We are getting back to school and finding our routine. Have you thought about School Bus Safety? Until I saw this article, I thought our teens were pretty safe on the buses they ride to school.
School Bus Safety
With back to school underway, the safety of our teens at school is always in the front of our minds. How about when they ride the bus to school? Bullying on the school bus can be an issue for our teens. In a blog post I did a few weeks ago, I compared between my book Shawn’s Way and the book Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. In her book, Rowell talks about the experiences Eleanor had at school and on the bus. Here is a link to that post Books About Bullying For Teens
My reflections on this topic
When I research teen challenge topics to write about, it always brings me back to my own school experiences. I rode the bus throughout my grade school, junior high and high school careers. I was even a bus patrol officer in junior high school. When presented with the idea of featuring this article, it reminded me of waiting at the bus stop in elementary school, where I was bullied by an older kid. The other kids who were at the bus stop with us, didn’t really know what to do and didn’t intervene because they were afraid of this older kid too. He didn’t physically hurt me, but teased me about being short, which still isn’t right. He eventually stopped, but the hurt feelings are still a memory for me.
Teens who ride the bus to school
Does your teen ride the bus to school? Just like cliques at school, did you know there is a peer hierarchy that determines where students are able to sit on the bus? Besides being a way to get your teen to school, it is also a place where they could be harassed or even bullied. Let’s talk about increasing school bus safety.
What can we do to increase School Bus Safety?
Did you know riding the bus is a common place for teens to become a target of one who bullies? It is because there is not a lot of adult supervision and your teen becomes a captive audience until they arrive at school. The driver does their best to help stop the behavior, but they are busy driving the bus. According to the article, School Bus Bullying Prevention, on transfinder.com there are ways for all of us to prevent school bus bullying. Here is a list of ideas below.
What can parents do?
For starters, learn to recognize the signs of someone who is being bullied. If you aren’t sure, take the time to start a conversation with them
- Check in with your teens on how things are going and listen to their answers. If they are being bullied, they may be afraid of retribution and try to hide the fact that they are a target.
- Coach your teen to talk to the adults in their lives about what is happening. Adults can reassure them it is not their fault they are a target of a bully.
- But, if they are being bullied, be sure to report it. Suggest that they sit close to the driver or take the bus with a friend to help them feel safer.
What can the drivers do?
Actual intervention maybe hard for them to do, since they are driving the bus. Encourage drivers to report any instances of bullying that happen on their bus. According to the article, 40% of bus drivers indicated that the bullying was reported to them by a rider. We should instruct our bus riders that their driver is an approachable adult that could help them make the bullying stop.
What can schools do?
Schools have bullying prevention policies that must be followed. When these policies aren’t stopping the bullying, it may be time for the school to reestablish their culture and promote one of bullying prevention. And their staff, including bus drivers and cafeteria workers, need training on the appropriate intervention techniques.
As a last resort, an additional adult may need to ride the bus. It will give the driver another set of eyes and someone to intervene, if needed. This may take away the incentive for bullies to select and pick on targets.
Thank you to
Thank you to Amanda at Study Haven for bringing this topic and article to my attention. Study Haven, part of LearningHaven.com, is a homeschooling based online learning and homework help platform located in Arizona. As a class project, they were working on the topic of bullying prevention and came across this article. They also saw Selma’s Resources page and reached out to us to see if we would feature it.
Resources for you and your teen
Have you seen the resource page on Mentoring A Dream’s website? Here is a link to it, Teen Resources
My mission with Mentoring A Dream
The mission with Mentoring A Dream is engaging with adults abut the challenges their teens are facing. Adults like
- Parents
- Teachers
- Counselors
- Coaches
- Mentors
Some of these issues may be new to you and some you may be very familiar with. I want to provide some ideas on what we as adults can do to help our teens work through these challenges to help them succeed. Ultimately, I hope this information will help you to start a conversation with your teen to understand what they are facing.
If you have any topics about teen challenges or issues the adults in teen lives should be aware of, please let me know in the comments and I will definitely take a look at featuring them in a future blog post.
Shawn’s Way discusses the topic of bullying
Are you looking for a great read about a high school freshman being the target of a bully? Shawn’s Way is the second book in The Way Series, which is a set of coming of age novels for teens and young adults. Each novel presents a relatable story on a challenge that teens face. As a great read for your teen or young adult, they are also a great conversation starter to talk about this important topic.
Be sure to check out Selma’s book tab for more information and to purchase your copy.
