Swearing on the Bus

The other day, I posted about not understanding parents who sit at bus stops with their kids.    Your comments have made me think, but I still think it's odd that people who are pressed for time will sit with their kids at the bus stop instead of just driving them in to school.

I did a lia sophia party for a bunch of mothers the other day, many of whom I went to school with, and the discussion about buses came up.  Most of them will not let their kids ride the bus because, as one mother said "Every bad thing I ever learned, I learned on the BUS!" 

Other mothers agreed.  They started talking about scary kids at the bus stop and getting beaten up. 

One said her 1st grader told her there was penis and vagina talk the other day on the bus, so she doesn't get to ride it that often.

We didn't have the option of riding a bus until I was in 6th grade, so I only had a few years of bus riding.  And it was like 10 minutes.  And I usually sat at the front because I liked the heater on my feet.   We didn't have kids in the neighborhood to learn penis and vagina talk from.  So I never learned bad tricks on the bus.

Except once.  We had some field trip somewhere.  And this boy got a can of Lysol and a lighter and was spraying and lighting it on the bus.  I knew it was dangerous, we all did, and very bad.  It was the back of the bus.  There were teachers on the bus.  I can't imagine how on earth the teachers didn't notice.  I know my bloodhound nose would most certainly smell Lysol and smoke!

So, do you keep your kids from riding the bus because of your own experience?  Because of things you've heard go on on the bus?  Or do you figure it's part of life and let them deal with it themselves?