Posted on 01/20/2005 4:49:01 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
SYRACUSE NY--When Lynnee Westbrook thinks about what her son went through her eyes well up. She says her two children take the school bus everyday, so she can't understand why the vice principal at McKinley Brighton told her 5-year-old son to walk home.
Under school policy, students must live more than a mile and a half to be bused. School spokesperson Neil Driscoll says Kevin is listed as a walker and lives on Newell Street, a block away from the school. Westbrook says they actually live on West Brighton Avenue and she doesn't know how the school got that information. She says her son walked several blocks to his daycare, where he gets dropped off after school.
"My baby who is 5-years-old who never walked anywhere a day in his life has to cross over major intersections to get to school to daycare. I felt that was very unacceptable," Westbrook said.
Westbrook says when she contacted the school, the vice principal had no knowledge of her child and said her son may have gotten confused with another conversation she was having with an older student.
"What's the need for him to walk? Why wasn't I informed? If he if missed his bus or whatever, you know that was my point. Nobody contacted me or they didn't contact emergency contact," Westbrook said.
"It was cold and my stuff was falling down, and I had to put my gloves in my book bag. I put my hands in my pocket," said Kevin Jennings, 5-year-old forced to walk home.
Kevin's mom says she wants to get to the bottom of what went wrong. Westbrook says she plans to get to the bottom of this during a meeting with the vice principal of the school Thursday.
Sarcasm does not become you. The school was at fault here. The safety of a child is, or should be, of paramount importance to all of us.
Then I wonder if the little typke has ever seen his father.
i wonder if the mother knows who his father is.
I would not permit a five year old to cross a busy street and walk home alone for several blocks, much less a mile and a half except in an emergency. Perhaps you live in a rural area with no wild animals ... or wild cars.
Today is not 30 years ago. My own neghborhood from when I was a kid has changed drastically. And it isnt only the predators I am concerned with. Traffic is higher, people seem to drive with less caution.
I dont care if you walked to school uphill in the snow then, thats not my childs world now.
You might want to go back to the FR home page and read the thread under this one. "Naked man found walking in an Albuquerque school, with a backpack filled with drugs".
I agree. For all the discussion of what *might* happen to a child walking through a city (traffic is my main concern for my own children), the fact is that the boy arrived at his destination safely.
A mistake was made (by someone). Everybody should calm down, and work toward avoiding similar mistakes in the future. There are always going to be errors in any institutional system, even if everyone is doing his best all the time. It's part of life, and meltdowns and lawsuits aren't going to change it.
You hear of an Amber alert, what...once every couple of weeks? This in a nation of 280 million. 30 years ago, you would probably never hear about some kid that disappeared in some small Texas town. Now it is broadcast everywhere.
The only indication we have of the school's fault is the unsupported allegation of the mother - which was essentially denied by the school. We don't have enough facts to determine what really happened.
Especially, "soccer moms" with a cell phone in one hand and a cig in the other.
that's true, i don't agree with the lawsuit remotely, but the school has to be held to account for errors. mistakes have consequences, even when made by school administrators.
What kind of jerk are you? Lots of people have day care for their kids, especially young ones like this 5 year old. Day care is just a fancy named baby sitter. Ever hire a baby sitter so you could go out? Did your parents ever hire a baby sitter to wath you?
The article doesn't seem to mention a father so, I'm guessing she may be a single parent and needs to work. Would you rather she go on welfare so she can be home?
When my stepdaughter was five, she forgot to get off at her bus stop. She was a little, quiet, girl, sitting way in the back and the driver didn't see her.
The driver probably should have called out when she didn't see my step daughter get off the bus at the right stop, but probably was busy/distracted.
She sat there on the buse for the whole trip and the driver didn't see until an hour later when she pulled up at the bus garage
Her mother was besides herself with worry, of course.
After she was found, safe and sound, we had a meeting with the school and it never happened again.
What we didn't do, but-after ready this thread-I guess we should have done, was go on TV, sob, wring our hands over what COULD have happened, have a reporter interview my daughter and encourage her to tell how "scared" she was to get on TV, threaten to sue over a mistake, etc.
Today, that little girl is almost 18.
She laughs about the incident, has no problem taking a bus and seems as normal as one can expect a teenager to be.
So, maybe I'm the worst parent on earth, but given how my kid turned out after a similar incident, I think I'll stick with my "plain stupid" opinion.
Not five year olds by themselves, at least not by self respecting parents who love them
Exactly. We had just as many criminals then as we do now. We just hear about more often.
Having said that...oy vey, this mom!
True, even so, it's still not an option for everyone.
Fortunately I am not a soccer Mom, nor do I smoke anymore (Smoke free since 97, enjoying second smoke is a hobby). I am a retired USAF Master Sergeant. I know what acceptable risk is.
It was a suggestion, not an order.
We don't even know if the school had the wrong address. We don't even know if the child misunderstood the vice-principal. All we know is that the child thought he was told to walk home - and he hadn't been prepared for that eventuality. And, IMO, 5 years is too young to be forced to make an independent act.
"Today is not 30 years ago. My own neghborhood from when I was a kid has changed drastically. And it isnt only the predators I am concerned with. Traffic is higher, people seem to drive with less caution.
I dont care if you walked to school uphill in the snow then, thats not my childs world now."
I totally agree. Maybe you've confused me for another poster? My post stated that as a child I was chaperoned along with school crossing guards at every intersection as all small children walking to and from school should be. A five year is too careless and could easily decide to take a short cut and cut across the road between parked cars entering into a blind spot of a racing driver.
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