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School bus drivers
Your critical job...
School bus drivers today play an
important and sometimes under-recognized role in helping
children receive an education. Contrary to popular belief, many
school bus drivers love their jobs and wouldn't think of doing
anything else. As exasperating as they can be at times, serving
children can be deeply gratifying. But the job also carries
sobering moral and legal responsibilities, and can be extremely
demanding.
Challenges
School bus drivers must be
skilled defensive drivers to avoid an accident in today's
traffic environment. Safely receiving and discharging
children at bus stops requires exceptional vigilance on the bus
driver's part. School bus drivers dread the prospect of a child
being struck by a motorist who fails to stop for the stopped bus
as a child is boarding or exiting.
Student behavior problems are
common on school buses, and by distracting the bus driver can
easily lead to an accident. Many school bus drivers cite
"student behavior" as their most pressing safety concern.
Protecting children from each other - while simultaneously
maneuvering a large commercial vehicle through traffic - takes
skill and understanding on the driver's part. And in today's
frightening world, the possibility of weapons must be considered
anywhere in the school environment, including on the bus.
Violent incidents on school buses and at bus stops are not
rare and are not limited to urban settings.
Safely transporting children
with severe special needs, whose numbers have grown
exponentially over the past twenty years, poses many challenges
for school bus drivers. The revolution in how America
educates disabled children, that began with the passage of the
federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1974,
could not have borne fruit without the caring and diligence of
school bus drivers and attendants. In the early years
drivers and attendants were often on their own when it came to
figuring out how to transport studnets safely. The types and severity of disabling
conditions encountered by bus drivers increases every year. |
