School pick up line,rant

Hmmmmmmm......I wonder who the school nerd was?!!??

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Ah, an engineer in the making . I bet you were popular with the girls, weren't you, CF?

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3 hours for a 6 mile bus ride -- something tells me there is more to this story than meets the eye.

That three hour bus trip would never had been tolerated in the days when parents couldn't drive their kids to school. It smacks of poor scheduling and a waste of gas. Because parents take it into their own hands rather than grouping and complaining, the schedules get worse.

I know parents do the pickup thing, and that they have a right to do it, but it amazes me that they can't get out of the car, find which other parents are heading back into the same neighborhood area, and pool the kids and swap off. In south Florida, I used to see lines that blocked an entire lane of a major street for two blocks, plus the loop around the school. Each one would leave with one or two kids.

I walked to grade school (uphill both ways in the snow, of course), and when I went to the union high school, I walked to the elementary school and was treated to a fifteen mile bus ride from Hades each day. Mr. Dow would take the curves like the bus was a sports car, and snow and ice didn't faze him in the slightest. When you hire a hill farmer to drive bus, you know that he is able to slow down JUST before the bus flips on its side. He would have made the job Bullock did in "Speed" look like a walk in the park, and drink coffee and eat donuts while he was driving the route.

What I used to dislike was trying to pick up two children (in different schools) in after school sports. The coaches demanded they be on time, but I could sit and wait for practice to end for 20 minutes - while the other child waited for me.

I finally spoke to the coach telling her how disrespectful it was .... practice got out on time after that. If it hadn't, I'd have gone to the principal.

A well placed word, usually with a suggestion on how to resolve the issue, many times works. The school could send home a flyer with each child, a sign could be put up ... NO Cuts!!!

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they live in a rural area and the bus only comes down their road once-on the way out. poor planning on the part of the district, and it will probably change next year, as the busdrivers complain more than the students!

As it stands now, most of the kids in the area are carpooling with my sister's kids, as she has the biggest vehicle. You can usually watch about 10 kids pour out of her suburban!

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That pick up line never worked with blondes...all I ever got from the blondes was the "deer in the headlights" look.

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And what could possibly make you think the bus goes directly to their house?
Try a little logic

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may I suggest this for your next pick up time


or


cause let's face it. Not only well your kid be the coolest kid in school now..............NOBODY will cut ya off!

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A family member that lived in the mountains and was less than 10 miles from the school was the first picked up in the morning..6:15 am. You would think they would go to the end and then pick up kids as they go, but that is waaaay too logical and makes too much sense!
(they had a strict 'no car' rule, so the pick up line was not a choice..poor kid)

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We'll assume you're talking just about those who live in town. In many school districts buses are provided for those who live more than two miles away. So let's say OP lives just under two miles away. She gets to push a 2-seat stroller that far, both ways, twice a day. I don't blame her for driving. Even those who walk some of the time sometimes are in a hurry to get to an appointment or some parents might be on their way to work. Rain - fine for us, not fun for the two babies. Snow - try pushing a stroller in that. And the biggie - NO WAY would I allow my elementary school child to walk or bike alone. My best friend was grabbed as she walked to school, raped and cut up with a knife. And she was a lot bigger and smarter than a grade schooler.

Call my girls "spoiled" if you must, but the bus atmosphere here is akin to spending visitor's day at the prison. Things happen on that bus I wouldn't want any child exposed to, let alone those that sprang from my loins (well, maybe not "sprang" or "sprung" but perhaps "forcibly evicted").

It isn't just the school line, around here when a car in the adjacent lane decides to switch to the lane I am in, they put on their turn signal and force their way in, making me put on my brakes or swerve over to the turn lane to avoid a collision and almost inevitable, there is no one behind me!

I would rather eat a bucket of worms than be in that line. I park across the street from the school and my daughter would walk to the crossing guard and I would be right there across the street. So I would not get there and sit in my car with people cutting me off, driving fast around the kids and parents because I too can be a hot head.

