It’s that time again. School is in session. The summer has come and gone, and once again we face busier morning and afternoon commutes as we compete for road space with other private vehicles and big yellow school buses.
Last year, I wrote my first column for Tate Record about how school was starting. After we, as a nation had faced the trials of COVID-19 and the long stretch of children being stuck at home, those school bells ringing were a welcome sound for many of us.
This year feels different. While we are still dealing with COVID-19, I think for the most part we have a different view point on it.
I, for one, sort of expect this virus to hang around for a while. I’ve read the recent studies on vaccines and the Delta variant. It seems having the vaccine isn’t preventing people from contracting the virus, but the studies do tell that the people who are vaccinated tend to have less severe symptoms from the illness.
So yes, in a way we are still dealing with sending our children back to classrooms while there is a risk of spreading COVID-19, but the difference is now we have a hope of at least fighting it.
It’s funny for my little family and the whole back-to-school time. While my children are hard workers and generally do well in school, they do not adjust well from summertime freedom to the what feels like the grueling hours of attending school.
Usually, we try to start the week prior to the first day of class and adjust our sleep routines. Little by little, I get my children to try to go to bed earlier. Now the Boy Child, being only 7 doesn’t protest too much. He’s still small enough that I could just sit on him to hold him down. Once he’s still for longer than 10 minutes, he’s out like a light.
It’s my middle-schooler that gives me fits. See, she’s basically as tall as I am. In fact, she’s been borrowing items from my closet for a couple years now.
When she makes up her mind about something, it is hard to change it, and right now she’s made up her mind that she prefers keeping night- owl hours. During the summer, it’s not an issue, but the first time her Alexa starts ringing at 6 a.m., you can guess it’s much like poking a bear.
So if any Senatobia seventh grade teachers are reading this, I’m going to go ahead and apologize for the first couple of weeks of my child not being very responsive until around noon. I promise, she’ll adjust, it just takes her a little longer to get there.
But, I want to say, I’m excited. While I love summer- the heat, the sunshine, vacations, flowers, hanging by the lake on a lazy afternoon, I’m ready to get back to the structure provided by school.
Sure traffic is a mess in the mornings and around 3 p.m., but I think it’s worth it, to have children doing something constructive with their time as opposed to just watching YouTube videos and playing games. (Surely it’s not just my kids.)
But I do think when it comes to traffic we should all be reminded to watch out for those yellow school buses.
According to various law offices, there are approximately 114 school bus accidents a year. Of those accidents, on average 27 children are killed each year. That’s 27 too many children a year if you ask me.
I know 27 doesn’t seem like a large number, but when 27 children’s lives are lost mostly due to careless driving, it’s too much. Put yourself in the shoes of the parents of one of those 27 children who became a statistic for school bus accidents. All becomes a matter of perspective.
Most of the accidents are caused by drivers not paying attention to the stop sign extended on the school bus while it is stopped. Those signs were added to school buses in the mid-1940’s to make motorists aware of children loading and unloading buses. They were added to keep children safe.
Look, I know I am the worst at feeling rushed when I am late. I know I probably won’t be the only parent feeling that panic of getting to places on time over the next couple of weeks as we all adjust to school hours and traffic once more, but we need to make ourselves aware of slowing down and watching for school buses.
At the end of the day, I’d much rather be late for work than be responsible for a child never returning home.
