[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

It is those schools that provide transport or those schools that do not provide transport, thus leaving parents with no option other than using private transport, that neglect safety of the kids.Not all parents have cars and not all parents that have cars drop their kids to school.

Some schools might have issues with handling transportation - not much we can do there. For those that do provide, maybe parents can work to make it safe using PTA etc. And if parents don't have cars that is OK, but if they have and then can't work out time/effort to use it and instead entrust them to unsafe transportation, then I see only them to blame. If they dont have cars or work timings dont permit them dropping kids, they should work with other parents to arrive at a safe alternative - say identify a good auto-guy who will take only the number of kids that his vehicle can carry safely.

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

What can be done to ensure safety of these kids that have to use the unsafe transport options that their parents choose on their behalf?

Not sure I understand your point. So we have parents who dont take care in selecting safe transport options for their kids and we have to work out plans to ensure their safety ?
A kid's safety is primarily the parent's responsibility. Society, forums, schools, traffic cops etc come later. They need to work on that, Rajan.

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Not sure I understand your point. So we have parents who dont take care in selecting safe transport options for their kids and we have to work out plans to ensure their safety ?
A kid's safety is primarily the parent's responsibility. Society, forums, schools, traffic cops etc come later. They need to work on that, Rajan.

That is what I have been trying to say from the beginning. What I fail to understand is this scenario -

Auto laden with 10 kids pulls up at the junction. Mum / Dad walks the child to the auto, hangs the school bag in whatever contraption the driver has provided, squeezes the child into the Auto and waves goodbye.

What the heck is this? The parent's inability to comprehend the potential danger the child is in? The parent's ignorance? The parent's nonchalant attitude towards the child's welfare?

I know it the Parent's responsibilty. And what do we, as in the society, do when the Parent is irresponsible? What do we do when a child is abused / ill-treated by the parent? Just turn a blind eye?

Rajan

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

That is what I have been trying to say from the beginning. What I fail to understand is this scenario -

Auto laden with 10 kids pulls up at the junction. Mum / Dad walks the child to the auto, hangs the school bag in whatever contraption the driver has provided, squeezes the child into the Auto and waves goodbye.

What the heck is this? The parent's inability to comprehend the potential danger the child is in? The parent's ignorance? The parent's nonchalant attitude towards the child's welfare?

I know it the Parent's responsibilty. And what do we, as in the society, do when the Parent is irresponsible? What do we do when a child is abused / ill-treated by the parent? Just turn a blind eye?

Rajan

We are not yet a developed, responsible society in these ways. All that we are doing right now is to follow the blind, acquisitive instinct to try to make a better life. All other considerations as of now are out the window!

[mb_jg]

I drop my kid to school & although we have to pass through a Cantonment area where the traffic is very minimal, I am still on my highest alert for stupid\drowsy\careless drivers.
These days you have traffic coming at you not only from the other side of the road, but also from the opposite direction in the same lane, then you have people darting out of turnings without looking what's coming up from behind, cows, dogs darting across the roads...the list is endless.
We have a huge problem sticking to one lane, which if done, will make driving less stressful. But then again, that's WISHFUL thinking in these times.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

I know it the Parent's responsibilty. And what do we, as in the society, do when the Parent is irresponsible? What do we do when a child is abused / ill-treated by the parent? Just turn a blind eye?

Sadly, I dont think there is much we can do unless its a life/ death situation. Which in this case certainly is, but its 'only' a risk for them parents. One that they are willing to take, and if something goes wrong the child pays the ultimate price.
Cops also dont (cant) help much saying its their child, what do I say?

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

We are not yet a developed, responsible society in these ways. All that we are doing right now is to follow the blind, acquisitive instinct to try to make a better life. All other considerations as of now are out the window!

Reminds me of a guy married to my friend from college. About 9 years ago, he made a grand statement that they wanted a second kid. Also a son. He said they will ensure this on any of their holidays abroad. For good measure he added he wanted the second one as backup (exact word he used). I was so disgusted I stomped off and never spoke to them again.

Just to clarify this guy is well educated (literate), from a high heeled family and earns at least 10 times the average IT managers income. I am not sure this attitude is only restricted to people who cannot afford in terms of money. As a parent, the key responsibility is to give time to the kids, regardless of how busy one is.

Unfortunately our workplaces dont consider this as a significant respnsiblity for fathers. Just look around and see how many organisations offer flexibility in work timings for fathers or even paternity leave. In order to get such a role, there are other sacrifices to be made, which very few are willing to do. But then this will become an entirely wider topic.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

I know it the Parent's responsibilty. And what do we, as in the society, do when the Parent is irresponsible? What do we do when a child is abused / ill-treated by the parent? Just turn a blind eye?

