Really, they fixed the problem within the first week of school. They made the kid ride the short bus to a special school after that. That was the only problem I ever had on that bus.
I would not, in a million years, want to drive a school bus. Imagine trying to babysit 30 kids while operating heavy machinery.
No wonder most bus drivers are either total hardasses or just ignore everyone all together.
(We were SOOOO bad on the buses! I’m talking about running up and down the aisles, food fights, the works).
I first rode the bus when I was a kindergartener. I was not yet 5 when school began. We lived out in the country in N. Calif. My school was miles away, and I remember I had to trudge up this big hill to get to the stop. At first I was a bit intimidated,I rode with kids of all ages, but everything turned out okay. I still remember the driver’s name, Gus. He was a very nice guy.
Years later I took the school bus here in Denver as a high school kid, and I remember the driver was firm but not mean, and the kids responded accordingly.
My daughter rides the school bus every day to kindergarten, and has had no big problems so far (knock on wood). She’s in afternoon kindergarten, so everyone she rides with on the way to school is in her class. Her bus home has grades K-5. Many of the older kids (the 4th and 5th graders) are on the “bus patrol”–they are responsible for making sure that the littler kids get on the right bus, and they also watch out for the little kids on the bus (my daughter is friends with several bus patrol people.) The bus patrollers also meet the kindergarten bus when it comes after lunch. It’s a great system, IMO.
Her school was also very adamant about teaching bus safety rules at the beginning of the year. No parent could say that their kid didn’t know the rules if they get kicked off the bus for bad behavior.
I say let your kid ride the bus! You could also call the school and ask about their bus safety and discipline procedures. Also, let your kid know that if something bad does happen on the bus, he should tell you about it right away so that you can do something about it. From what I’ve seen, though, bullying is something that is actually beginning to be addressed rather than ignored in public schools today. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start.
The public schools have no monopoly – I went to parochial school for years, and there were plenty of assholes & sociopaths there, too.
(And I’m just talking about the students – not even going to start about the teachers.)