Seems to me that by five, a kid should know how to get help in an emergency. Way to prepare your kid to survive in the real world...

Ya, not that it was the kids fault for that...so him suffering is pretty sad. Just a lesson to the rest of the parents out there, though, it is a good idea to teach your kid when he leaves home how to get back to it just in case other people drop the ball. I grew up in the country, so it was easy for me...just follow the one road till it gets to the other one road...much harder in the city.

>> ^Stormsinger:
Seems to me that by five, a kid should know how to get help in an emergency. Way to prepare your kid to survive in the real world...




are you trying to ?? what ??

I will bypass the immediate thought I have which would include you in the i.q under 50 category and assume your response is in some sort of dual meaning sarcasm sense.

>> ^Stormsinger:
Seems to me that by five, a kid should know how to get help in an emergency. Way to prepare your kid to survive in the real world...


Fuck off. The kid is 5.

Without knowing what's going on, the world is a scary fucking place. He was forced off the bus not knowing where he was, with nobody to talk to. What was he supposed to do?

Your parents fill your head with "Don't talk to strangers, they could be bad people" when you're that age, not to mention you're 5 and your imagination can get the best of you, so you probably wont approach any houses.

And..since he's 5, he probably doesn't have anything like a cell phone.

what the hell do you want?

What could POSSIBLY have prepared a 5 year old for this?

It's not even like he's been going to the school for long, he's - 5 -, this is his either first or second year at the school depending on where he went to kindergarden, so he wouldn't have the route memorized.
Or, when was this? Seems to me that unless its a new/replacement bus driver, this may even have taken place at the beginning of the school year.

well 5 year olds generally have the capacity to be able to do loads of things im sure in africa u have 5 yr olds walking miles for water granted dosent matter if the kids not traind about certain skills or is in a culture where is not tought till latter it dosent realy matter.

I think the mum is getting sum what over emotional and probably is an emotional person so the kid will end up like that as well.

people seem to think there is a pedophile or suicide bomber waiting around every corner when 99.99999999999% of the time sum-one would just find the kid and help out ( exactly what happened here)

obvously buss driver should have returnd the kid to school , but i bet they have to operate in tight time frames so sometimes things dont work out for all we know it could be a reli nice buss driver that just messed up this one time.

The school cannot say annything for risk of getting sued due to it been yanky doodle land all they can do is just stress the buss driver policy again nothing else realy.

Bus driver should be fired (for being a douchebag), or at least reprimanded (for not following procedure). I don't expect the kid to have a cell phone, but the driver should have, and called the school to ask if perhaps, just maybe, there was a mistake on his map?
If you can't deal with a crying hysterical kid (for any reason), then you shouldn't be an elementary school bus driver. period.

Sorry for having a different opinion, BoneRemake and Shepppard, but I really don't see how I pissed in your Wheaties. Leave the personal attacks at home, dudes.

Of course the driver screwed up, I thought that was so obvious I didn't need to even comment on it.

Shit happens, and any parent worth the name wants their children to have at least a clue. If the kid had known how to get help, i.e. knock on a door and ask someone to call the cops, he wouldn't have been so frantic. Five is plenty old enough to know how to ask for the police. That gives you all sorts of better results in a situation like this, doesn't it? First, the kid doesn't have to stand around crying for hours. Second, the cops will bring him home, or call mom to pick him up at the police station. Third, you have an official record of the incident to back up any legal action that might be taken. Fourth, you don't have the kid standing outside for hours in an area he doesn't know and isn't known, where he really -could- be at risk.

So in closing, piss off.

A very similar thing happened near my town. I wonder if this is the same incident, but I can't find any specific information to confirm that.

But, in the incident near me, the driver was fired. This is totally the fault of the idiot driver. As the mom says, an adult is supposed to be present when a kindergartner is dropped off and, if not, they will take the child back to the school.

Unfortunately school bus driver is a very low pay position and you get a lot of bad apples. Huge responsibility & very low pay makes for a bad combination.

>> ^Stormsinger:
Sorry for having a different opinion, BoneRemake and Shepppard, but I really don't see how I pissed in your Wheaties. Leave the personal attacks at home, dudes.
Of course the driver screwed up, I thought that was so obvious I didn't need to even comment on it.
Shit happens, and any parent worth the name wants their children to have at least a clue. If the kid had known how to get help, i.e. knock on a door and ask someone to call the cops, he wouldn't have been so frantic. Five is plenty old enough to know how to ask for the police. That gives you all sorts of better results in a situation like this, doesn't it? First, the kid doesn't have to stand around crying for hours. Second, the cops will bring him home, or call mom to pick him up at the police station. Third, you have an official record of the incident to back up any legal action that might be taken. Fourth, you don't have the kid standing outside for hours in an area he doesn't know and isn't known, where he really -could- be at risk.
So in closing, piss off.


