Walking School Bus
#26
Prefers Cicero
It is much more likely.... that after the dead child's body is found in the ditch.... DNA evidence will expose one of the parents/volunteers as the killer... and previously convicted child molester.
Nothing good ever comes from these community projects. People think these are somehow new ideas. Because people chose to forget the results from... back in the day when these mistakes were first made.
It doesn't take a village to raise a child. It takes a village... for a pedophile to hide in.
There is nothing wrong with any idea... on face value. But experimental ideas.... with other people's children as the lab rats?!?!?
Nothing good ever comes from these community projects. People think these are somehow new ideas. Because people chose to forget the results from... back in the day when these mistakes were first made.
It doesn't take a village to raise a child. It takes a village... for a pedophile to hide in.
There is nothing wrong with any idea... on face value. But experimental ideas.... with other people's children as the lab rats?!?!?
#27
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: D'uh... I am a Cutter
Posts: 6,139
Bikes: '17 Access Old Turnpike Gravel bike, '14 Trek 1.1, '13 Cannondale CAAD 10, '98 CAD 2, R300
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1571 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
I am not against parents sending kids off to school... or walking with them.
But the last thing our children need is some "program" that endangers them in the name of environmental concerns... or bicycle friendly ideology. My God people. They're children not dogs that need "a walker".
Last edited by Dave Cutter; 10-21-16 at 12:15 PM.
#28
Prefers Cicero
When you send your kids to school.... even a crappy government run school. Every person they come in contact with, the administrators, teachers, aids, janitors, lunch ladies... everyone is background checked. Still pedophiles slip through the system. Who checks the walking bus adults? You tell me... is THAT an opportunity?
I am not against parents sending kids off to school... or walking with them.
But the last thing our children need is some "program" that endangers them in the name of environmental concerns... or bicycle friendly ideology. My God people. They're children not dogs that need "a walker".
I am not against parents sending kids off to school... or walking with them.
But the last thing our children need is some "program" that endangers them in the name of environmental concerns... or bicycle friendly ideology. My God people. They're children not dogs that need "a walker".
#29
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: D'uh... I am a Cutter
Posts: 6,139
Bikes: '17 Access Old Turnpike Gravel bike, '14 Trek 1.1, '13 Cannondale CAAD 10, '98 CAD 2, R300
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1571 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
I don't know... you tell me. Kids without parents have a tough time of it... I know. So... I don't know exactly what you/I should do to help those kids left behind by absentee bio-parents.... if that is what you mean.
I know my wife and I grandparent a couple of drug babies that started out life with some bad luck. Overdosed Dad... imprisoned Mom. We do what we can. It isn't always easy. I don't mind the time and expense as much... as the heartbreak that sometimes accompanies such situations.
I sure hope you don't mean... normal parents with jobs that the parents believe are more important than they're little rug-rats. Or maybe a greater interest in free time... or long term environmental concerns (or short term fashion)... than the health and safety of their own off spring. THAT... would really be sad... for the kids.
I know my wife and I grandparent a couple of drug babies that started out life with some bad luck. Overdosed Dad... imprisoned Mom. We do what we can. It isn't always easy. I don't mind the time and expense as much... as the heartbreak that sometimes accompanies such situations.
I sure hope you don't mean... normal parents with jobs that the parents believe are more important than they're little rug-rats. Or maybe a greater interest in free time... or long term environmental concerns (or short term fashion)... than the health and safety of their own off spring. THAT... would really be sad... for the kids.
#30
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,646 Times
in
6,054 Posts
Well, we've been given a taste of the paranoia that's in the heads of all the helicopter parents now.
#31
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: D'uh... I am a Cutter
Posts: 6,139
Bikes: '17 Access Old Turnpike Gravel bike, '14 Trek 1.1, '13 Cannondale CAAD 10, '98 CAD 2, R300
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1571 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
Helicopter parents? I was never accused of that... and neither was my wife(s).
I think name calling is generally a little uncalled for. But if it somehow soothes your feelings of guilt.... let me assure you... I doubt that your guilty of anything. Parents bring to parenting whatever limited skills they have. We all just do the best we can. We only truly fail.... when we make raising our children the responsibility of others.
#32
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Tallahassee, FL
Posts: 4,815
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1592 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1,024 Times
in
575 Posts
I'm very glad I grew up in an era where I had few limits. And having no children I don't personally have to worry about the impact of these societal changes. I do fear it isn't really good for children to never function without adult supervision, but time will tell and one way or the other it won't really matter to me.
