The Bus Driver
15 Years Experience
South, ..
Female, 37
I have been a bus driver since late 2006. I know the inside story, the scoop, the down low dirt of what it takes to be a bus driver, how to handle kids and adults, and how to survive on the "streets" so to speak. I used to have a blog, feel free to browse it or ask me a question here.
If we are driving an older model bus with manually operated doors (the handle has to be lifted and pushed out in order for us to open the door for passengers), we simply shut the door from the outside taking care not to push it too hard to latch. If it latches, fear not, we climb in the back door (which is usually unlocked) and let ourselves into the bus that way. For newer models of buses that have air operated doors, there is a switch that is located above the door labled "emergency release." We flip this switch (on the inside) into the open position and it releases all the air holding the doors closed. We can then... Read More +
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Sadly, students in general tend to have a nice side and a mean side. Its part of human nature for some people. The thing is that some people need to be told that their mean side is not something that should be tolerated or encouraged. If you feel strongly about this, stand up for yourself and the bus driver. Maybe hearing from a peer that their words/actions are mean might get them to think twice.
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Yes, many bus drivers choose to separate children by gender, sometimes they put boys on one side and girls on the other, and others will put one gender in the back and the other in the front. The fact that the boys are 3 to a seat is an unfortunate circumstance of your gender on that bus. There is one bus in my district who has twice as many girls as boys, and the bus is separated by gender, so the girls have to sit three to a seat while the boys have alot more space on their side. Could the bus driver even it out a little bit by allowing students to sit in certain seats or reassigning certain areas of the bus - yes, but... Read More +
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Hello - I deleted your duplicate question in favor of answering here. If you have been threatened, or feel that you have been threatened by someone, go directly to the bus driver, teacher, administrator, parent, anyone who will listen to keep you safe. On my bus, bullying is not tolerated and it will be handled. If you don't get someone to listen, keep telling them until something is done.
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School Teacher
Are teachers underpaid?
Special Education Teacher
How come it often takes years to figure out that a kid is dyslexic?
Toll Collector
What's the rudest thing a driver ever said to you?
First, congratulations! Secondly, best advice I can give is practice. Find an empty parking-lot and see if you can borrow an empty bus to practice pulling between the lines. Play around with the bus a little bit to see how it handles and see how the back wheels turn in conjunction with the front ones. When making any frontward right or left hand turn, you typically swing a bit wide (wider for right hand turns in general) due to the tail swing and rear wheels of the bus and to avoid the curb. When backing into a lane watch your rear wheels through your side rear view mirrors. If you are backing on the right, use... Read More +
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Usually a simple note from your doctor clearing you to drive and handle a bus full of kids is sufficient enough to pass the bus driver physical. New state and federal laws require some drivers to provide a list of their medications at the bus driver physical. Chatham county in Georgia uses First Student - so you may want to look into that company. Good luck!
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We try our best to stop bullying period. Sometimes even all we do cannot prevent bullying completely. Some kids just end up being victims of these circumstances. Some of the ways we can help stop bullying or at least preventing the situation on the bus would be moving the bullies to areas of the bus where the camera can pick up their actions and voices should the behavior be both physical and verbal. Secondly, we remove the victim from the vicintity of the bully. For example, I would have the bully sit in seat 2 or 3 where I can hear them, and have the victim sit in seat 11 or 12, far enough away from the bully.
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