We live 9 miles from school, they wanted to pick up my kids at 6:30 am and school did not start till 8:15. In the afternoon school ends at 3:15 and they would be dropping off my kids at 4:45. I don't think so! It takes us 10-15 mins to get to or from.
In rural areas they pick up all these kids from K to 12 and they have this awful long bus ride, some wanted them to come up with a new and better schedule. But so many parents complained so it remains the same, To them it is free daycare and they like it!

texasartist I could use one of those Especially if I get behind a snail in the passing lane.

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School busing and pick ups are not black and white..they are in many shades of gray.
I don't live far from my children's school but the bus ride they take is almost an hour long...I've lived in cities where if you lived within 2 miles of school you wee required to provide transportation. I grew up in a small town where everyone rode the same bus..yet where I live now there was much ado about allowing 5th and 6th graders to ride the same bus with high schoolers...keep in mind that there are surveillance cameras installed on most buses.

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After reading this thread I will be petitioning my husband to homeschool our now 2.5 year old and baby-on-the-way.

That is all.

Where we live the bus would pick up kids on the north side of the road (even the child right next door to the school!!!) but not the ones on the south. We lived on the south about half a mile from the school. Yes I drove. Nearly every day. I have a bad hip and a bad back and some days it was just too painful to walk. And I will not allow a small child to walk 1/2 mile when a good portion of that is along a state route where semis zip by at 55 mph. So some people can judge and call others spoiled or some people can realize that not every situation is the same. BTW, when my kids were in elementary school there were several times that notes were send home about suspicious vehicles in the neighborhood. Dd stopped some jerk from grabbing one of her friends.

As for the 6 mile bus ride taking 3 hours, it happens. Kids here had a really long ride when the bridge was out and the bus had to go 5 miles to get around it. In rural areas you have to figure the bus will make about 50 stops and at most places wait for the kid to come out, get on the bus, find a seat, and sit down. Allow about 5 minutes for each child. Actually 3 hours would be pretty quick.

thanks for the replies,
'OP' here
I think I will try the pull up farther approach, I thought about talking to the Principal also.
I would block the lane if I could but it has a parking area inside the turn around/pick up loop so that is not do'able.
I could put our kids on the bus, but I choose to keep them out of the 'mobile rolling jungle'.
If I could cover the cost of private school I would do that, I do what I can with what I have. We live in the country and the bus ride for the kids here is more than 1 1/2 hours each way.
I just can't believe how rude some people are in this line, this is just like Mayberry USA in most other places around town. I guess 10 or so out of a few thousand is a pretty fair trade.

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Here you are supposed to be waiting for the bus. If you aren't out at the road, they do not have to stop for you. Keeps them on schedule. Our driver is within 2 minutes either way everyday. I can sit at our kitchen window & watch for her & see her lights about half a mile down the road. That gives the kids plenty of time to go out without having to stand out in the cold or rain.

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I can't believe I deleted it!

My school bus driver was our next door neighbor. That means, that I got to ride the whole route... morning and afternoon.

It was a very long ride... dirt roads with potholes big enough to lose a wagon in... bridges that washed out with each spring rain, thus ensuring an extra 18 miles around the "back way", and picking up the whole variety of kids (grade K-12) including some that had to be picked up in a big cow pasture (I am fuzzy on the details of exactly why they were picked up in a cow pasture... but I saw a cow delivering a calf one time, from the school bus window.)

But some of my fondest memories were lived out on that bus... my friends and I found many ways to entertain ourselves during the 2 hr ride. We gossiped and cheated on homework, laughed about the silliest stuff, flirted with boys... I wish I could ride the bus just once again.

Sorry to get off the subject, but I am smiling at the memories.

Regarding the cutting in line... could you give a tiny beep of the horn and waggle your finger at them? (No, not the middle finger... the index finger, as in "Shame On You".) Or roll your window down and flag them down and explain that "Oh honey, the end of the line is back there" in a totally sweet-old-lady voice, as if you are trying to help them out?