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> Parents need to drop kids off [...] This is far from universal, and is a problem we should address wherever it is the case. It's bad for plenty of reasons, w

> Parents need to drop kids off [...] This is far from universal, and is a problem we should address wherever it is the case. It's bad for plenty of reasons, with one of the largest being that it prevents us from having schools operate during times that work well for children and teens.

colinmhayes 5y ago
I'm not sure how you plan to solve this. Even if a school bus came to every kids front door the parent would still need to be there to ensure the kid gets on. If both parents need to be somewhere for work the bus needs to show up early enough to give them time to commute.
- bradlys 5y ago
  Uh - no. You don’t have to be there to ensure the kid gets on. You teach your kid how to be responsible and a good person so that they get on without you having to helicopter over them for everything. What the F is wrong with Americans. Srsly.
  - colinmhayes 5y ago
    The reality is that enough Americans won't accept this to make it a viable solution.
  - collegeburner 5y ago
    That's how my parents did it... it's changed in the past 20 years. Stupid suburban wine moms raised this past generation to be coddled at every opportunity. I hear about parents getting in trouble for letting their children walk a mile or 2 to a park and back... or bike a few miles to a friend... ridiculous. Lots of parts of America (outside big cities) we still don't care.
  - Goronmon 5y ago
    Uh - no. You don’t have to be there to ensure the kid gets on. You teach your kid how to be responsible and a good person so that they get on without you having to helicopter over them for everything. Maybe I'm just a terrible parent, but I wouldn't trust my 5 year old to walk to her stop and get on the bus at a specific time every morning without a parent around to push her to do it.
    - bradlys 5y ago
      Yet it’s normal in Japan by 6-7. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-28/in-japan-small-children-take-the-subway-and-run-errands-alone https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-28/in-japan-...
      - Goronmon 5y ago
        That doesn't say its "normal" by 6-7. It just says that some kids are able to do it as young as that age. And the specific child in the article didn't start until 9. Plus, I would argue that there is a difference between sending a kid off to school at a given time and leaving them home alone with a specific schedule of "At 8:45 you need to walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus". Which again, I'm not sure I would trust to my 5 year old to do on her own every morning. Not because she can't walk alone, but because I don't think punctuality is something she's mastered yet. And even the article admits that young kids can do that more because of "social trust than self-reliance". And I don't know how many parents are willing to rely on other adults to help out their kid if something goes wrong.
    - KptMarchewa 5y ago
      You do that when they are 5-6 and let them go when they are 7-8. We should not dictate everyone's lives by what happens at 1-2 years of life.
    - HWR_14 5y ago
      So have the bus pick her up at 8:15 when parents leave for work instead of the 7am which people were complaining about.
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- seangrogg 5y ago
  What in the what? I would wake up after my dad was gone for work, grab a pop-tart or cereal, take a ~1/4 mile walk outside to the bus stop, no longer able to see my house from the suburban sprawl, and hang out with the rest of the kids at my stop for 5-15 minutes before the bus showed up. Then I eventually got a car. Don't get me wrong, if I was offered a ride (my parents, friends parents, friends with cars) I'd often take it. But ensuring I got on the bus? When the alternative was that my parents would get a phone call about me being missing? Trust that the lessons I'd get at school were far preferable to the lectures I'd get at home if I skipped class.
- Buldak 5y ago
  Where did you go to school where it was the norm for parents to always see their kids board the bus?

colinmhayes 5y ago

I'm not sure how you plan to solve this. Even if a school bus came to every kids front door the parent would still need to be there to ensure the kid gets on. If both parents need to be somewhere for work the bus needs to show up early enough to give them time to commute.

bradlys 5y ago
Uh - no. You don’t have to be there to ensure the kid gets on. You teach your kid how to be responsible and a good person so that they get on without you having to helicopter over them for everything. What the F is wrong with Americans. Srsly.
- colinmhayes 5y ago
  The reality is that enough Americans won't accept this to make it a viable solution.
- collegeburner 5y ago
  That's how my parents did it... it's changed in the past 20 years. Stupid suburban wine moms raised this past generation to be coddled at every opportunity. I hear about parents getting in trouble for letting their children walk a mile or 2 to a park and back... or bike a few miles to a friend... ridiculous. Lots of parts of America (outside big cities) we still don't care.
- Goronmon 5y ago
  Uh - no. You don’t have to be there to ensure the kid gets on. You teach your kid how to be responsible and a good person so that they get on without you having to helicopter over them for everything. Maybe I'm just a terrible parent, but I wouldn't trust my 5 year old to walk to her stop and get on the bus at a specific time every morning without a parent around to push her to do it.
  - bradlys 5y ago
    Yet it’s normal in Japan by 6-7. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-28/in-japan-small-children-take-the-subway-and-run-errands-alone https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-28/in-japan-...
    - Goronmon 5y ago
      That doesn't say its "normal" by 6-7. It just says that some kids are able to do it as young as that age. And the specific child in the article didn't start until 9. Plus, I would argue that there is a difference between sending a kid off to school at a given time and leaving them home alone with a specific schedule of "At 8:45 you need to walk to the bus stop and wait for the bus". Which again, I'm not sure I would trust to my 5 year old to do on her own every morning. Not because she can't walk alone, but because I don't think punctuality is something she's mastered yet. And even the article admits that young kids can do that more because of "social trust than self-reliance". And I don't know how many parents are willing to rely on other adults to help out their kid if something goes wrong.
  - KptMarchewa 5y ago
    You do that when they are 5-6 and let them go when they are 7-8. We should not dictate everyone's lives by what happens at 1-2 years of life.
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    So have the bus pick her up at 8:15 when parents leave for work instead of the 7am which people were complaining about.
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seangrogg 5y ago
What in the what? I would wake up after my dad was gone for work, grab a pop-tart or cereal, take a ~1/4 mile walk outside to the bus stop, no longer able to see my house from the suburban sprawl, and hang out with the rest of the kids at my stop for 5-15 minutes before the bus showed up. Then I eventually got a car. Don't get me wrong, if I was offered a ride (my parents, friends parents, friends with cars) I'd often take it. But ensuring I got on the bus? When the alternative was that my parents would get a phone call about me being missing? Trust that the lessons I'd get at school were far preferable to the lectures I'd get at home if I skipped class.
Buldak 5y ago
Where did you go to school where it was the norm for parents to always see their kids board the bus?