What else could I have done??

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

As someone who knows quite a few little kids (including my share of six-year-olds), I think kelli did the right thing. So maybe there isn’t a sexual predator (read: pedophile) walking around in the neighborhood at 8 AM or thereabouts… traffic accidents happen all the goddamn time! The parents and the principal definitely have their heads up their collective asses if they think that making a six-yer-old child walk to school by herself is safe, especially if it will take that long, and even more so if the trip is across what amounts to a busy highway!

Kudos to kelli and Peggy the bus driver!

And yeah… what happened to the other student that was involved in this “minor scuffle”? That’s what I’d like to know!

22

I think it would be very dangerous for a six year old to walk to school by herself. One a 15-min walk for a adult would be a least 30 to 40 for a kid.

The road has no sidewalk so if it is muddy she my decide to walk on the road itself.

I’m sure she would have to cross several streets to get there.

This is all assuming that a six year old knows how to get to school. She could get lost. How was the weather? What if it rained or was cold. The elements can be very hard on a six year old.

23

Barbarian, here’s hoping you never reproduce. I’m assuming you haven’t yet, as I would hate to think that anyone who actually had kids would have such a callous attitude about their safety.

And kelli, you absolutely did the right thing. Good for you.

24

The road itself is 4 lanes of fast traffic, there are some areas with sidewalks , mostly just open areas with some old farms on either sides.

The parents are the ones that sent her out. Thats whats puzzles me, last summer, she wasnt allowed out of her yard! Its a long long walk, I meant 15 min on a bike mind you, if I had to walk it, probably at least twice that, which is why the kids are bussed to school.

I am certain she has never walked on that main road before, and while it is one long straight hike, she would have had to cross the 4 lanes at some point to get to the school.

It was cold this morning too, just above freezing, she was dressed ok though, her parents are normally not insane.

I am sure the other student was suspended from the bus as well, it happens all the time here, I often have to drive older son because he gets 3 day bus suspensions all the time.

I suppose the possibility of injury is the greater danger, but I cant help but think of other kids that dissappear. I hadnt even considered what would have happened if she had fallen and got hurt, or anything.

Jees, she is so young, a baby really, and kids get scared so easy.

I am going to stop at the school on the way home, make sure that she has arrangements for tomorrow.

Thanks guys

k

25

kells-bells!! Long time no see posts! Glad to see ya!

26

Missed ya too scotty!

I just got home and spoke to a home&school member, and the principal was IN ON IT!!!

Robynne’s parents thought his was a good punishment and the principal agreed.

I am fucking FLOORED here, I have no words.

27

Kells, I’ll bet your story could be the start of a Ph.D. dissertation on perverse incentives, bureaucratic stupidity and inflexible rules. To have a six-year-old walk on roads without sidewalks is appalling.

Barbarian(what an appropriate username), in your defense I’ll chalk your reply partly up to ignorance about American roads (from your spelling and use of “trustees” rather than “board of education,” I’m betting you’re from the UK). Much of America is designed completely without pedestrians in mind. There is simply no safe place for a person to walk - most particularly a child - near major roads. Considering that a child as small as this one can well be invisible to traffic, that’s a major hazard.

As for the school’s responsibility - that’s up to challenge. I know where I attended school (Montgomery County, Maryland), transportation was part of the school’s responsibility, and the school was legally in loco parentis up to the point the bus dropped the child off. The bus was not some sort of luxury or privilege that could be withheld. I’ve got a funny feeling that your district may have the same rules, but this principal doesn’t like them because they force her to be creative in discipline. Call your school board and find out.

28

Oh, good lord. I missed your post.

Wow. Pity Robynne couldn’t have parents with brains.

Ya did wotcha could, hon. And right on you for doing it!

29

No six year old should be allowed to walk that far unspupervised. Hell, its illegal to leave a child alone in thier own home that young, much less on a busy road. Child protective should be notified, and investigate this, imediately, right now, before something bad happens.

30

I’m by no means an hysterical parent, but barbarian I fail to see how letting a 6 year old walk to school next to 4 lanes of fast traffic is ok. I live in a quiet rural village and I still worry about my kids crossing the road at 10 and 11, even though I have taught them road sense. Parents probably do tend to worry a bit more about their kids than is neccessary, but letting a 6 year old walk all that way? I’m still speechless and I think people have been fairly calm considering. Seriously Barbarian do you have kids? If not I can understand why you don’t understand, but if you do, I’m flabbergasted.

31

kelli, that last post of yours blew me away. That is outrageous.

In a very quiet and super-teeny-weenie defense of Barbarian’s point of view- it depends on the situation. In the neighborhood I grew up in, you’re damn right we walked to school, even in the first or second grade. But remember, this was the much-safer 1970’s, it was a good neighborhood with no busy streets to cross, and good sidewalks everywhere. And it was only about 6-8 blocks in a mostly straight line!

What kelli described is a totally different situation. So I guess what I’m thinking is- if Barbarian didn’t read the OP, then I guess I could understand the post. Otherwise, no way.

