"Because eighth graders haven't learned to ride the bus without yelling out the windows"

That is the answer I gave to a high school student who asked why the windows in the back of the bus had to remain closed. It is still an issue. After all the reprimands, threats, temporary seat assignments and counseling sessions, eight grade students still want to get on the bus then yell out to classmates outside the bus. They have not shown the ability to refrain from doing that. And I have not shown the ability to back off on that rule. It is a "mexican standoff". That's what we used to call it when I was a kid, when two people or groups stand toe to toe and strongly disagree, with no compromise in sight. Well they whined and cried all the way home about being hot and began to turn on each other about whose fault it was. Peer pressure. We'll see.

Eighth graders

Just as I'd feared. Eighth graders still have some growing up to do. Some of them anyway. After not having 6,7,8 graders for two years, this year I changed routes and now have 8th graders. I can't get them to stay in the bus after they board. They want to stick their head, arm, voice out the window to impress their classmates. I have had it out with them over this for about a month now. I have assigned seats, had them close windows on hot days, yelled at them, tried to reason with them, all to no avail. I will write them up if I have to but would rather not. I would rather handle behavioral problems myself. I could have them write sentences like the elementary students are required to do. I would rather not do that either. I just want them to grow up a little bit and keep their hormones in check in the mean time. Is that too much to ask?

Unpredictability. (Is that a word?)

This morning more than the average number of high school students rode the bus and inversely a less than average number of elememtary students rode. That just underscores the unpredictable nature of driving a bus. One moment you are driving along and everything is going just fine and then boom it hits. Something happens that could not have been predicted that you must deal with. You have no choice on a bus. There is no one else to deal with it. Just you. On another subject, I wonder when my district will look into the possibility of buying a new plug in hybrid bus. Short route school buses would seem to be a perfect fit for that new and emerging technology.

Law suit avoidance

My school district requires bus drivers to collect "authorization to ride" slips from the students each year. Just another one of those tasks that bus drivers find out about after they sign on and start driving a route. Sub drivers don't have to fool with this. Getting these slips back from the students is like pulling teeth. Some students give them back right away, about half, and the rest offer varying degrees of resistance up to and including eventually threatening them with suspending bus riding privileges altogether. It is no fun. First you have to get them to actually perform the task, then you have to decipher the writing and determine to the best of your ability what their name actually is. That is what I'm in the middle of right now. We get four hours pay to do it but it is not worth it. Much more than that goes into the project. It is all due to the litigious society that we have evolved into. There are undoubtedly law firms out there that specialize in filing suit against school districts that don't get parental permission before transporting students on the bus. Of course that is the driver, law suit avoidance. Isn't that usually the case.