#33
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: D'uh... I am a Cutter
Posts: 6,139
Bikes: '17 Access Old Turnpike Gravel bike, '14 Trek 1.1, '13 Cannondale CAAD 10, '98 CAD 2, R300
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1571 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
And none of this has a thing to do with cycling of LCF.
Society will always have really great parents... and piss-poor absentee parents... and everything between. It doesn't matter when you grew up... or where... how wealthy or poor your were. Or if you walked, rode bikes, or owned cars.
Society will always have really great parents... and piss-poor absentee parents... and everything between. It doesn't matter when you grew up... or where... how wealthy or poor your were. Or if you walked, rode bikes, or owned cars.
#34
Prefers Cicero
I don't know... you tell me. Kids without parents have a tough time of it... I know. So... I don't know exactly what you/I should do to help those kids left behind by absentee bio-parents.... if that is what you mean.
I know my wife and I grandparent a couple of drug babies that started out life with some bad luck. Overdosed Dad... imprisoned Mom. We do what we can. It isn't always easy. I don't mind the time and expense as much... as the heartbreak that sometimes accompanies such situations.
I sure hope you don't mean... normal parents with jobs that the parents believe are more important than they're little rug-rats. Or maybe a greater interest in free time... or long term environmental concerns (or short term fashion)... than the health and safety of their own off spring. THAT... would really be sad... for the kids.
I know my wife and I grandparent a couple of drug babies that started out life with some bad luck. Overdosed Dad... imprisoned Mom. We do what we can. It isn't always easy. I don't mind the time and expense as much... as the heartbreak that sometimes accompanies such situations.
I sure hope you don't mean... normal parents with jobs that the parents believe are more important than they're little rug-rats. Or maybe a greater interest in free time... or long term environmental concerns (or short term fashion)... than the health and safety of their own off spring. THAT... would really be sad... for the kids.
So parents who decide not to drive their kids could do one of three things - let the kids go on their own, walk or cycle with their kids, or have the kids go with other people. Are you saying the last choice is the worst one, and a sign of bad parenting?
#35
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: New Rochelle, NY
Posts: 38,789
Bikes: too many bikes from 1967 10s (5x2)Frejus to a Sumitomo Ti/Chorus aluminum 10s (10x2), plus one non-susp mtn bike I use as my commuter
Mentioned: 140 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5823 Post(s)
Liked 2,657 Times
in
1,477 Posts
__________________
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
#36
Senior Member
When I was a kid, I walked a 1/4 mile to school, starting when I was 6 years old - all by myself.
Now I'm 52, and my kid has been taking the bus to school for the last four years - all of one mile. EASILY in walking distance - BUT - there is a major suburban thoroughfare, 1/8th of a mile from my son's school. I know this intersection well - I cross it every day on my 22 mile bicycle commute from downtown Minneapolis. And it is the MOST dangerous intersection in my entire 22 mile commute.
A small residential street crosses a 5+ lane major thoroughfare. There is a stoplight / signal at the intersection - but the thoroughfare has priority over the residential street -meaning the signal length for the residential is MUCH shorter than the signal length for the thoroughfare. The drivers know this as well, so when they approach that intesection from the residential streets, they are in a BIG hurry, so as not to be stuck at the intersection for multiple minutes.
I don't work Fridays, so I try to bike to school with my son as many days as possible. But this intersection is dangerous for adults, let alone school kids. We walk our bikes across the intersection, and my head is on a swivel. It is one thing to tell your kid to look both ways before crossing the street. It is another to explain that, even though you have the right of way, you'll have to watch out for left hooks, right hooks, and red light runners.
Kids who live 1/4 mile from school, but would need to cross this road, are bused to school. Such is the (SAD) story in most of suburbia.
#37
Senior Member
And, just a comment on my previous post, and to emphasize that this fits squarely in the "LCF" realm, the fact that my son's SCHOOL believes it is too dangerous for kids to walk 1/4 mile to school because of our suburban infrastructure, means that we've built a world that is hostile to walking and biking, and EXPECTS that you are driving a car.
A very sick prioritization, IMO.
#38
Senior Member
I should point out amid the disruptive rhetoric, that one of the reasons for the introduction of the walking bus concept was to reduce the congestion and hence dangers of vehicles dropping kids off within the school zone.
