My dd Talia (7) was supposed to take the bus home this afternoon from school, it drops her off on the street next to ours and it is a 2 min walk home...at 3.35 I saw the bus go past and I waited for Talia to walk down the road....I waited...
I waited 15 min and sent Eloise up to the bus stop on her bike to see if Talia was there talking to a friend....but she wasn't there!
At 4 pm she still wasnt home, I wasn't going to panic but I woke Matthew up and put him in the car....I then drove to the bus stop and went across the road to one of Talia's friends house thinking she may be playing there....I was ready to give her a serve for not telling me where she was. Her friend which was also on the bus said that she was sitting next to her but Talia didn't get off the bus.....
Ok I am not going to panic but what do i do now...the bus does a loop of the town then heads back to school.
So I drove to the school and went and saw the principal explained what had happened and that Talia was on the bus but didn't get off at her stop.
They tried to ring the bus driver but no answer...by this stage I was feeling quiet ill. They then rang some of the families further on the bus route...no one remembered seeing Talia...
Then the bus driver rang back saying that he saw her crossing the bridge on the other side of town...when I heard this i was almost sick...that is a few Kms away from our house and she was walking alone.
So I headed off to the bridge then home to see if i could see her walking and the principal would drive around looking for her via the bus route and would meet me back home.
When I got home she was there......I have never been so relived in all my life
She missed her stop and then at the end of the route the bus driver told her to get out....even though he knew her stop was way back at the begining...so the poor little kid had to walk 2-3km home...crying and scared that she would get lost...
The principal eventually turned up and I explained what had happened and she said she will be following this up
So i am not happy but relieved that my girl is OK.....I don't even want to think what might have happened
I cant believe the bus driver would leave a 7 year old girl on the side of a busy road to walk all the way home on the other side of town
I decided last week to change schools and this has confirmed that I made the right decision
5 comments:
Elisa. I am so glad for you that everything turned out allright. I am feeling quite sick to my stomach now just reading this and I can't begin to imagine how you must have been feeling.
Take care and hopefully you will have a more peaceful day tomorrow :)
I am feeling sick just reading your post - I can only say how thankful I was when I read that she was safe !!! You definitely made the right decision to move your children next year - good for you !!!
I hope that today is less stressful for you - take care and have a good one !
If there was some way to indicate just how far my jaw is hanging open after reading this, believe me I would. Holy crap. I cannot even begin to imagine how you were feeling - or how poor Talia was feeling when the bus driver made her get off and walk home! Un-freaking-believable. As far as I'm concerned that bus driver should be severely reprimanded. He has responsibility to take due care of those children, and he completely neglected that in this case. I am disgusted.
But, very, very glad that Talia is alright. Definitely sounding like you've made the right decision.
OMG, how horrible! You must have been frantic!
So glad your dear little girl arrived home safely. Poor thing, she must have been so scared too! How terrible that the bus driver just made her get off and find her own way home! Not good enough!
OMG, I just got a case of the severe goosebumps. I am so happy to hear that she got home safely. What kind of bus driver would do that!? So irresponsible and I think school bus drivers SHOULD have a duty of care for the young ones. I hope a new policy is set in place with the driver, once the principal follows it up. Gosh! A great big hug is in order.
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