Nothing I said was a personal attack on you, I never said anything about you specifically, or yo momma.
However, that being said, I don't understand how you can think that a child who's only been on this planet for 5 years could have done any different.

The parents are not to blame, they DID train the kid to meet them at the bus stop. That's what you do when your kid is 5! What could they possibly have done to train the kid for this, you didn't answer my question.

What could they have trained the kid to do? There's two mindsets parents have:
A) Train the kid not to talk to strangers because they could be bad people, or
B) Go up to strangers houses and knock on the door, not knowing who they are but hoping for the best.

Now, the only person who ever has used logic B that I know of, is you. There used to be a "Block Parent" program that would let kids know, "This house is safe to approach" however, in my entire life, I've seen maybe 3 of those signs.

Answer my question, truthfully, what could a child, in every sense of the word, have done? How is this in any way the parents fault? How is this the fault of ANYONE but the bus driver?

Right, that "Fuck off" wasn't directed at anyone at all, was it?

You're absolutely right, the only possible choice was to leave the kid with no idea what to do...just stand there panicked and cry. That's clearly the best possible choice when he gets lost, I don't know -what- I was thinking.

There's no way that knocking on a door, and asking someone to call the police (without going inside), would ever be achievable by a 5 year old. At least not one whose parents think as you do, that he's not capable of doing anything at all.

Bad things happen, dude. Best to teach your child what to -do- when that happens, instead of just teaching him not to do anything for fear that strangers might steal him away.

I don't give a flying shit whose fault this was...it would have been exactly the same situation had the bus driver had a heart attack and died while this kid was the last one on the bus. If nobody has taught him how to get help, he's fucked. But if you prefer to teach him to cower in fear rather than take positive action, I suppose that's your choice. Just glad it wasn't the choice -my- parents made.

>> ^Shepppard:
>> ^Stormsinger:
Sorry for having a different opinion, BoneRemake and Shepppard, but I really don't see how I pissed in your Wheaties. Leave the personal attacks at home, dudes.
Of course the driver screwed up, I thought that was so obvious I didn't need to even comment on it.
Shit happens, and any parent worth the name wants their children to have at least a clue. If the kid had known how to get help, i.e. knock on a door and ask someone to call the cops, he wouldn't have been so frantic. Five is plenty old enough to know how to ask for the police. That gives you all sorts of better results in a situation like this, doesn't it? First, the kid doesn't have to stand around crying for hours. Second, the cops will bring him home, or call mom to pick him up at the police station. Third, you have an official record of the incident to back up any legal action that might be taken. Fourth, you don't have the kid standing outside for hours in an area he doesn't know and isn't known, where he really -could- be at risk.
So in closing, piss off.

Nothing I said was a personal attack on you, I never said anything about you specifically, or yo momma.
However, that being said, I don't understand how you can think that a child who's only been on this planet for 5 years could have done any different.
The parents are not to blame, they DID train the kid to meet them at the bus stop. That's what you do when your kid is 5! What could they possibly have done to train the kid for this, you didn't answer my question.
What could they have trained the kid to do? There's two mindsets parents have:
A) Train the kid not to talk to strangers because they could be bad people, or
B) Go up to strangers houses and knock on the door, not knowing who they are but hoping for the best.
Now, the only person who ever has used logic B that I know of, is you. There used to be a "Block Parent" program that would let kids know, "This house is safe to approach" however, in my entire life, I've seen maybe 3 of those signs.
Answer my question, truthfully, what could a child, in every sense of the word, have done? How is this in any way the parents fault? How is this the fault of ANYONE but the bus driver?

You STILL haven't answered my question.

What could the parents have done to prepare the kid that he was going to be kicked off the bus by a bus driver who was probably the only adult around he relatively "Knew", and then see that man drive off.

There's nothing you CAN do to prepare your kids for that. The person who is supposed to take care of their child - didn't.

You started off by blaming the parents for not teaching their child what to do, yet provide no examples except "Approach a strangers house."

Maybe you're not grasping this. The kid is FIVE, And when you're that age, almost everything intimidates you unless you're with someone you trust. You're small, you're not educated, you're not a functional member of society on your own. Hell, maybe if the kid was 8, and had been with a community for a few years, and had known his school route better, I'd agree with you. Not for that age.

