4 ms·

> Children are dropped off at school at the time that allows the parents to get to work at the time required by their boss. And they’re picked up when their bos

> Children are dropped off at school at the time that allows the parents to get to work at the time required by their boss. And they’re picked up when their boss let’s them go. If only there were some way for students to get to school that wasn't their parents dropping them off. Some kind of bus maybe, but for students. We could call it a "school bus" perhaps.

robocat 4y ago
In Comments: Be kind. Don't be snarky. From guidelines https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
cool_dude85 4y ago
Where I live, middle school aged kids still run the risk of big trouble for being unsupervised. 6th grade starts at 11 years old. So the bus can drop them off and pick them up, but better be there when they leave and when they get home.
- looperhacks 4y ago
  Man, living in Germany, we started walking to school or taking the bus alone on the third day of first grade (6yo)
  - SoftTalker 4y ago
    It was the same for me in the US in the 1970s. I rode the bus to school from first grade. Yes my parents were home in the morning and helped me get ready but I walked to the bus stop in the morning and back home in the afternoon. This notion that parents have to hover over kids and make sure they "get on the bus" is quite recent.
- eertami 4y ago
  Kids walk to and from school at like 5 years old in Europe. In some countries they also walk home for lunch, since there is a break with no childcare where they have to go home to eat. If children are never allowed to learn independence, then you end up in this never-ending feedback loop of required supervision.
  - micromacrofoot 4y ago
    in some places in the US it’s actually illegal to leave you kid unsupervised if they’re under 12, it’s pure insanity
snarf21 4y ago
Snark doesn't solve problems. When I was in middle school, it was a 45 minute bus ride. The same bus had to drop us off at 7:30 am so they could get back in time to pick up the elementary kids and get them to school on time. So the bus picked us up at 6:45 am which means we are waking up around 6:15 at the latest. That isn't sleeping in. The GP is right, the parents still need to be there for the 6th grader to get on the bus and ALSO make it to work on time at 8:00. Not everyone lives 5 minutes from work. In some rural areas parents have an hour drive even after their kids get on the bus or get dropped at daycare.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  That’s because the school is still scheduled around driving parents. If children majority took the bus, they could start school at 10:00 and leave it up to the remaining car users to make that work. And some edge case about rural towns doesn’t mean much when even urban schools have this issue.
  - snarf21 4y ago
    I can only speak to where I went to school, but even now, 90% of kids ride the bus. I'm not sure how school can start at 10:00 if the parents have to be there to get an 8 year old safely on the bus but somehow still make it to work by even 9:00.
    - Gigachad 4y ago
      For the minority of people getting dropped off early, provide a before school care program.
    - Filligree 4y ago
      Do parents need to be there to get an 8 year old safely on the bus? Really? I recall taking the bus, on my own, since the second day of first grade. So did everyone else. Nothing terrible happened.
      - heavyset_go 4y ago

robocat 4y ago

In Comments: Be kind. Don't be snarky. From guidelines https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

cool_dude85 4y ago

Where I live, middle school aged kids still run the risk of big trouble for being unsupervised. 6th grade starts at 11 years old. So the bus can drop them off and pick them up, but better be there when they leave and when they get home.

looperhacks 4y ago
Man, living in Germany, we started walking to school or taking the bus alone on the third day of first grade (6yo)
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  It was the same for me in the US in the 1970s. I rode the bus to school from first grade. Yes my parents were home in the morning and helped me get ready but I walked to the bus stop in the morning and back home in the afternoon. This notion that parents have to hover over kids and make sure they "get on the bus" is quite recent.
eertami 4y ago
Kids walk to and from school at like 5 years old in Europe. In some countries they also walk home for lunch, since there is a break with no childcare where they have to go home to eat. If children are never allowed to learn independence, then you end up in this never-ending feedback loop of required supervision.
- micromacrofoot 4y ago
  in some places in the US it’s actually illegal to leave you kid unsupervised if they’re under 12, it’s pure insanity

snarf21 4y ago

Snark doesn't solve problems. When I was in middle school, it was a 45 minute bus ride. The same bus had to drop us off at 7:30 am so they could get back in time to pick up the elementary kids and get them to school on time. So the bus picked us up at 6:45 am which means we are waking up around 6:15 at the latest. That isn't sleeping in. The GP is right, the parents still need to be there for the 6th grader to get on the bus and ALSO make it to work on time at 8:00. Not everyone lives 5 minutes from work. In some rural areas parents have an hour drive even after their kids get on the bus or get dropped at daycare.

Gigachad 4y ago
That’s because the school is still scheduled around driving parents. If children majority took the bus, they could start school at 10:00 and leave it up to the remaining car users to make that work. And some edge case about rural towns doesn’t mean much when even urban schools have this issue.
- snarf21 4y ago
  I can only speak to where I went to school, but even now, 90% of kids ride the bus. I'm not sure how school can start at 10:00 if the parents have to be there to get an 8 year old safely on the bus but somehow still make it to work by even 9:00.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    For the minority of people getting dropped off early, provide a before school care program.
  - Filligree 4y ago
    Do parents need to be there to get an 8 year old safely on the bus? Really? I recall taking the bus, on my own, since the second day of first grade. So did everyone else. Nothing terrible happened.
    - heavyset_go 4y ago