I don’t know what I would do next, it makes my head hurt just thinking about what those parents thought was “appropriate punishment” and what might become “appropriate” as she gets older…

32

I dunno about in the US, but here the RTA’s recommendation is that children under 10 should not be allowed to make unsupervised journeys (whether on bike or foot) which involve crossing major roads as they are not “traffic aware” enough to judge the speed and distance of oncoming vehicles.

All kids here receive free bus passes up until the end of year 2 (ie, for the first 3 years of their school life), and if a child is suspended from bus privileges, it is the responsibility of the parent to transport them to school.

I’m appalled that the principal recommended the punishment he did for a 6 year old. And I’m appalled that the bus company agreed to it rather than suggesting it be handled at school level. Horrified that the parents didn’t negotiate either a different punishment or alternative transport.

What were any of these people thinking?

Props to you kelli, you deserve them.

33

Reprise,

The Bus in question is a school bus, it belongs to the school, not an independant agency. That the way they do it in the US. So they are at the mercy of the principal, and have no choice but to follow orders.

34

To Barbarian
I’m 26, and I don’t like walking along major roads with no sidewalks.And I’m no’ a frigging wuss. Commuter drivers in my neck of the woods don’t like to pull out for pedestrans, no matter how much reflective visibility wear you have on. I don’t know how it is in Kellibelli’s neighborhood.

A 5-10 minute walk on a safe road with sidewalk and someone to walk with is fine. **Kellibelli **said right there in the OP that the distance was 15 minutes by bike. I don’t think that’s OK for a little six year old, and it’s dangerous to have a kid walk on a highway without supervision when there’s no sidewalk. Drivers sometimes see pedestrians too late.

35

I would talk to the school board. IANAL, but I’d think that this is illegal, not to mention unsafe. This principal doesn’t know her job, and isn’t willing to do it. Same with the parents of this poor child. When you speak to the school board point out to them that if something were to happen to this girl, they would likely get sued by enraged parents - yes, the same parents dumb enough to let their child walk to school. They would claim that it is the responsibility of the school to make sure the child has a SAFE trip to school, and I don’t know that they wouldn’t win. From the little I know, these types of things tend to end in settlements, so it would still be a loss for the school. (Note: I speak only from knowing about cases that have gone against my mothers school board - one settlement came about because parents claimed a slide caused a spleen rupture and infection).

Still, talk to the school board. Talk to the press, too. Nothing quite like getting the principal in the local news to look like an idiot - if your words aren’t enough, its almost certain that other parents will back you on this. And if it takes child protection services - well, thats what it takes to prevent this stupid stupid thing from ever happening again.

I applaud your efforts to help this little girl, and I hope this gets resolved in a reasonable manner. Keep us posted!

36

And even if it WERE safe for that little girl to be walking to school, she was SCARED. I have a six-year-old little girl and the thought of her walking to school, scared and in tears, just rips my heart out.

Her parents (not to mention the principal) sound very cold-hearted.

Sheri

37

A VERY LOUD call to Child Protective Services is in order - maybe a judge should be asked to review the meaning of ‘appropiate’.

38

A hundred years ago, the last girlfriend Mr. Legend had before I took him away from all that was named “Robbyne.” And the horror continues.

Kelli, I was going to suggest you call the parents and speak to them as if you assumed their daughter was out on the road unsupervised as the result of some mixup. Since you’re a member of the parents’ peer group, you might at least be able to get it into their thick heads that many parents would not find this an acceptable punishment. I’d consider it for a 16-year-old, but it’s completely inappropriate for a 6-year-old, and that principal must know it, or she wouldn’t have tried to cover it up by saying driving arrangements were made.

Is this little child still being sent to school on foot along that busy road? I’d be calling Child Protective Services if she is and the school board or district superintendent either way.

39

Calling the parents is a bad idea. I’ve been there before, and no good will come of it. If its a misunderstanding, they will resent you for thinking that they suck as parents. If they really suck as parents, they will resent you for pointing it out. If they really suck, and think they don’t…well, you get the picture.

If a CPS agent shows up on thier door, asks a few questions, and it turns out to be a mis-understanding, no harm no foul(they might be a little ticked, but they have noone to be mad at, really).

If it turns out to be something, then whatever corective action needs to happen can happen…Parent classes, tar and feathers, whatever
My Best friends girlfriend was abusing her child. I tried talking to them, and it went very badly. Someone else wound up calling, and my friend didnt speak to me for a year(until he broke up with the psycho).

40

Small update

Robynne was again on the school bus this morning, I spoke to Peggy and she humbly shrugged off the praise and said her main concern is always the safety of the children, I told her I was proud to have her driving my kids to school. Peggy says she didnt get in any trouble for picking up the little girl. I think Peggy is the best bus driver ever.

There is going to be a call placed to the school board and social services, I am not the one making it, but I will be mentioned as a witness to the incident, and they will be able to call upon me for verification.

I can tell you, there are so many mad parents calling the principal about this, she will think twice about doing it again.

Thanks again for your support guys, after the principal spazzing at me, I thought I was nuts.

Its funny, my big fear was she would be molested, someone here brought up her being alone and getting hurt, and my neighbor was afraid she would be emotionally scarred from the great fear of the whole ordeal.

Its funny what your frame of reference reads into a situation.