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Don't know how many people on HN have ever driven a school bus full of kids, but its a lot more than "Point A to Point B". Its fairly common for kids in K-6 to
by jlos 9y ago
Don't know how many people on HN have ever driven a school bus full of kids, but its a lot more than "Point A to Point B". Its fairly common for kids in K-6 to not know:
- Home Address
- Home/Parents Phone Number
- Last Name (you'd be surprised at how common this was)
Thats not to mention what to do in the event of an emergency. Just play out the follow events in your mind with a bus full of kids and no trained adults:
- Fire
- Break down on a major highway
- Collision with another vehicle
(Edit for formatting)
- ryanlol 9y ago>- Last Name (you'd be surprised at how common this was) How does this happen? Is knowing your surname just a weird European thing?
- tzs 9y agoYoung kids in the US are usually addressed by first name at home and at school, so maybe they simply do not get enough practice with their last name to automatically remember it? I bet that with most kids who don't remember when you ask them their last name would remember if you asked them what people like appliance repair people, exterminators, receptionists at the doctor's office, or their parents' bosses call their parents. They may hear those enough to remember them.
- lostlogin 9y agoSurprising to hear. I’m in New Zealand and can’t think of any situation where I’m called by my last name. Once a staff member at a nice hotel called me by my last name and my 5 year old fell about laughing.
- fusiongyro 9y agoMy son gets his last name and his middle name confused for exactly this reason. He's 5 and rides the bus.
- fusiongyro 9y agoI checked last night when I got home. My daughter just said "I don't know" when I asked her what her last name is. She turns 3 today. My son did know though, so that's good.
- hkmurakami 9y agoHad to write my first and last name, date, and class on the top right corner of every assignment since first grade. This made learning my last name (way too long!) a routine thing. Was a boon as an ESL student. Then again, private school so YMMV.