The only person that is to blame here, is the one who didn't do his job properly. I never rode the bus, so I don't know how it all works. However, if you're supposed to leave the kid with a parent, he failed that. If you're supposed to watch the kid go into his house, he failed that, if you're not sure where the child is to be dropped off, you DON'T just kick him off the bus, you radio someone, or take him back to the school. If you're certain that's where he was supposed to be dropped off, the kid gets in trouble. If it wasn't where the kid was supposed to be dropped off, you DON'T get in trouble, and the kid isn't left in the middle of nowhere.

I honestly can't comprehend how you think a 5 year old is supposed to fend for himself if he's dropped off in unfamiliar territory. The bottom line is, it shouldn't have happened. This isn't a situation you shouldn't need to have a contingency for. And, for the life of me, I can't think of anything that could've prepared the kid for this, and you still haven't answered.

I've fucking answered twice, are you blind? Or just delusional?

Teach him to knock on a door, and ask them to call the police, without going inside.

How much simpler can I make it? Five is absolutely capable of handling that, unless he's mentally retarded as well, and nothing was said about that.

Shit happens. Regardless of whether or not he was -supposed- to be left on the street alone, it happens...in any number of ways. Teaching the kid to cower in fear from everybody, just because some tiny percentage of people are nuts, isn't helping a damned thing when something -real- goes wrong.

>> ^Stormsinger:
I've fucking answered twice, are you blind? Or just delusional?
Teach him to knock on a door, and ask them to call the police, without going inside.
How much simpler can I make it? Five is absolutely capable of handling that, unless he's mentally retarded as well, and nothing was said about that.
Shit happens. Regardless of whether or not he was -supposed- to be left on the street alone, it happens...in any number of ways. Teaching the kid to cower in fear from everybody, just because some tiny percentage of people are nuts, isn't helping a damned thing when something -real- goes wrong.


I'm not blind, I even quoted your "training" in my last two posts. I'll quote what I JUST said
"You started off by blaming the parents for not teaching their child what to do, yet provide no examples
except "Approach a strangers house."

Which no kid in the world is going to want to do. Especially one that is.. FIVE! Honestly, have you no grasp on children? This isn't a fucking teen we're talking about. When you're 5, the only time you've EVER been out of the house is when A) You've been dropped off by a parent to a babysitter, or preschool B) You've been accompanied by an adult somewhere or C) You've been dropped off by a parent or someone you know to a friends house.

The world is a big fucking place for a kid that age. They've had NO exposure to being alone, and yet your "Answer" to all of this, is to have a kid who has probably never NOT been under some form of parental supervision, approach a random strangers house. It's NOT going to happen. You sound like you're blaming the kid for crying that he was alone for the first time, and in a strange place.

You don't seem to grasp this. I can't understand how oblivious you are, maybe you don't have kids, or were an only child, but you don't seem to have any memory or reference to what it's like to be that young. Your "Training" is invalid. Honestly, if the person whose house you're going up to is some sicko, you think the kid's going to be able to stay on the porch? Seriously?

Should they be tempted into the house by something, or should they just be forced in (Again, we're talking 3 feet high 60+ lbs children) it can happen. However unlikely, how'd it feel if it was your kid that got abducted after telling them "Go to the house, but just stay on the porch.

Again, I'm not blind, your training plan is just ludicrous.

Point one, the fact that you didn't -like- my answer does not mean I didn't answer.

Point two, you sadly underestimate the capabilities of a five year old. They are fully capable of taking actions on their own. That fear you fixate on is -taught- to them by parents that are paranoid about the 1-in-100000 chance of meeting one of those exceedingly rare predators. You're promoting ignoring a real problem for a potential problem. Which is more likely? I'm pretty damned sure that getting lost is -far- more likely than getting the attention of a predator...by at least a hundred to one.

I'm just glad my parents weren't advocates of the ostrich school of child development. You're free to fuck up your kids any way you like...but I fail to see how ignoring the more likely problem is better.

I'm done beating my head against the wall. You're not interesting enough to justify the irritation.

Without knowing what kind of neighborhood they live in it's hard to judge what options where best for the kid. And even with training a kid can still panic. Getting booted off a bus in an area that's strange to you is frightening. Plain and simple.

What if a kid was picking on him already before he was booted?

What if he had a nightmare the night before he went to school?

...at that age a kid's behavior is anything but predictable.