The only way for this to change is to give a dressing-down to the parents, so that they understand what danger they are exposing their kids to. But that would not be a practically and logically correct thing to do. Heck, if you go back some pages, I subtly tried telling my BIL about finding a safer option for my niece (his daughter) to get to school after she was thrown out of the rickety van they had hired for her&other kids to go to school and did not get any action. If I can't bring change in someone known to me, what chance do I stand with some 3rd party on the street ? BTW, after moving to TVM, now my niece and her kid brother have a proper schoolbus picking them up and dropping them safely.

Shouting at the auto-guy is not going to help when the parents themselves are not bothered. How many of these overladen vehicles will we report to the cops ? And even if we report, are we sure action will happen ?

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Unfortunately our workplaces dont consider this as a significant respnsiblity for fathers. Just look around and see how many organisations offer flexibility in work timings for fathers or even paternity leave.

My organisation has 5day paternity leave - debatable if 5days is enough, but I found it useful. And it is better than none.
They also offer flexible working (a range of different options actually). But yeah, maybe this is not widely prevalent today.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Shouting at the auto-guy is not going to help when the parents themselves are not bothered. How many of these overladen vehicles will we report to the cops ? And even if we report, are we sure action will happen ?

My organisation has 5day paternity leave - debatable if 5days is enough, but I found it useful. And it is better than none.
They also offer flexible working (a range of different options actually). But yeah, maybe this is not widely prevalent today.

The only way to discourage any business is to cut off or reduce its funding. If somehow the image of arriving in school by autos/ omnis is made uncool, they are bound to go out of business. The problem definitely lies with those parents who allow their kids to be ferried in such a manner. I cannot think of any valid reason for this.

When I worked in EU I was entitled to 2 weeks paternity leave. but the same organisation here in India has no such thing. Also, I have seen cases where women employees are allowed to choose projects based on IST timings but guys (who are fathers) are forced onto UK/ EU? US timings. Basically we get projects that are rejected by women employees due to unfavorable timings. Are we not responsible to ensure safety and well being of our children, or is that the sole responsibility of women?
In other words how is the request of one employee to pick up her kid more important than another employee to pick up his kid?

[PatchyBoy]

And I thought I had seen them all



Source

Rajan

[arun_josie]

Almost 10 kids perched precariously in an auto. Location: Near Dairy Circle, going towards forum, Bangalore.

[mayankjha1806]

This morning i saw a Van coming out from Springfeilds apartments on Sarjapur road (Quiet upmarket locality) and kids were stuffed into the van. Was wondering if educated and well to do parents do not take care and note of these things what else can be said about others.

[Vizay]

Yesterday we (me and a friend) to check out a school for our respective kid's admission.

We reached at 3 p.m. (Daily closure time for schools). The buses are simply flying in village roads with children tossed around. It was strictly a single village road and seeing the army of yellow buses I parked on the side (partially on to bushes since it was a single road). These buses doing at least 60+ kmph blinking and honking at me.

While coming back, Sarjapur road (Bangalore) Railway crossing (divided road both side of the Rly crossing except for the narrow Railway crossing For abt 30 mtrs). Again one set of school buses decided to be on the left side road. The other one (at least 20 of them) decide to take the road for oncoming traffic using some gap in median. And some oncoming car drivers were exchanging nice words with these bus drivers. But to no effect. I believe it's daily regular stuff for them.

Both instances were scary for me as a parent about to admit kid to school for the first time and may not have another option than school transport.

[girimajiananth]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Almost 10 kids perched precariously in an auto. Location: Near Dairy Circle, going towards forum, Bangalore.

I used to go to school in that way , an auto with 10 kids with bags and baskets hanging from the mirror . In a way it was fun , i was too young to realize safety and stuff . I used to stand beside "auto uncle" and share all the incidents at school with him .

Cant blame my parents too , with the financial situation at home and both parents working , this was the best we could afford back in the days.

Even though traffic was a lot less compared to these days it was totally unsafe method to travel to school. I used to go to a school on kanakpura road and it was the worst road with rash traffic and lots of pot holes.

There are plenty of options now BMTC providing bus for hire , schools adopting safe route to school programs with Bangalore traffic police etc.

Parents can raise such issues at school and come to a conclusion .

[msdivy]

From today's BTP FB page,



Rules specify the uniform for the driver

[supremeBaleno]

Chennai RTO is also cracking down on school-buses, resulting in hundreds of buses that don't meet the norms getting grounded. This has resulted in not enough buses being available for the students and schools blaming the authorities for the scenario. The crackdown happened after a recent incident in which 2 kids fell off a school van due to the door of the van falling off.

[pratyush6]

I did most of my schooling in a boarding school so was spared the dreadful rickety autos in my childhood. However once I was back completing my X - XIIth I was back in my home town Ranchi where I used the scholl bus every single day. It was crowded but safe.

Being in Bangalore the number of Omni's and Autos I see ferrying children is horrifying. An Omni would carry atleast 10-15 kids while an Auto would ferry around 10. There is no way you can condone the parents for allowing this. I believe even the parents need to be educated by the schools. A stern warning from the school authorities would also go a long way in making the roads safe for kids.