{"id":97430,"date":"2025-08-30T07:55:41","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T11:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97430"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:53:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T09:53:50","slug":"dont-count-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?p=97430","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Count On It!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a>
Reprinted from Brain leaks and musings by “Mr. Boomsma”<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a short message for kids and parents everywhere. Things don\u2019t always happen the way they\u2019re supposed to. Let me explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently stopped for a school bus. That\u2019s not big news. It is an example of things happening the way they should. I was facing the bus and could see past it, noticing that the cars behind it had also stopped exactly as they should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lights flashed, the stop sign on the bus opened, and the safety arm across the front of the bus swung wide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four or five kids got off the bus. They ranged in size from tiny ones with outsized backpacks to some older ones. They came around the front of the bus. So far, so good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some ran, some walked in front of the bus and across the highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they started across my lane, I started yelling at them even though there was no way they could hear me. They didn\u2019t stop or even pause to look up and down the road. Fortunately, everything was working the way it should. Well, almost everything. I think the kids were supposed to look both ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Safety shouldn\u2019t be delegated; it should be shared.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMr. Boomsma\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, things don\u2019t work the way they should. I can think of several ways that might have been the case. Several days later, there was a headline from a distant state where someone didn\u2019t stop for a school bus, and a child was injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we want kids to feel and be safe, we need to involve them in the process. It wouldn\u2019t be so bad for them to learn they have some responsibility for staying safe. A few seconds’ pause to look up and down the road is just plain smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the start of the school year, parents should consider meeting the bus and ensuring their kids do this. I\u2019d be happy if the bus driver kept the window open and told the kids to stop and look \u2014 at least until they got into the habit. It\u2019s been a few years since I\u2019ve attended a school bus safety program, but I\u2019d be thrilled if crossing in front of the bus was part of that curriculum. Safety shouldn\u2019t be delegated; it should be shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"cute<\/a>
Photo by Mary Taylor on Pexels.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Make this part of your Family Health and Hearing Program?!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a short message for kids and parents everywhere. Things don\u2019t always happen the way they\u2019re supposed to. Let me explain. I recently stopped for a school bus. That\u2019s not big news. It is an example of things happening the way they should. I was facing the bus and could see past it, noticing that … Continue reading “Don’t Count On It!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[165,4,6,394],"tags":[630,121,206,629],"post_folder":[509],"class_list":["post-97430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication-2","category-community-service","category-family-health-hearing","category-guest-articles","tag-back-to-school","tag-family-health","tag-grange-advocacy","tag-school-bus-safety"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"post-thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Walter Boomsma","author_link":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/?author=2122"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Here\u2019s a short message for kids and parents everywhere. Things don\u2019t always happen the way they\u2019re supposed to. Let me explain. I recently stopped for a school bus. That\u2019s not big news. It is an example of things happening the way they should. I was facing the bus and could see past it, noticing that…","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1arC1-pls","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=97430"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99236,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97430\/revisions\/99236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=97430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=97430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=97430"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mainestategrange.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=97430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}