Bus driver's an a-hole for kicking him off the bus, that's all we know for sure... well that and it's good he got home safely.

wow.
give me the bud drivers name so i can go kick him in the balls.
this story brought back memories of a personal nature.
my first day of kindergarten.exciting and new and not a tad bit intimidating but i got on the wrong bus going home from school.
i remember trying so hard to see a recognizable landmark and the more kids got off the bus the higher my anxiety.
needless to say,by the time i was the last kid i was producing some pretty impressive snot bubbles because by then i was petrified that i was never gonna make it home and i was so scared.
and do you know what that bus driver did?
sat me right behind her and drove to every ray street in my area.even gave me a lolipop and got me to smile.she made it ok..she was gonna get me home.when i finally recognized my street this bus driver took it one step further and drove me right to my driveway.

you know,maybe in this day an age kids have cell phones and can memorize their address and phone number,whip out an ipod and check google maps but when it all comes down to it...its about community.what this bus driver did was fucking WRONG.i dont care about procedure,rules or regulations..you dont push a scared 5 yr old off your bus because he is unsure where he is at...EVER.what you DO is do whatever you can to get that kid home and rules be damned.so what if you get reprimanded?who cares if you have to listen to a lecture about "waste" and "productivity time".you did what was RIGHT.
i have watched too many people,parents mainly,who have been scared into boogeyman syndrome.that somehow there is a pedophile in every other house just waitin to bugger their child and every other house has a rapist/burglar watching your every move.the fact of the matter is:most people are decent and are not looking to bugger little johnny nor do they covet your "vintage" sony walkman,they are people just like you and i.which one of us would see a hysterical little kid lost and afraid and NOT try to help?
conclusion:the bus driver is a righteous FUCK.may he be raped with a razor blade dildo.

Man. I hope that bus driver was fired. The driver, at the least, was doing the exact opposite of their job. It reminds me (I know this is a more extreme example) of the RCMP in northern Canada taking native people for being drunk out in the middle of nowhere and kicking them out of their cars. Needless to say in the winter in northern Canada that can be fatal.

God, I wish I could downvote comments too!

>> ^Stormsinger:
Point one, the fact that you didn't -like- my answer does not mean I didn't answer.
Point two, you sadly underestimate the capabilities of a five year old. They are fully capable of taking actions on their own. That fear you fixate on is -taught- to them by parents that are paranoid about the 1-in-100000 chance of meeting one of those exceedingly rare predators. You're promoting ignoring a real problem for a potential problem. Which is more likely? I'm pretty damned sure that getting lost is -far- more likely than getting the attention of a predator...by at least a hundred to one.
I'm just glad my parents weren't advocates of the ostrich school of child development. You're free to fuck up your kids any way you like...but I fail to see how ignoring the more likely problem is better.
I'm done beating my head against the wall. You're not interesting enough to justify the irritation.


Might I point you towards the thing I was raised on, the Block Parent Program. This program is what most Canadian children are brought up on, it's taught in schools (At about grade 3, you know, around 8 years old) but most kids have already heard about it.

The theory behind it is fantastic, the problem, as I've mentioned before, is that I've seen 3 houses with those signs in them my entire life. I'm not underestimating the capabilities of a 5 year old, I remember my childhood, and I've got two younger siblings. I know all about the capabilities of a 5 year old, and they DON'T want to approach any strangers houses.

I've got stories, they've got stories, hell, even my parents have stories about a time when they were young, got lost, and completely panicked. Not to mention, what are the odds someone's even in the house? Most people don't get off work until 4-5ish, and most kids are home around 3:30. What's to guarantee that the house you go up to has someone in it to call the cops?

Which leads me to another point about both the block parent training, and you're "Idea".. For the block parent program, what happens when you can't find one, or your idea, what happens when a couple houses don't answer the door, or have nobody home.

Your kid panics. Yet another fatal flaw.

I'll refer back to the point that I've been trying to make this entire time, but you don't seem to get this.
You don't - leave - kids - alone. This should never have been an issue, and never should be an issue.
The bus driver was taking care of the kids, the kid should never have needed to be in this situation of not knowing what to do. This is nothing you should need to train your child for.

As for them getting lost.. Where would they get lost? Again, 5 year olds don't go places by themselves. Most kids don't until they're much older. If you go anywhere, you're accompanied by a parent. If you're in the mall and get separated, the parent is the one that instigates getting the child back. And don't bother trying to tell me that a 5 year old will stay calm in a shopping mall full of people, and go to the front counter of a store, or up to the security guards, because they won't. They'll panic, and probably cry.

However, getting picked up by a predator in the mall? That's a horse of a different colour. I was -always- told, that if someone came to pick me up, and it wasn't my parents, they'd know our "code word". If they didn't know it, they were someone that I shouldn't be talking to, and need to get away from them, but that's another discussion entirely.

