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...