Between 8am and 8:30am on most weekdays, I’m responsible for preparing the kids for school and seeing them safely onto the bus. In that last sentence, “safely” might have been an overlooked, throw-away word, but it’s the most important one in relevance to this story.

You see, the kids at the bus stop jostle and jockey for front position in line at the bus. And while this type of horsing around is natural for the ages of the kids we have at the stop, it has lately become quite excessive. Over the past few months, efforts to get in front of the line have caused the virtual front of the line to keep moving farther and farther forward.

Yesterday, the line had moved at least ten feet out onto the main thoroughfare upon which the bus drives, and was not the first time the driver had a concerned look on his face when trying to operate his vehicle without accidentally crushing one of the kids in line. This is compounded somewhat by parents from across the way parking their cars on the far side of the street while waiting with their kids at the stop, causing the bus to come closer to where the kids are lined up than it might otherwise swerve away to do.

This all comes only six months after one of our school district buses accidentally killed a first grader, someone that some of the kids on our street even knew from class. I’m darn sure nobody wants a repeat of that.

Some parents at the stop have idly talked about spray-painting a line on the road to indicate the front of the bus line. This should hopefully have a positive effect on the kids, showing them the safe zone to stand in so that the bus doesn’t barrel them over. But nobody’s done anything about it, and after yesterday’s taunting of the bus, even the bus driver had a word with each of the kids about staying back off the road. But this morning, they were back at it again. It’s just a matter of time until someone gets really hurt.

I’m a proponent of a community taking ownership of things that matter to them, and not waiting for something bad to happen before The Establishment steps in to take care of business for them. That’s why I fully support the efforts of whichever neighbor painted the new “BUS” line out by the bus stop this afternoon.

Let’s just say there was some contention about how the Homeowner’s Association would take it. Not that there has been a backlash from the association yet, but painting the road, even for the safety of the kids, seems like something they might object to, regardless of how tastefully it was done.

I’ve already heard stories from Abby about certain kids kicking the new line when they got off the bus today, trying to remove it. I’m taking this as a good sign, since it means they recognize the line as something meaningful to their behavior. Hopefully we’ll see a positive effect at the bus tomorrow morning.