Boy, Four, Left On School Bus Tried To Walk Home

[mikey4444]

Narrow escape for this little lad....glad the driver got the sack.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-42365641

[Eleena]

Yes Mikey, I just re-read your link there .. thanks.

[ToraToraTora]

I do not believe I used any "language" beyond standard English.

[Mamyalynne]

Let's not make the thread about you and your version of standard English , that occupies too much of the site already.

[mikey4444]

I agree Mamy....this is about that poor little boy, not any of us.

But its all ended well, and lets hope that lessons are learned. I still think its odd, that these kids should have been on the school bus, without a second adult present.

[Eleena]

That's what I can't get my head round Mikey, no supervision on the bus!

[Mamyalynne]

Cost as mentioned is likely the main case for no chaperone but at the very least a daily list of pick ups and drop offs should be the bare minimum.

[anneasquith]

Although aged 4, he very possibly is nearer 5 and is in primary 1 , obviously no escort is required, the bus driver make a mistake the boy is fine. Some good will come out of this, buses will be checked thoroughly in future .

[mikey4444]

Leaving aside incidents like this, which must be rare, its the general supervision of a dozen or so kids on a bus that is important....kids can be a handful sometimes, and a driver shouldn't be expected to supervise the kids, as well as drive the bus.

[Mamyalynne]

The parents will know what the bus contract provides and they either place their trust in that or get their children to school themselves.

[tamborine]

If dad was at kids bus stop he could have stopped bus or instantly alerted plod.

[bhg481]

"The boy should have been dropped off at home", so no need for dad to stand at the gate or bus stop. In his position I would have been watching through the window for the bus to stop and then gone to the door. He was unconcerned about the bus being late because of the weather.

[Gromit]

I am all for giving children freedom and not cosseting them, but this little lad was only FOUR.

He should not be making bus journeys on his own. He should have had a parent travelling with him. It sounds like there wasn’t even a parent meeting the lad when he got off the bus (or they would have alerted the bus company earlier when the bus didn’t stop).
Yes, let down by the bus company, but also very poor parenting.

[mikey4444]

I have read the link again, and it seem to me that a stop was NOT made at this lads house....in other words, his drop-off never happened and the driver took the bus back to the depot, not realising that he was still on the bus. It seems that the boy had not used this service many times before the incident.

The boys Dad wasn't overly concerned at first, as he presumed that the weather was the cause of the delay.

So, whatever had happened to the scheduled drop-off, the driver should still have doubled checked the bus, and made sure that it was empty, before leaving the bus.

[mikey4444]

Gromit...just seen your post, which I hadn't seen when I made mine above.

The drop-off never happened.

As to it being the parents fault, I am afraid you may be wrong. The bus company should have done its job properly....made sure that the driver knew about the drop-off, and further, checking the bus at journeys end.

[sapelesam]

One really good thing came out of this, the little lad was well trained to resist the offer of a lift. Looks like he took some persuading to get in the car.

[anneasquith]

The driver was sacked Mickey, what more do you want ? The school have a contract with the school, the parents use the service if they wish, The child is only four, but could be nearly five,.

[bhg481]

Not the bus company's fault Mikey - the school should have seen the children onto the bus and told the driver the drop-off points. How can the bus company know which children are on the bus? Eiother the school didn't inform the driver where to drop off children of the driver ignored the instructions.

[mikey4444]

Anne....I want some common sense to be used in the future. Every driver, of every bus, whether its carrying little kids or not, should check that his bus is empty, before abandoning it at the depot.

In this case, this was clearly not done. Its got nothing to do with the School, or the parents.

[hc4361]

School buses that go door to door, rather than designated bus stops, are common in remote areas. Having a driver only is also standard practice on mini buses.

The only person at fault was the driver, for failing to check the bus before he got off at the depot

[pastafreak]

I've only read the link once, but I got the impression this was a door to door service...one the parents were using as a temporary measure as their own car had broken down. On that basis they can't be blamed for believing the bus was simply delayed. Certainly not poor parenting.