However, I never said I didn't like your "Training" (Although, I don't, it's a silly idea to tell your kids to approach a strangers house in the first place) but it's not practical.

I think it's over-hyped. It's of course wrong of a bus driver to kick a kid off the bus on the wrong street, the bus practically has to take you straight to the door when you're that young. I can empathize with the kid, I remember getting accidentally off at the wrong stop and not having a clue as to where I were (when I was older than 5, probably 7-8) and it reeeally sucks - for the kid.

What I don't need is a parent who cries about it. Sensationalist, one-sided stories angry up my blood.

You can... just click the downward pointing triangle thingy underneath the comment you wish to show your displeasure to. ( ▲ 0 ▼ )

>> ^GoodAttorney:
God, I wish I could downvote comments too!


@ enoch - totally agree with you.

Just wanted to say anybody who thinks that taking the time to get a lost 5 year old child home is wasteful or lacks productivity should not be a representative of the educational system.

And anyone who can observe an unattended, crying child (or this video) and walk away saying "His parents should have taught him better." is less than a human being.

I would go even further. The driver should be prosecuted for endangering a kid. That's criminal incompetence. >> ^spawnflagger:
Bus driver should be fired (for being a douchebag), or at least reprimanded (for not following procedure). I don't expect the kid to have a cell phone, but the driver should have, and called the school to ask if perhaps, just maybe, there was a mistake on his map?
If you can't deal with a crying hysterical kid (for any reason), then you shouldn't be an elementary school bus driver. period.

>> ^Shepppard:
>> ^Stormsinger:
Point one, the fact that you didn't -like- my answer does not mean I didn't answer.
Point two, you sadly underestimate the capabilities of a five year old. They are fully capable of taking actions on their own. That fear you fixate on is -taught- to them by parents that are paranoid about the 1-in-100000 chance of meeting one of those exceedingly rare predators. You're promoting ignoring a real problem for a potential problem. Which is more likely? I'm pretty damned sure that getting lost is -far- more likely than getting the attention of a predator...by at least a hundred to one.
I'm just glad my parents weren't advocates of the ostrich school of child development. You're free to fuck up your kids any way you like...but I fail to see how ignoring the more likely problem is better.
I'm done beating my head against the wall. You're not interesting enough to justify the irritation.

Might I point you towards the thing I was raised on, the Block Parent Program. This program is what most Canadian children are brought up on, it's taught in schools (At about grade 3, you know, around 8 years old) but most kids have already heard about it.
The theory behind it is fantastic, the problem, as I've mentioned before, is that I've seen 3 houses with those signs in them my entire life. I'm not underestimating the capabilities of a 5 year old, I remember my childhood, and I've got two younger siblings. I know all about the capabilities of a 5 year old, and they DON'T want to approach any strangers houses.
I've got stories, they've got stories, hell, even my parents have stories about a time when they were young, got lost, and completely panicked. Not to mention, what are the odds someone's even in the house? Most people don't get off work until 4-5ish, and most kids are home around 3:30. What's to guarantee that the house you go up to has someone in it to call the cops?
Which leads me to another point about both the block parent training, and you're "Idea".. For the block parent program, what happens when you can't find one, or your idea, what happens when a couple houses don't answer the door, or have nobody home.
Your kid panics. Yet another fatal flaw.
I'll refer back to the point that I've been trying to make this entire time, but you don't seem to get this.
You don't - leave - kids - alone. This should never have been an issue, and never should be an issue.
The bus driver was taking care of the kids, the kid should never have needed to be in this situation of not knowing what to do. This is nothing you should need to train your child for.
As for them getting lost.. Where would they get lost? Again, 5 year olds don't go places by themselves. Most kids don't until they're much older. If you go anywhere, you're accompanied by a parent. If you're in the mall and get separated, the parent is the one that instigates getting the child back. And don't bother trying to tell me that a 5 year old will stay calm in a shopping mall full of people, and go to the front counter of a store, or up to the security guards, because they won't. They'll panic, and probably cry.
However, getting picked up by a predator in the mall? That's a horse of a different colour. I was -always- told, that if someone came to pick me up, and it wasn't my parents, they'd know our "code word". If they didn't know it, they were someone that I shouldn't be talking to, and need to get away from them, but that's another discussion entirely.
However, I never said I didn't like your "Training" (Although, I don't, it's a silly idea to tell your kids to approach a strangers house in the first place) but it's not practical.



LOL SHEPPARD YOUR A MORON PLEASE SHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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^That comment broke my sift...

...and I can't even tell who did it!

-Drax