Machka has numerous tales of the drivers of the buses on which she commutes having extraordinary difficulties negotiating the "drop-off zone" around another nearby schooll that doesn't participate in the walking bus concept. These parents have absolutely no clue as to the disruption they cause, blocking marked bus stops and creating impossibly tight pinch-point for manoeuvring the bus.
Significantly, this is an independent school where parents pay fees for an "exclusive" education. They obviously think that also buys them the right to disrupt everything around them as they usher their kids to and from school.
The other school that runs the walking bus program is a state one. It doesn't mean that parents don't drop off their kids in cars -- as they do with a similar primary school right opposite our house. But at least there is an effort to offer an alternative.
I think there also has been a movement in some areas to limit access around schools, so kids are dropped off further away. But the essence is still to reduce the congestion around schools; the physical activity that results is a side benefit (and selling tool) to the overall strategy. School buses also do operate here, which helps decrease the traffic load.
Another observation that linkes the Rural LCF thread... in the small town where we used to live, there were three or four schools, and again we lived opposite on of them. The volume of cars dropping off kids was less than in the urban area where we now live. The majority of kids walked or biked to and from school. Those being dropped off were likely from outying properties, although again, there were school buses that went in each of the four directions each day from the schools.
Machka has numerous tales of the drivers of the buses on which she commutes having extraordinary difficulties negotiating the "drop-off zone" around another nearby schooll that doesn't participate in the walking bus concept. These parents have absolutely no clue as to the disruption they cause, blocking marked bus stops and creating impossibly tight pinch-point for manoeuvring the bus.
Significantly, this is an independent school where parents pay fees for an "exclusive" education. They obviously think that also buys them the right to disrupt everything around them as they usher their kids to and from school.
The other school that runs the walking bus program is a state one. It doesn't mean that parents don't drop off their kids in cars -- as they do with a similar primary school right opposite our house. But at least there is an effort to offer an alternative.
I think there also has been a movement in some areas to limit access around schools, so kids are dropped off further away. But the essence is still to reduce the congestion around schools; the physical activity that results is a side benefit (and selling tool) to the overall strategy. School buses also do operate here, which helps decrease the traffic load.
Another observation that linkes the Rural LCF thread... in the small town where we used to live, there were three or four schools, and again we lived opposite on of them. The volume of cars dropping off kids was less than in the urban area where we now live. The majority of kids walked or biked to and from school. Those being dropped off were likely from outying properties, although again, there were school buses that went in each of the four directions each day from the schools.
#39
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: New Rochelle, NY
Posts: 38,789
Bikes: too many bikes from 1967 10s (5x2)Frejus to a Sumitomo Ti/Chorus aluminum 10s (10x2), plus one non-susp mtn bike I use as my commuter
Mentioned: 140 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5823 Post(s)
Liked 2,657 Times
in
1,477 Posts
And, just a comment on my previous post, and to emphasize that this fits squarely in the "LCF" realm, the fact that my son's SCHOOL believes it is too dangerous for kids to walk 1/4 mile to school because of our suburban infrastructure, means that we've built a world that is hostile to walking and biking, and EXPECTS that you are driving a car.
A very sick prioritization, IMO.
A very sick prioritization, IMO.
Meanwhile some school jurisdictions are prohibiting children in the lower grades from walking or biking to school (I assume that means unescorted, but I don't know)
__________________
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
#40
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: D'uh... I am a Cutter
Posts: 6,139
Bikes: '17 Access Old Turnpike Gravel bike, '14 Trek 1.1, '13 Cannondale CAAD 10, '98 CAD 2, R300
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1571 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
Good (sane, sober, and financially stable) family's who live in safe neighborhoods, with good schools would be ideal.
But most of the world doesn't live in an ideal situation. Some who could... no longer see ideal as even possible. And that is sad.
I don't feel myself (or anyone else) as qualified to decide or suggest options for their children that are less than optimal. ALL children everywhere should be loved, nurtured, protected, cared for, and educated. I am NOT willing to surrender to discussions of good enough... when it come to children.
#41
Senior Member
No. Parents aren't limited to.... (or in some cases afforded) 3 options. Different situations afford parents different solutions. Don't forget... parents could always lobby for state run school barracks. That way kids could be housed right at the school.... right? Certainly... SOME parents would see that as a viable option as a way to raise kids.
Good (sane, sober, and financially stable) family's who live in safe neighborhoods, with good schools would be ideal.
