There is apparently a phenomenon in the US now, where parents drive to the school individually to pick up and drop off their children at the beginning and end of the day. Some people I work with even take time off from working to do this. When the parents descend on the school each day there’s insane traffic, cars lined up for miles, all idling their engines. What happened to school buses?
When I was a teacher, the main reason so many students were dropped off and picked up at my school was because of what we call “School of Choice.” Essentially instead of parents being required to send their kid to the school their home is zoned for, they can send their kid to any school in the district, but if they do, they have to provide transportation.
@const_void the school traffic situation was the tipping point for getting a #cargobike for us. Much calmer and faster way to do it, with opportunity for spotting and chatting about stuff going on in the neighbourhood. There’s the occasional poor driver behaviour that affects us but it’s quite rare compared what you get in the car.
You can’t expect parents to let their kids WALK to school can you? It’s not safe - there’s so many cars around! 🙄
The yellow school bus is like one of the most recognised US specific object. I thought they were standard issue in the US lol
Due to people’s habit of voting against funding school districts here, there isn’t enough funding for all children to be on the bus (ie paying enough drivers). So the busses are reserved for children who live farther. If you live within a certain radius of the school you can pay extra to put your children on the bus.
My kids walk to school and we live 4 blocks from the school. I have always allowed mine to walk. Even when they were in elementary school.
I walked to school no reason they can’t. And today it’s easier because they have phones I can track them on.
There is a nice sweet spot when they’re old enough to have phones but not old enough to complain about having you track them 🙂
It’s great to have them walk, even when they’re very young and you need to walk with them.
Back in my day (insert grandpa Simpson gif here!) I had a 10min walk to a bus stop and caught a public bus. Felt sorry for the adults that had to catch the same bus with 40 wild children.
These days I think my friends’ school age kids all walk or cycle - we’re in a small city with fairly good bike infrastructure.
FWIW, I live in the US and my kids ride their bikes to and from school. It is possible, but only in a few places.
It is so miserable and effectively shuts down a major street. People will tolerate the dumbest things just because it is the status quo.
Parents these days a lot more protective than they were in the past. Most parents are worried about there kids going missing or some other crap. I honestly wish my mother was less protective, for example I go on bike rides at least 20 to 30 miles at the minimum and my mother always wants to know what my location is all the time. I get that my mother cares about me but being trapped inside a bubble sucks, I remember when I was in middle school and if I stayed out of the house past dark I would be punished, being punished led me to become more anti social and I got addicted to weed and alcohol because I had no escape, thanks to my father. As soon as my father died and I moved out to my grandmas, things did get better, my mother is less over protective, but I feel like I have no say in any matter and I feel like I’m being ignored and I’m trying to get my life started by trying to get a job and trying to get my drivers license, but my mom is always working or is lazy and she won’t help me. I honestly have lost a lot of motivation because of my mother to do anything sometimes then I just get yelled at for doing something I want to do. But things this year have been turning better for me, I found many good life long friends that have helped me through the hardest of times, my friends helped me with the aftermath of my shitty relationship, they stood up for me and told her to fuck off. There are many good people in this world and I hope all of you succeed in the hardest of times find the good in the world. My heart goes out to the people that have over protective parents because most times over protective parents do more harm than good. Yeah I went on rant, but I wish all of you the best of wishes. -David
This can depend on a lot of factors, but the biggest is often time. School busses usually can service the overwhelming number of kids in their district, but for some kids that route can add an extra hour before and after school. For kids with after school activities, that could be a non-starter.
I noticed the same thing with a local school in Canada.
It could be because kids aren’t within “walking distance” any more, could be because the kids have something to do right after school, could be less bus drivers (because who wants to put up working 4 hours per day for minimum wage dealing with all those kids), or finally just the culture has changed (to driving everywhere).
the culture has changed
School buses are Communism! You can’t expect Little Johnny to share a bus with other children now, can you? He will wait 30 minutes every day in the school dropoff
traffic jamqueue inside his private vehicle like a good American. /s
What do you mean “now?” Always been like this where I am.
It’s spreading and you’re the epicentre 😧
I’m assuming the insane cuts to our public education system trickle down to the bus drivers too
My son’s school charges $630 per year to ride the bus. And that is a public school. I still pay for it though, because, 1. I’m not going to spend my time sitting in a line cars every day. Not to mention take time off from work to do it. 2. I want him to experience life. It’s a great place for socialization
So what are working class families supposed to do if they can’t afford it and the parents can’t get time off work? The kids just don’t go to school?
@Billy_Gnosis @const_void my school bus ticket costed a bit over 400€ and it was a normal bus ticket which i could use to use the buses in the near vincinity. My parent needed to pay 0€ directly for this.
And this was over 10 years ago, so the price is around 450 now.Here in Germany there is now a ticket for 49€ a month (588€ a year but you can cancel it every month) that allows you to ride on any public transit and regional trains in the entire country. As an adult too, not just as a student. It is a personalized one though (non-transferable).
It’s crazy. When I was a kid (a long time ago) it cost nothing to ride the bus to school.
@Billy_Gnosis @Sebastian £17.50 a week, £70 a month, about £682.50 a year, which is $857.56 USD. I cry every-time I check my bank balance 😔
“It’s a great place for socialization” yeah like being bullied. Lol
Not sure what school your kids go to, that’s type of stuff isn’t an issue for mine. I’m sure things do happen, but that’s part of growing up and learning. It’s called life
People hate taxes, Americans hate community. We have the same thing here in the UK but only for primary schools from my memory.
This is the big thing about carbrains in the US, it’s endemic of a bigger obsession with infinite individuality. Sharing space with another human being is the ULTIMATE taboo. Depressingly far above such things as fascism and pedophilia.
Not exactly a new thing. My kid rides the bus except for special occasions, but those drop off/pick up lines are crazy. I don’t get how people handle that every day.
This isn’t new. 20 years ago when I was a kid, my school both buses, walking/cycling, and car drop-off. It’s definitely a failure of urban planning.
Completely insane and infuriating every time I see it.
