Posted on 01/20/2005 4:49:01 AM PST by Behind Liberal Lines
You'd right if it was still 1963. It's 2005. I'd sue the hell out of the school if it were my 5 yr old being forced on the streets alone in this day and age especially when he'd never done it before.
Get a clue will you??
AGAIN, you miss the point. the walking is NOT THE POINT, the point is a 5 year old's method of transport home was altered by someone OTHER THAN HIS PARENTS and unbeknownst to them. THAT is wrong. you can talk til you are blue about who should walk, what the school regulations are (there is some dispute over where the kid actually lives according to the story, unclear if he lives within the 1.5 mi. and it is beside the point) and who needs exercise. none of that is relevant to this situation where a third party without the authority to do so, determines by what method a child will be sent home.
Oh...b.s.
All the kids who already walk to school EVERY DAY are going to be put in foster care tomorrow?
What militia compound to you live on?
You are wrong, the level of violence against children HAS increased in the last ten years. "Get over it"? What kind of WHACKO are you?
I guess she doesn't.
I find it ironic that we have police at our kids' school who will make sure the kids are in car seats but they ignore the buses that don't even have seat belts.
Go figure.
Weather today in Syracuse
Snow Shower High
20° F
Precip: 50%
Flurries and snow showers this morning becoming more scattered later. Cold. Morning high of 20F with temps falling to near 10F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 50%. About one inch of snow expected.
I would not want to walk a mile and a half in these condititions and so why should a publicly funded school require five year olds to do the same. ( this is the schools policy is it not.)
But what doesnt kill us makes us stronger right?
This is what I was thinking about.
Please provide a link(s) to a source or sources reflecting that "simple fact."
I certainly would want to get to the bottom of how the school had the wrong address for the kid. If the school fails to keep accurate records that is a problem which should be addressed. However, as anyone with a child in elementary school can tell you, the mother would have received several pieces of mail from the school by now - yet she seems to be unaware of the proble.
On the other hand, some parents might just give the school an incorect address of a relative if it meant qualifying for a bus ride.
i don't agree with her carrying on, certainly, but you and others here act like the kid needed the exercise, shouldn't be on a bus anyway etc. and that is not remotely the point. my kids are all in private school and i wouldn't take this crap from any of the 3 schools in question. maybe it a byproduct of our paying tuition, but when we entrust our kids to someone, mistakes are NOT acceptable.
Sue...for what...?
The non-existent physical injury?
The psychic trauma of walking a few blocks when other students are required, by law, to walk a mile and a half?
You could sue until your blue in the face and you wouldn't get a dime because there are no damages.
Maybe you should head over to the DU board and commiserate with your fellow "file frivolous lawsuts and claim victim status" parents.
Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could afford to send their children to private school, or were in a position to home-school.
From '94 up to last year, both my kids went to our local elementary school. We fell within the " walker " definition since the school is less than a mile from our home. I drove them and picked them up every day. Once in a while they would beg to ride their bikes/walk when the weather was warm, but I said no. There's no way I would have ever let them ride a bike or walk to school in this day and age. If something would have happened to them they might as well dig a grave for me too.
Don't apologize for the cranky old man bit, you earned your unique perspective the hard way.
I walked about 3 blocks going home from kindergarten every day when I was 5. And if I remember correctly, my mommie worried and fretted about it at first, but after awhile, when I found my way home every day, she got over it.
I must admit, however that life in 1950's Elyria, Ohio was probably a lot safer and more Norman Rockwell-esque than that which confronts this lady's poor little tyke, venturing out alone like this on the multiculturally-correct and militantly tolerant streets of Syracuse, City of Evil....
It must be hard for you, being perfect in an imperfect world.
Interesting. The school says it never told the kid to walk home. Do you think it is possible the kid became confused and simply walked to daycare on his own. Five year olds make mistakes once in a while too!
When she gets home from work?
Actually, there's a reason for that. From what I understand, school buses are designed in a manner (for example the high seats with padded backs) that makes the belts more or less superfluous. When they put the belts on buses it actually causes more injuries because kids can take the belts off and klonk each other over the head with the buckles, etc.
At what age are you going to let your child walk alone? 7, 9, 11 21, 45?
A 5 year old should be given some limited freedom. Let him/her go to the swings in the park, let him/her explore the neighborhood. Yes it is dangerous, but life is dangerous. Children need to grow.
The other day in Wal Mart, a little boy about 5 years old spotted me approaching him and his parents. He said under his breath "A stranger", and ran around his dads legs. I heard him and smiled. His dad seemed interested in what I was smiling about, and we struck up a conversation. I told him that his son had said "a stranger". Dad replied with pride "we have been teaching him about strangers".
At first I thought that was a good thing, but thinking about it, I fear for the tyke. He is growing up with a deep ingrained distrust of all strangers.
Years ago, my youngest (30 now) owned the neighborhood. The only person that was a stranger was somebody he hadn't met yet. Today, he is highly successful, outgoing, and friendly. If I had wrapped him in styrofoam as he was growing up, I am very sure he would be introverted today.
My 2 cents.
Go ahead and sue!
But please don't complain about all of the nasty lawyers bringing frivolous lawsuits.
I felt sorry for you for the pile-on, until post 21 and the following. Up to then, I thought you'd just spurted out an ill-considered reaction, and were getting an enthusiastic schooling by the responsible parents at FR.
But post 21 and your other responses just make you look like a jerk.
Did you ever answer: are you a parent? How many, what age?
The school did the wrong thing, any way you look at it. My fourth child IS five years old, so I have no problem applying.
And as to big/small government, my own enthusiastic solution is to homeschool. But by God, if the government has a child, they'd better _____ well respect my directions in their care of him. (In fact, the government school's going around behind my wife and my backs was the final straw in our deciding to homeschool.)
Making a mistake is human. Refusing to admit it and learn is just plain stupid.
Learn something.
Dan
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