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Post by title1parent on Aug 26, 2009 5:23:40 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/opinions/letters/1734132,6_4_NA26_LETTERS_S1-090826.article SUN 8/26/09 Students shouldn't have fun on busIt is hard to believe that Sherry Tatar, a Naperville Sun columnist, writes her opinion of how she disagrees with the new policy for busing school children in District 204. Before a columnist can give their opinion such as Sherry Tatar did, maybe it would be a good idea if she drove a school bus for several months and assumed the responsibility a bus driver has when transporting students. This idea of hers that students should be navigating relationships and free time on the bus having fun is just bizarre. There have to be regulations on the bus at all times, and each student has to be accountable -- having assigned seats when necessary and having an ID for each student is quite understandable. School bus drivers do not receive the pay other employees have in District 204 and District 203, yet they have as much responsibility or more when they are on their own transporting students. Gordon Coleman Naperville
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Post by WeNeed3 on Aug 26, 2009 8:24:54 GMT -5
Agreed. But I don't see how having assigned seating makes a student more accountable. If someone is a trouble maker, having an assigned seat isn't going to help IMO.
I think a better solution would be to let everyone sit where they want but after a warning or two, then the ones who are causing the problem should be in assigned seats, right in back of the bus driver.
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Post by asmodeus on Aug 26, 2009 9:30:42 GMT -5
Assigned seats on a bus are a joke.
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Post by treehugger on Aug 26, 2009 15:56:00 GMT -5
It sounds like this person is or has been a bus driver and is trying to take his job seriously. His primary job is the safe transportation of the children. I agree that everyone needs to do everyone else's job for a day to see how hard it is. Think crossing guard is easy? I did that job for half a year and lived to tell the horror stories. It is not easy. The kids are fine, the parents are obnoxious. Think lunchroom is easy? Guess again. Playground monitor? Very challenging. If a bus driver wants some reasonable rules and regulations on his/her bus, I think the kids need to be respectful of them.
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Arwen
Master Member
Posts: 933
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Post by Arwen on Aug 26, 2009 16:40:46 GMT -5
It sounds like this person is or has been a bus driver and is trying to take his job seriously. His primary job is the safe transportation of the children. I agree that everyone needs to do everyone else's job for a day to see how hard it is. Think crossing guard is easy? I did that job for half a year and lived to tell the horror stories. It is not easy. The kids are fine, the parents are obnoxious. Think lunchroom is easy? Guess again. Playground monitor? Very challenging. If a bus driver wants some reasonable rules and regulations on his/her bus, I think the kids need to be respectful of them. Non-assigned seats does not equal no rules. We can have rules AND the freedom to sit with your friend of the moment. The two are NOT mutally exclusive.
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Post by momto4 on Aug 26, 2009 16:57:11 GMT -5
It sounds like this person is or has been a bus driver and is trying to take his job seriously. His primary job is the safe transportation of the children. I agree that everyone needs to do everyone else's job for a day to see how hard it is. Think crossing guard is easy? I did that job for half a year and lived to tell the horror stories. It is not easy. The kids are fine, the parents are obnoxious. Think lunchroom is easy? Guess again. Playground monitor? Very challenging. If a bus driver wants some reasonable rules and regulations on his/her bus, I think the kids need to be respectful of them. I believe these are all very difficult jobs. The question is whether or not having assigned seats is helpful to the bus driver or makes the students safer. The LTE writer makes it seem as if assigned seats are necessary to have good behavior on the bus. How in the world have our drivers gotten by these many years without this rule?
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Post by treehugger on Aug 26, 2009 17:03:27 GMT -5
Maybe, among drivers, they have learned that assigning seats helps them deal with behavior issues, especially in middle school. Maybe they have arrived at this system through experience and learning. I don't know.
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Post by treehugger on Aug 26, 2009 17:04:47 GMT -5
The writer also used the words "when necessary". That sounds reasonable.
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Post by warriorpride on Aug 26, 2009 18:10:23 GMT -5
It sounds like this person is or has been a bus driver and is trying to take his job seriously. His primary job is the safe transportation of the children. I agree that everyone needs to do everyone else's job for a day to see how hard it is. Think crossing guard is easy? I did that job for half a year and lived to tell the horror stories. It is not easy. The kids are fine, the parents are obnoxious. Think lunchroom is easy? Guess again. Playground monitor? Very challenging. If a bus driver wants some reasonable rules and regulations on his/her bus, I think the kids need to be respectful of them. Non-assigned seats does not equal no rules. We can have rules AND the freedom to sit with your friend of the moment. The two are NOT mutally exclusive. Do you think it's possible that the #1 "issue" on busses has to do with arguments over who does or doesnt sit where? I could see that.
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