Why

[Selkie]

does it take so long for kids to disembark from a school bus?

[redrhodie]

Oh, man, tell me about it. In the town I work in, the school bus has a loud speaker announcing the kids are getting off, then the aide comes off the bus and walks each kid across the street, then she looks under all of the tires, (I think there's even a flashlight involved) to make sure no one has scurried under. It's not that the kids are slow, it's the process.

When I was a kid, we were lucky if the bus came to a complete stop before we were pushed off.

[Blueberry]

Sometimes it looks like a game to see how slowly they can walk and how much traffic they can hold up.

[m.eliza]

I was biking behind one not too long ago on the first day of kindergarten. Every time it stopped (which was every three houses), the kids would get on, the moms would have them stop on the steps and turn around to have their picture taken while they wept with joy as their babies were carried away to school for the first time. The first time I witnessed the process it was touching, but after being stuck behind that bus for ten minutes I was over it.

[Tri Girl]

because children dawdle and aren't in a huge hurry to get on OR off the bus. I teach. I have to drag them off sometimes, and push and shove to get them back on.

[Owlie]

I always wanted to get off the bus FAST, but I was dragging an instrument case from 5th grade on, as well as a giant backpack...

[jessmarimba]

My county would pick up all of the kids in the same neighborhood on the same bus (5-18 year olds) and the kindergarten kids always fell asleep on the way home (we were about 30 minutes from the schools, but they got picked up first and had to sit through the middle and high school pickups as well as the trip home). They always took forever to get off b/c usually mom had to physically get on the bus and carry them off in the afternoon!

[badger]

kids really do dawdle!! I don't have any experience with school buses, but at the pool I swim our practise ends about 5 minutes after the kids' lessons. You see these kids (about 4-6years) just stand under the shower not doing anything while the mothers are at the side away from the spray pointing and shouting at them to do this and that. They still just stand there.

Sounds cute, but super annoying when you're standing there cold and chlorinated waiting for a kid to finally move on.

[Crankin]

Yes, and then there's the parents who have to have a long conversation with the driver and/or their kids as the kids are getting on the bus, and even after they are on the bus. Some might see it as a quaint reminder of living in a small town, but it seems like it's more an example of being totally self-absorbed, where these people have no idea they are holding up others who are trying to get somewhere.
I guess I was a bad parent . If I (or DH) was home when the bus came, we watched from the window as the kids waited in the driveway. When we moved and they were older (like grades 5 and 7), the other mothers sat with the kids in their cars, at the intersection of our very safe cul-de-sac street and another street, waiting for the bus. This was a source of constant amusement to my children, as they stood in the rain and snow, waiting for the bus. I don't think I ever talked to a bus driver.
They seem to have survived.

[warneral]

Children (and many adults out there I should add) have a different viewpoint of the world. They don't consider the other people functioning around them and it doesn't matter to them if they impede others.

Children also don't understand that we adults are impatient and want to get to wherever it is we're going (even if we aren't in a rush). It's a difference of perception.

I'm constantly trying to teach my kids to think of the other people inhabiting our world with us. "Stay on this side of the path when someone's coming" (I must have called that out 4 times yesterday alone). I work hard to teach my kids to be thinking of others and to anticipate how you are affecting them.

But when it comes to getting off the bus - you bet they aren't thinking about ANYTHING except getting off that loud tiring bus and coming home to finally be able to get to do what THEY want to do today!

I find it funny b/c there really are a lot of adults in the world who share this perspective that most children have. It doesn't matter to them how they are affecting others in the world.

I am learning (as I bike) that perception is EVERYTHING! When I'm on a bike, my whole set of perceptions change. I try to take those to the road when I'm sharing the road with cyclers while I drive. THough I've also noticed a great deal of Jealousy when I see cyclers and I'm having to drive my minivan home from work....

[Selkie]

Crankin---This happens in the close-in suburbs of DC, which are decidedly not small town in any regard! ;-) I think you've hit the nail on the head w/your assessment of it being "self-absorbed," an attribute shared by parent and 'spawn' alike. The parents or nannies, of course, congregate where the buses stop, and are more a hinderance than help in moving the kids along. What kills me most is the fact that the parents/nannies drive vehicles to pick up the kids---these folks live within blocks of where school bus stop. So their big SUVs add to the congestion.
My mom was a stay-at-home (this was the 1970s). Granted, she was sick but she was not incapacitated. Except when I was in kindergarten, she never, ever took us to or waited for us at the bus stop (this enabled my youngest brother's tendency to run for home, in tears, when the bus approached, during his first month of first grade). As a matter of fact, none of the neighborhood moms or dads felt it necessary to do bus stop duty.
You'd think, with adults there to fetch the kids, that things would move along quicker. Seems to be the opposite...

[sfa]

You know, for a bunch of people who are quick to point out the rights of cyclists to be on the road even though we slow down traffic that might back up behind us in tight spots, and who work to change laws about when and how a car can legally and safely pass a cyclist, you all are sure vocal in your complaints about being slowed down by kids getting off the bus.

People are people. Kids are slow. Parents like to find out how their kids are doing (or maybe there's a more legitimate purpose for the talking--maybe their kid has been bullied on the bus and they need to talk to the driver about that, or maybe the kid left their coat on the bus the day before and they want to know if it was found, or maybe they are letting the driver know that the kid has a doctor's appointment the next day so won't need to be picked up in the morning). Personally my kid is slow getting off the bus because he's autistic and not always with it and doesn't do well with transitions, so getting on and off the bus involves cajoling (on our part) and head banging (on his part).

I'm VERY glad that there are all of these safety checks in place for kids getting on and off the bus (o.k., checking under the wheels with a flashlight seems like overkill)--one of my best friends in 4th grade was hit by a driver passing a school bus. He wasn't killed, but he was really messed up and missed months of fourth grade.

So you're inconvenienced for a few minutes when you're stuck behind a bus. If you don't like it, find another route, or don't go out on the road at the time of day when you know the busses are running, or leave a few minutes earlier. And remind yourself that if the busses weren't running, there would be another 30 or 50 cars per missing bus out on the road transporting the kids to and from school. Does that sound preferable?

[warneral]

sfa, I do want to add that our neighborhood takes our time at the bus stop. Sometimes there is 1 or 2 cars waiting behind and I honestly don't give it a second thought. What we love about our neighborhood is that it is kid-friendly. The bus driver cares about our kids and will often say something to a parent at the stop. It is our only chance to communicate with him (imagine all the stops he has).

Again I think it is all about perspective. I do believe in being thoughtful of others, but when it comes to the bus stop, I honestly don't give it a thought at all. All that matters to me at that moment is that my kids are home (safe) and that all the kids get off the bus and to their homes safely.

You make a good point that we cyclists slow drivers down and that safety is #1

[warneral]

Oh! and I'm a BIG believer in meeting my kids at the bus and taking them to the bus. I love that the parents in our neighborhoods care about the kids' safety and also want to socialize and share our lives together. It's really something very special.

[tulip]

Thanks, sfa. I don't have kids, but I do appreciate what they can teach us about what's important, and what's not important.

There's nothing wrong with slowing down for a few minutes during our oh-so-busy-and-important days.