People!!
It’s May!
AND WE FINALLY WENT ON OUR FIELD TRIP!
My kids didn’t get to go on a Field Trip in kindergarten (I don’t know why, but it was news to me) so this was a BIG DAY for my kids, especially my kids who don’t ride the bus to school.
I mean.
WE WERE EXCITED!
And as I may have complained about mentioned before, my class this year has several special situations so I was excited but also . . . feeling some sort of anxiety about it.
HOWEVER!
The Lord is good and alleviated a lot of my stress because . . .
A. One of my teammates and I went together so I was not alone.
B. For whatever dumb reason, the bus company sent TWO buses and said the new rule is that kids can only sit TWO to a seat. So I got my own bus with my teeny tiny class of 24 students, which was really only 23 that day because one of my sweet little girls had a fever and had to stay home (poor thing). We had this GIGANTIC bus for 23 kids and 4 adults.
It felt like the time Steve rented an RV for our birthdays and we went on tour.
C. The bus had SEATBELTS!!!!
I put this picture on Instagram and the comments were SO VERY INTERESTING to me! Which is why I’m blogging about it now because I feel the need to take a survey!
YOU GUYS!
I’ve been teaching for 22 years and this is the FIRST bus I’ve ever been on WITH SEATBELTS!
I teach in California and I am here to tell you, our buses do NOT have seatbelts. My bus riders THIS YEAR told me their buses do NOT have seat belts.
I’ve complained about it year after year. HELLO?! How is this SAFE? How does anyone think this is OKAY? Not to mention the new car seat laws with the new height and weight requirements which pretty much means I should be driving my OWN car whilst sitting in a CAR SEAT IN THE BACKSEAT. The new laws are STRICT people. It’s a wonder I’m allowed to have a license.
But nope. Seat belts on a school bus? Nah.
But this bus with those seat belts?! BEST THING EVER! Of course, the safety factor was a gigantic bonus, but guess what else seat belts do?
THEY KEEP THE KIDS IN THEIR SEATS!
It is AMAZING! The stress level of the bus was just no longer there for me whatsoever at all.
The kids can’t get up, swing their legs out in the aisle, turn around, get on their knees to look over the back of their seat, stand up to look over the seat in front of them, mess with the window, NOTHING!
You know what they CAN do?
Sit still.
SIT STILL AND FACE FORWARD.
It was LIFE CHANGING!
And I am not exaggerating! LIFE CHANGING!
I feel like they were quieter, too, but it might have been because only 23 kids were on an enormous bus and so we were spread out. I don’t know.
But here’s the deal. Here’s my survey.
When I put this on IG, several teachers said their buses have had seat belts for YEARS.
Some said their buses had a FIVE POINT HARNESS for preschool and kindergarten kids.
Others said they didn’t even KNOW that buses existed WITHOUT seat belts!
And because my bus riders ride the bus WITHOUT seatbelts STILL TO THIS DAY, I have no idea if we (California) are transitioning to seat belts and their buses just don’t have them yet, or if the company we used for our field trip is just different, or what.
I don’t know!
But I’d love to know where you teach (the state) and if your buses have seat belts or not!!
Oh, and just for the record, in case anyone asks, we went to a somewhat local place called The Sawdust Factory. The kids learned about different types of woods, saws, trees, etc AND THEN we went into a big warehouse and made Mother’s Day gifts.
We painted frames, added fun things to the frame (crowns, stars, hearts, etc), picked out buttons and bows, dried our frames with hair dryers, etc. It’s set up like Build a Bear with all the stations and it is a Type A teacher’s DREAM! Not to mention, my Mother’s Day gifts are DONE. Then we eat lunch at the park which is right around the corner and head home. Short, sweet, easy, and DONE.
Anyway!
SEAT BELTS!
LIFE CHANGING!!!
PS I grew up in Texas and Oklahoma. I rode the bus to school in Oklahoma and we did NOT have seat belts, either.
I’m in Missouri and we do not have seatbelts in our buses. I don’t understand either why there’s laws about car seats but not on a bus. We had a 45 minute bus ride and I thought I’d lose my mind having to say turn around, sit down, sit back, etc. Plus having parents there, so I had to keep my cool. Yikes!
no seat belts on our busses
Indiana here! I have worked in one way or another in several districts around the city of Indianapolis. The majority of the busses I’ve been on do not have seatbelts, although it has happened occasionally!
I live in Arizona, and our buses do not have seat belts. I didn’t know there were buses that did have seat belts!
We went on a trip two hours away just yesterday and (hello, new teacher, only four months in) I was already stressed about kids, and chaperones and then the whole bus ride! We constantly have to get them to sit down. One of mine got hurt on the bus even because he wasn’t sitting properly. As far as I know, we don’t have seat belts on our buses in North Carolina.
The first thing I thought when I read your title and saw the photo was – wow! seat belts!
I’m in Pennsylvania and I haven’t seen seat belts on any school bus.
Hi Kristin,
I’ve lived in Southwest PA all my life & no seatbelts on buses back in my day & none now in all my 24 years of teaching . No talk of it either!
I faithfully check in with you every Saturday. You make me laugh!
I teach in Alberta, Canada and I grew up on a farm in rural Alberta and took the bus to school for 12 years. That makes almost 50 years of buses in my life, as a kid and as a teacher and NOPE, never once has there been a school bus with seatbelts on it! Wish we had them though.
I faithfully look for your posts as well and your style of writing is so FUN to read! Please don’t ever stop your blog🙏🏼
I teach in Virginia and absolutely do not have seat belts except on the Special Ed bus.
Unbelievable and not safe!
I teach in Nebraska and NO we DO NOT have seatbelts on our buses. Our school district purchases our own buses and hires our own drivers, but I honestly don’t think there are any buses with seatbelts in Nebraska – not rural NE anyway. As a parent, I have always worried about that too! I am wondering if it’s a budget issue???
Ohio here and no seatbelts as a student or 22 years of teaching!
I’m from Illinois and have never seen seat belts on a full size bus. If it is a short bus, then they usually have seat belts for special needs children.
I teach 2nd grade in Denver, Colorado. We sometimes have seatbelts on our buses. However, we usually have to sit 3 to a seat, and there are only 2 seatbelts, so we don’t use them. But even if we have only 2 students/seat, the driver tells us NOT to use the seatbelts! What?!
Love, love, love your sense of humor.
Blessings to you as you finish the year!
I’m in Michigan and we don’t have seatbelts either. There are a few special booster type seats in some busses with a 5 point harness. (Not sure how is decided who gets these or why)
In my province in Canada, we don’t use seatbelts on the buses. I was told that it was because in many accident scenarios, the children could be in more jeopardy if they wore seatbelts BUT couldn’t unbuckle themselves. That is, they might be trapped in the bus by their seatbelts, when it would be better to quickly exit the bus. I agree though, it does feel safer to buckle up, not to mention it makes for a calmer outing 🙂
Well I’m about a week late responding to this, but better late than never, right? I am in Texas and have NEVER seen seat belts on buses before your picture. I have been in the North Texas area until this school year and now I’m in the Houston area. The buses my students ride don’t have seat belts and neither do the buses we took on our field trips this year. I think they are great, though, and would make it a lot easier on the bus drivers to manage the kids.
I’m very late making a comment to this, but in Ohio, I’ve never been on a bus with seat belts. Just pulling out of our school driveway sends our kids bouncing out of their seats several inches as we go over the speed bumps.
I am also late in responding to this, but I teach in Washington State and have NEVER seen seatbelts on a regular bus. Some special ed buses have harnesses, though.