Posted on 01/25/2011 11:56:38 AM PST by nickcarraway
The wheels on the school bus go 'round and 'round, but eventually students are supposed to get off.
Not so for one South Florida boy, who was trapped on his school bus the entire day after the bus driver forgot to check and see if all of the students got off for school. Dylan Gottshall was found Monday on his school bus around 1 p.m., hours after he was supposed to get off and go to class at Parkway Elementary School in Port St. Lucie, TCPalm.com reports. The 7-year-old first grader was picked up at his bus stop around 7:30 a.m., but fell asleep on the bus by the time it arrived at school. He didn't wake up as all the other kids got off the bus and so the bus driver drove the bus back to the bus depot.
And so Dylan was trapped on the bus for hours with no way to get off, his father said.
"I was in shock and I was very angry that my child was left on a bus," Sam Gottshall said. "We all know what happens to kids who get locked in vehicles on hot days and everything and I was thankful it wasn't a hot day." School district officials said they were checking into the incident to see how a student could be stuck on a bus the entire day without anyone noticing.
So what do you do on a school bus all day? Dylan decided he'd get a math lesson in.
He counted all the open windows and all the closed windows. And then he counted them again, his father said. "He was very scared an
Raise your kid to be a pu$$y, if you want but don’t expect the rest of us NOT to laugh at his pathetic self.
I called my Dad and told him this story and he said he would have beaten me more for lying about not being able to get out of a parked bus. He would have then whipped me for sleeping and failing to get off the bus.
“I don’t think the driver could necessarily keep track of all the people on the bus at any given time.”
He absolutely is capable of determining whether or not any students are on the bus before he pulls away from his last (or in this case, probably sole) drop off at school.
Some school buses ARE equipped with latches that lock them from the outside.
I did respond to the open windows, which you will see in my quote from the post above.
How are you coming in answering the questions I asked you?
School buses do not lock their doors from the outside. You are a sad and pathetic fool and responding to your senseless posts are making me dumb as you. I pray to God you have no children cause if you raise them as you post on this thread, I will be paying for them in taxes on the dole their whole lives.
“I called my Dad and told him this story and he said he would have beaten me more for lying about not being able to get out of a parked bus.”
Is your Dad aware that some school buses are equipped with more safety features now that could feasibly make escape by a seven year old more difficult than older school buses?
Is he aware of the size, strength and climbing ability of this seven year old? Is he aware that the size, strength and climbing ability of this seven year old is not de facto equivalent to the size, strength and climbing ability of his own child(ren) at that age?
I’m still waiting for intellectually honest, thoughtful answers to my questions.
What is his excuse for an adult who did not take the common sense approach of CHECKING a bus for children before departing the bus to tend to other affairs?
Some school buses DO have outside locks.
http://www.schoolbusfleet.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3351
Before you lecture other Freepers on alleged ignorance, it is advisable to do your own homework.
How are you coming on answering my questions?
You really going with that. Pitiful. A sad pitiful puke of a 7 year old can’t figure out how to get off a school bus and you defend it. Seriously, that’s the best you can do. This kid is destined to be a metrosexual.
The doors were not locked and the windows were open, but keep posting your tripe. I won’t bother responding anymore to your posts on this thread. You can’t fix stupid.
Are you this boy’s mother, by any chance? That would make sense, if you are angling to sue.
Can you point to any statement in the article that indicates that the doors and windows on the bus were not locked?
Why have you failed to answer my questions?
So, you were a 16 year old high school senior? I was pretty young (youngest in my class) and turned six while in first grade.
These days, it’s pretty common to enter first grade the fall after your 6th birthday, so a kid with a December birthday would be seven and in first grade.
Good point.
Oh I agree the adult was at fault for not seeing the student. I am just emphasizing that this was an older child who could have made other adults aware of his plight had he taken some simple steps. That he did not tells me that he was probably afraid he was in big trouble so best keep quiet.
At this point, we don’t know if he did so or not. He may have called out for a few minutes then gave up and began playing. He may have stayed quiet out of fear of getting in trouble.
Hopefully updates on this story will provide further enlightenment on some of the unknowns. :-)
I was 16 when I went to college, 20 when I started graduate school. Apparently my mother didn’t want me around the house so she sent me to school early.
I don’t think I was hurt by it all but I think it ‘s better to send kids to school later.
If you read the book Outliers by the same person who wrote Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell, he makes a very good case about the importance of age and maturation.
At the age of seven I walked or rode my bike to a school about a mile away from my home. I was considred old enough to learn enough of the catechism to receive First Holy Communion. I had regular chores which I was expected to do for my allowance. I was also permitted a great deal of free play provided I was at table by 6 pm for dinner and my homework was completed.
We are not writing of a totally helpless infant or even a special needs older child. Any 7 year old who can not in this situation in this place (remember I know this place, I have been there) who can not gather the wits or gumption to make himself noticed just plain does not want to be noticed.
Wouldn’t a 7yo think to climb out, honk the horn or yell?
It is an abomination to have regular school in August! “Unexpected consequence of No Child Left Behind Act.”
Depends on what region of the country (and even what part of the state) you grew up in. Where I was raised, starting school in August was the norm. Of course, we usually got out of school before Memorial Day, unlike some places today where kids are in school to the first part of June.
Moreover, why didn’t the school notify the parents when the kid wasn’t in class and Mom or Dad didn’t call in an absence?
I think this school has left itself wide open for a lawsuit with this sort of negligence. The bus driver still has the most culpability.
“This was a First Grader. Most kids that age just don’t pay attention to HOW things work, just that they do. I’m sure he knew that when the door opened, folks got out, but probably the Emergency Procedures were never explained to him, since it’s older kids, or the driver, who usually opens the Emergency Door.
If the Emergency Door WAS mentioned at all, it was probably a warning NOT to open it, so the kids wouldn’t fool around. I’m just glad he’s OK, and this will be a reminder to all drivers to CHECK EVERY SEAT before taking the bus back to the barn in the morning OR the evening.”
Well said. Thank you.
Good points all. This case serves to highlight the incompetency of government officials.
A little perspective is in order. 26 million kids ride half a million school buses each day. That's 4.68 billion passenger-days. And yet this incident, where one child was frightened but unharmed, is sufficiently rare to make the news. By contrast, 15-25 children die of hyperthermia when they're left in cars each year.
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