Do you let your 6 year olds ride a school bus?

[kohlby]

Why or why not?

I'm a bit uneasy about the safety of it. I don't know if my feeling is irrational or not. I haven't done any research about it at all. I'm one of those parents that keep my kids in 5 point harnesses for a long time. DS1 just moved to a full back booster recently and he's 49" and 55+ lbs. We homeschool, so it hasn't been an issue. However, DS1 is doing summer camp and they have two field trips during the week - one only one mile away but one about 10 miles away. DS1 will be one of the youngest kids, if not the youngest since it's for rising 1st-6th graders and DS1 will be barely 6 when camp starts.

[Peeka2]

my ds rode a school bus several times the last few 3 years. Not everyday, I like taking him to school and picking him up and we don't have that option but I am not worried about it occasionally.

[Tweet]

Yes. So does my 5 year old and he started when he was 4. ( Special needs school will do transportation- my hands were going numb at the time and it wasn't safe for me to drive) .

DD1is is the 6 year old and she's ridden it all year so far. Now she hates getting up that early so she just rides the bus after school. School is literally 2 blocks away,though. Plus I've gotten to know her bus driver and I trust her. Same with DS's bus driver. I've known her since he first started going to that school.

The only time I feel hesitant is when there is a substitute driver that I don't know and that's more for DS than DD1. DS doesn't ride with a lot of kids and sometimes is the ONLY one on the bus.

In general,though, I don't worry about it at all. I asked my questions at the beginning of the school year ( policies and such as well as the agreed protocol for if I were late to the bus stop or she was early and we crossed paths,etc)

ETA DS's bus comes straight to our house

[Tweet]

kohlby, our bus driver has the younger kids sit at the front,close to her. If her bus driver does not do that, you could always tell your kid to sit near the bus driver.

[still_me]

DS1 will be 5 1/2 when he does for kindergarten. Most of the kindergarten kids in our area ride the bus.

[kohlby]

kohlby, our bus driver has the younger kids sit at the front,close to her. If her bus driver does not do that, you could always tell your kid to sit near the bus driver.

Good idea! Since it's only for two things, I'm not sure how structured the bus ride will be. This is also the first time DS1 will be away from me or DH for more than 3 hours when I haven't been in the hospital having a baby! I'd like to give him the full camp experience without mommy looking over his shoulder if it's safe!

[_Gypsy_]

Generally speaking a child (over 50 pounds) is safer on a school bus with no seatbelt, than they are in their parents car properly restrained.

First, school buses are less likely to be involved in any type of accident because of their size, color and the laws protecting them.

Second, school buses are large and fare well in crashes.

Finally, because of the design of the seats, with the high seat backs, in a crash the children are protected by compartmentalization, which is very safe.

[BoobySnacks]

DD is in kindergarten and we were walkers before we moved. Now, I drive her to school and pick her up. I just feel uneasy about her riding the bus, I really don't know why. She will have to ride the bus if my car poops out again though. I do not think they are unsafe, I just like being able to see for myself that she makes it to her class and I like being there for her when she gets out of class to. She is always so happy too see me :)

[ima062002]

Mine doesn't because we live 300 feet from the school :). Her friend does and she's the one who told her about blow jobs last year. Apparently her friend heard 8th graders talking... (the schools here are K-8, another reason I want to move...). So once they ride the bus with older kids, they will hear things I personally feel are not appropriate for their ears at all. I know I cannot keep my dd innocent forever but if my dd had a longer way to school I'd drive her myself just to buy a few more years of innocence.

[vulturemom]

Yep, Tasha rides it every day.

[Justicedog]

My dd does and did last year when she was 5. There's not been any problems. They have assigned seats, the younger ones sit closer to the driver.

[RaisingThemLeft]

My kids have ridden it for field trips. My youngest rides the bus every day, but there are child safety harnesses on his bus.

[SingingMom]

I own a school bus (which we use as a camper) so yes, my children ride a school bus.

As Gypsy said, because of the size and laws (ours is not supposed to be yellow, I'm working on that), they are rarely involved in crashes. We left some of the original seats in for the kids' safety while driving, and ours has lap belts.

Now that I have driven a bus around, I have found that it's amazing. It drives like a cow, of course, but people really adjust for it in a way that they don't for another car. People don't even tailgate. And of course, it's very heavy, so if someone hit it with a small car, I'm not sure we'd even notice.

If your kid is old enough to stay seated, it's probably safe enough. Especially for only two trips.

[_Gypsy_]

I own a school bus (which we use as a camper) so yes, my children ride a school bus.

As Gypsy said, because of the size and laws (ours is not supposed to be yellow, I'm working on that), they are rarely involved in crashes. We left some of the original seats in for the kids' safety while driving, and ours has lap belts.

Now that I have driven a bus around, I have found that it's amazing. It drives like a cow, of course, but people really adjust for it in a way that they don't for another car. People don't even tailgate. And of course, it's very heavy, so if someone hit it with a small car, I'm not sure we'd even notice.

If your kid is old enough to stay seated, it's probably safe enough. Especially for only two trips.

Are there high seat backs for compartmentalization? if there are, it's best to either not use the lap belts at all, or to install harnessed seats with the lap belts. If there are not high seat backs in front of their seat, please install harnessed seats with the lap belts :) Lap belts in buses aren't safe, a lot feel they are better than nothing, but provided you have high seat backs in front of your kids, nothing really is preferred.

[tata]

My DD started riding her school bus at age 2. She's now 10 and her buses have never been involved in any accidents. I feel she is safe on the school bus.

[SingingMom]

Yes, there are the original high seat left in. I have the toddler in a harnessed seat. Everyone else is in a lap belt, because it keeps them from getting up and moving around. In our case, with our kids, at their ages, using a lap belt to keep them safely seated is probably safer than trying to yell at them to sit down every five seconds. As they become more reliable, we'll eighty-six the lap belts.

They squirm in the seats. They lay down. They try to wiggle around to talk to the other kids. The lap belts are safer right now, I think.

[cream_city]

Simon used to ride the school bus home when he was in 1/2 day K (starting when he was 5). We pick him up now, but only because of where we are in the route -- we're at the far end, so it's a 40 minute ride (each way). I don't want him on the bus for 80 mins a day.

He started taking city buses when he was 4, I believe.