Bus Stop Safety

Read our Staying Safe Betwen Home and School brochure

Protecting Your Child At School Bus Stops

• Work with other parents to have children walk to bus stops and wait in groups. Use the "buddy system" whenever possible.
• Create a Safe Walking Plan with your child using the safest and most direct path to the school bus stop.
• Establish "Safe Houses" along the route to the bus stop that your child can go to if approached while walking to the bus stop.
• Keep an updated color photograph of your child in a packet along with medical and dental records and your child's fingerprints.
• Avoid clothing and toys with your child's name on them.

• Notify you before leaving for the bus stop
• Never go into a house unless your have given your child permission to use the house as a "Safe House".
• Tell you if they feel scared, uncomfortable or confused about waiting for the school bus.
• Tell the school bus driver if they are approached while waiting at the bus stop.
• Tell the school bus ramp administrators if they are approached while waiting at the bus stop.
• That NOISE is his/her best defense – yell, scream, shout, scatter books and belongings if they are being forced into a car.
• Move away from any vehicle that pulls up to the bus stop.
• Never accept a ride to school if they are waiting at the bus stop.
• Follow the Safe Walking Plan and never to use shortcuts through empty parks, alleys, fields, etc. They should avoid empty buildings and isolated areas.
• Run home or to a designated safe house if they are close to home and approached while walking to the bus stop.
• Write a license plate number in the dirt if nothing else is available and they are safely away from danger.

In today's world of dual working parent families, a parent waiting at the bus stop with a child is not always possible.

Each year in the United States, between 1.3 and 1.8 million children are reported missing. These children may be kidnapped, lost, or runaways. Some children are taken by a non-custodial parent. Still others disappear with few clues as to the reason.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) points out that, in many cases, an abductor is not a stranger to the child. So, while the warning to "stay away from strangers" is good advice, it provides very limited protection. Children are more often abducted or exploited by people who have some type of familiarity with them, but who may not be known to the parents. NCMEC explains that the term "stranger" misleads children into believing that they should only be aware of individuals who have an unusual or slovenly appearance. Instead, it is more appropriate to teach children to watch out for certain situations or actions, rather than certain kinds of individuals.