EngCan

Hi Everyone,

We will be moving to London, Ontario in December, we have 2 children, 6 and 3.

My daughter, who is 6, will be attending school starting in January. We will be renting a house to start and some say she will be bused to school.

My main concern is safety, I'm just not comfortable sending her off on a bus.
Just looking to be reassured that it is safe?
Also, my son will be starting next September and he will only be 4, do parents actually put a 4 year old on a bus to school?
Who takes them to class and such?

Thanks in advance.

Robyn

Hurlabrick

Not an expert and no first hand experience, but I can confim London has LOADS of school buses and it is the norm that kids use them. The traffic laws ensure bus pick up and drop off is as safe as possible and there are adult crossing patrols at most crossing who are VERY enthusiatic with hi-viz, sogns and whistles!

Siouxie

Sending children to school on the bus is normal in Canada if you live far enough from the school to qualify )opens in new tab) http://www.mybigyellowbus.ca/uploads...ligibility.pdf .Many people want to send them on the bus rather than having to drive them in (to the gate only), especially if they have to go to work. You usually have to register for the service..
Homepage | My Big Yellow Bus
School bus safety
Some information on JK students (opens in new tab) http://www.mybigyellowbus.ca/uploads...enstudents.pdf
Good luck with the move - not long now!

.

scilly

Millions of Canadian children have used school buses all over Canada for many years. In rural areas that may mean journeys of an hour or more each way.

They're as safe as they possibly can be.

The only time children are not on school buses seems to be if they live within a community with municipal transit, or outside a community and have less than a certain distance from the school ......... that seems to be around 3 km distant. Then they have to make their own way by walking/cycling, parent driving, or municipal transit.

Here in Vancouver, the only school buses I see are either for disabled children or from one of the private schools bringing children from neighbouring cities into Vancouver (if there are enough families to make it worth while!). The public schools expect the pupils to make their own way, with parents responsible for kindergarten kids from age 4 to 6, when many of them have shorter days.

EngCan

I took the school bus when I was a kid, but I was 12 when I started, my main concern was because they're so young.

Thank you tho, you've all made me feel a bit better.

Siouxie

If it helps, my son was 3.5 when he took the school mini bus to kindergarten in Hong Kong (with a bus Mum on it.. I did my duty every week, LOL) - all the children were under 5, and loved it! It's bound to be a bit scary initially, both for you and your children - but you can always opt to drive them instead..
I have no experience of school bus services in Canada, but know people who drive them.

bats

Let's see. No seat belts, no headrests/neck brace things. I know of one company that doesn't teach the drivers how to reverse, they are just told not to get into a situation where they have to back up.
great fun.

HGerchikov

If you aren't comfortable, and to be honest I wasn't when we moved here, get a house within walking distance of school, or you can drive them yourself if you prefer - the bus is an option, it's not mandatory.

Oakvillian

Despite which, of course, children riding a school bus are very, very much less likely to suffer injury or fatality on their way to school than if they're being driven by a parent or guardian or cycling or walking. I am somewhat passionate about school bus safety, for both passengers and other road users (BEers who've been here a while will know why...) so it's not lightly that I say to the OP that there's absolutely no reason to be concerned about putting a six year old on a bus. My eldest walked to school for his first kindergarten year, but after that year the school boundaries were all moved around and our closest school was no longer an option, so since then my three kids have all been bussed to school from JK (4-year-olds) onwards. When the weather's been reasonable, and they've been old enough to do so responsibly, they've walked or cycled. I don't think, in the 14 years to date that I've had kids in the elementary public school system here, we have ever driven to school at the beginning of the school day. The chaos of other parents wilfully failing to observe the parking/drop-off protocols just isn't worth the hassle, IMO. High school is different - the bus criteria are a little different and although we live close enough to walk, if it's pissing with rain or snowing a blizzard I have offered to drive the reluctant teenagers on occasion!

DMajor

In Canada since 1984, there's been 23 school bus deaths and 10,480 injuries - I'd say that suggests it's a very safe mode of travel but I can understand your concern..
Not sure how the injury figure is collected. It might be that if your kid falls whilst getting off the bus it's put down as an injury..No idea!

Pulaski

In addition to the assurances given above, I would point out that school busses in Canada and the US are a peculiar design compared to other busses - they travel slowly, are painted bright yellow, and sit remarkably high off the ground, so even if there is a genuine accident involving a school bus, most vehicles, including minivans and pickup trucks will hit the bus below the passenger compartment. The seats are themselves padded, front and back, and the gap between seats relatively small to form a "cell" in the event a bus is in a collision. So despite being slow, archaic and without seat belts, they are remarkably safe for the children traveling on them.

One or two US states started requiring that seatbelts be fitted on school busses, but the reports are that there has been no improvement in safety, as statistically school busses are already extremely safe.

scot47

In Britain of recent years,"The School Run" has become seen as normal. In many countries, including Canada, children are bused to school. Normal !

scrubbedexpat091

I remember in the early 1990's when the padded seats and the new school buses (for then) started arriving at my school district, the padded seats were so high too. So much different than than older buses they were replacing.

The old buses from Crown Super Coach had seats like this the seats in the buses were largely unchanged in my area until the early 1990's. ( I actually wouldn't be surprised if the buses I was riding in the 80's and early 90's were the same buses by parents were riding in the 60's lol)

We always had fun on the school buses growing up for the most part.

christmasoompa

Maybe in Scotland, that's not the norm in England though, or at least not where I live. 90% of kids either cycle, walk or get the bus to school, very few are taken by parents.

scot47

Depends on the area. There are toffs and non-toffs, but The School Run is common. At some primary schools in an affluent area you cannot get near the schools in a car !