Crime Prevention

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school bus

School Bus Monitors

Advice to Parents: Prepare Your Child to Take the Bus

The bus is a very safe way for your child to travel to and from school. In fact, school buses are the safest vehicles on the road! Very few deaths and injuries involve a school bus.

Most mishaps take place outside the bus, so here are some precautions you can take.
  •  Don't let your children arrive at the stop too early. They may be tempted to wander or get into mischief.
  •  Make sure they know what to do if they miss the bus: come back home; or at school, report to a teacher -- and never, never accept a ride from a stranger.
  • If the stop is a long way from home, plan and discuss with your children where they can go in an emergency.
  • If it is dark on the way to or from the bus, make your children visible. Use retro-reflective tape on their clothing and avoid dark colors.
  • Make sure they wait well away from the roadway, and stay well back until the bus has come to a full stop and the door opens
  • Explain they must walk at least three metres (10 feet) away when crossing in front of a bus so the driver can see them.
  • Forbid running and horseplay
  • Tell your children to come straight home from the bus - no detours.

Do's and Don't at the Bus Stop

  • Do make sure the driver can always see you
  • Do stay back from the road
  • Do wait quietly in line
  • Do stay back until the bus stops, its lights start flashing, the door opens
  • Do enter the bus single file
  • Don't push or shove
  • Don't run into the street
  • Don't throw things
  • Don't stop to pick up anything that drops while you are crossing in front of the bus
  • Don't yell and shout
  • Don't bring your pet on the bus