School Bus Safety Training

By James Kraemer.
Presenting this story is not an endorsement by 2safeschools membership 'for' or 'against' this issue. Kraemer's commentary is provided for educational and informational purposes only. ©2005, by 2safeschools.org, all rights reserved. This specific story, "School Bus Safety Training: A safe bet toward keeping kids safe" may be reprinted, broadcasted, edited for brevity, punctuation and grammar errors and redistributed, provided credit and a link to 2safeschools.org is appropriately captioned. Editor's should send notice of use to 2safeschools Permissions.

'School Bus Safety Training: A safe bet toward keeping kids safe

The Nation - Successful school bus drivers most always begin the school year with firm expectations, concerning student behavior on the school bus. In the event a previous driver was lax in his or her duties it can be a battle to move kids toward safe behaviors on the bus and at their bus stops. The successful bus driver is armed with valid school bus safety knowledge and teach it from day one.

Most kids also look for ways to reduce boredom on the bus, often listening to music on a CD player or from a portable radio with earphones.

Here's an idea that can help entertain kids while giving daily doses of school bus safety knowledge. Where affordable school bus drivers can now offer kids a new training approach - one that may help ease boredom while helping the bus driver educate children about safe practices when riding the bus and at their bus stops.

Driver's owning a portable DVD/VCD player may be allowed to secure it to the back of the Caption's seat. Inexpensive videos are available from the PTA, AAA, and others that kids in the front area can watch while riding the bus.

Players with larger screen displays can be secured at the front of the bus, perhaps next to the bus video camera. Where allowed the player's audio can be tied into the bus PA system allowing for a greater audience. Most players also come with a remote control device allowing for pausing the player at railroad crossings and bus stops.

AAA has an excellent video, Otto The Auto on School Bus Safety, that covers several bus safety issues in four separate chapters running three to four minutes each. One chapter can be shown kids sitting in the front area each day and before leaving the school where time allows for this training. AAA's video also demonstrates nicely how a knowledgeable teacher and the bus driver can work together to train the kids without compromising the bus driver's authority on the bus.

Longer videos can be broken into chapters for short runs, or played in route to kids living farther from the school. Many of the longer videos run eight to fifteen minutes or so, providing school bus safety tips to children quietly watching the player while the driver concentrates on the road.

VHS videos can be burned to DVD using a PC or stand-alone DVD Recorder. Schools often have a few recorders in their inventory and one may be available for this purpose. DVD recorders have dropped in price, making them affordable to the home user.

Please Note: It is probably unwise and may be a safety violation to attach a DVD player to the back of a passenger seat, depending on local and state regulations. It may be possible to safely secure this device to the back of the driver's Captain's seat, or on the upper panel at the front of the bus near the bus video camera. Would suggest bus driver's wanting to provide this training approach on their buses, begin the approval process with a copy of this article and by showing the Transportation Director a DVD video playing in the device. Installation issues should be considered and 'overcoming objections' well studied: (Continues)