But most of the world doesn't live in an ideal situation. Some who could... no longer see ideal as even possible. And that is sad.
I don't feel myself (or anyone else) as qualified to decide or suggest options for their children that are less than optimal. ALL children everywhere should be loved, nurtured, protected, cared for, and educated. I am NOT willing to surrender to discussions of good enough... when it come to children.
Good (sane, sober, and financially stable) family's who live in safe neighborhoods, with good schools would be ideal.
But most of the world doesn't live in an ideal situation. Some who could... no longer see ideal as even possible. And that is sad.
I don't feel myself (or anyone else) as qualified to decide or suggest options for their children that are less than optimal. ALL children everywhere should be loved, nurtured, protected, cared for, and educated. I am NOT willing to surrender to discussions of good enough... when it come to children.
#42
In Real Life
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Down under down under
Posts: 52,152
Bikes: Lots
Mentioned: 141 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3203 Post(s)
Liked 596 Times
in
329 Posts
OK Dave, we get that you're adamantly opposed to the well-established walking school bus program. Thank you for your concerns. Duly noted. Now please stop disrupting a thread about a LCF option/tool for families in various parts of the world.
__________________
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
#43
In Real Life
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Down under down under
Posts: 52,152
Bikes: Lots
Mentioned: 141 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3203 Post(s)
Liked 596 Times
in
329 Posts
Do any of you have walking bus programs in your area? The second link I posted in my OP was a US link so I know that these not only exist here in Tasmania (and have done since 2004), but they also exist in the US.
__________________
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
Rowan
My fave photo threads on BF
Century A Month Facebook Group
Machka's Website
Photo Gallery
#44
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: D'uh... I am a Cutter
Posts: 6,139
Bikes: '17 Access Old Turnpike Gravel bike, '14 Trek 1.1, '13 Cannondale CAAD 10, '98 CAD 2, R300
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1571 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
You mean... I shouldn't reply to posts that other people address to me? I think I am every bit as much a member of this forum as anyone else. I am sorry if you... or you wife don't like my opinions. But they are on topic... and valid.
#45
Senior Member
You've stated you and your wife are grandparenting kids from drug-affected parents. Then you want to discuss "namecalling" and posters' guilt, and a host of other unrelated stuff to walking buses. You stated your personal agenda about the woes of some people's parenting ability. We get that, but it is SOME people, not all. Your opinions are valid, but not really germane to this discussion.
#46
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: D'uh... I am a Cutter
Posts: 6,139
Bikes: '17 Access Old Turnpike Gravel bike, '14 Trek 1.1, '13 Cannondale CAAD 10, '98 CAD 2, R300
Mentioned: 62 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1571 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times
in
9 Posts
This would've been a great P&R topic.
#47
Prefers Cicero
I live right between a private school and public school - the parents are equally annoying.
Last edited by cooker; 10-21-16 at 11:46 PM.
#48
Prefers Cicero
No. Parents aren't limited to.... (or in some cases afforded) 3 options. Different situations afford parents different solutions. Don't forget... parents could always lobby for state run school barracks. That way kids could be housed right at the school.... right? Certainly... SOME parents would see that as a viable option as a way to raise kids.
Good (sane, sober, and financially stable) family's who live in safe neighborhoods, with good schools would be ideal.
But most of the world doesn't live in an ideal situation. Some who could... no longer see ideal as even possible. And that is sad.
I don't feel myself (or anyone else) as qualified to decide or suggest options for their children that are less than optimal. ALL children everywhere should be loved, nurtured, protected, cared for, and educated. I am NOT willing to surrender to discussions of good enough... when it come to children.
Good (sane, sober, and financially stable) family's who live in safe neighborhoods, with good schools would be ideal.
But most of the world doesn't live in an ideal situation. Some who could... no longer see ideal as even possible. And that is sad.
I don't feel myself (or anyone else) as qualified to decide or suggest options for their children that are less than optimal. ALL children everywhere should be loved, nurtured, protected, cared for, and educated. I am NOT willing to surrender to discussions of good enough... when it come to children.
#49
Prefers Cicero
On thing I have noticed in the last 4-5 years is that they have a pre-school running activity some mornings, although I haven't noticed it this fall, now that I think about, so maybe somebody got it going but it has faded out.
#50
Senior Member
You might live in the middle of crap and feel obliged to tell everyone about it, but there are many of us much more fortunate.