!
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:19:39 +0000
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