Question of the month

NEA Today, Jan 1999

Should Seat Belts Be Mandatory on School Buses?

The following answers appeared on the NEA ESP Listserv. To join lively listserv discussions like this, send E-mail to Lyris@list.nea.org with this message: subscribe esp.

"Seat belts should be mandatory on buses. My son has a bus driver who slams on the brakes when she misses her stop to pick up the children. If my son and the other children didn't have seat belts on, they would be all over the bus."

-Lee Flanagan, head custodian Plainfield, New Jersey

"In my district, special needs buses are equipped with seat belts. The drivers have an aide to tend to the children's needs, help them control their behavior, and keep them safe. This seems to meet the needs of students, drivers, and parents. "As for my personal opinion, I would hope that seat belts for every student would not be mandated. Other drivers I've spoken with agree."

-Denise Hacker, bus driver Fallsington, Pennsylvania

"I feel strongly that every bus should have a monitor so that bus drivers can do their job, which is to drive our children safely to and from school.

"What's the answer to the seat belt question? One solution: have a single device at the bus driver's seat that controls all the seat belts. But that costs money, and we all know that's something our school systems keep claiming they have very little of."

-Jeanette Martinez, educational assistant, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

"As a recess aide, part of my job includes loading the students in our elementary school onto the buses at the end of the day. Our kindergartners are more than capable of using seat belts.

"I would like to see a seat belt law in effect. I realize drivers have a tough time seeing to it that students keep these belts on. But if drivers don't back down on their demands to follow the rules, wearing seat belts will ultimately become standard procedure on school buses."

-Marianne Pavie, recess aide Bucks County, Pennsylvania

"I don't believe in a seat belt law. if there was ever a fire, I would never be able to get 42 little kindergarten kids out safely. It takes only three minutes for a bus to burn to the ground."

-Bonnie Chalfant, bus driver Gloucester Township, New Jersey

"I am president of a large ESP unit in Michigan made up of all ESP classifications, including bus drivers. And I have never met a single driver who supports seat belts on buses.

"School bus drivers are perhaps the most undervalued school personnel in our school family. I could only compare them-in terms of real value, worth, and responsibility-to airline pilots.

"It's worthless to poll non-drivers -people who have no clue as to the reality of driving a school bus-on the value of seat belts.

"Legislation that mandates a seat for every child on a bus would do more for real school safety than seat belts could ever hope to do."

-Karl Bell, custodian Southfield, Michigan

Got an Answer?

What can you do to get more respect from your co-workers?

Send your reply, along with your name, job title, and town or school district, to ESPInput@list.nea.org or Fax it to ESP Extra at 202/822-7206.