Canadian Dad let his kids ride the bus alone and it sparked a national debate

[Deleted]

6 year old bears are on their own so why do humans want special treatment....

this is why parents should have to give ownership of their kids to the government to decide what to do with them.

[Deleted]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7YrN8Q2PDU

Watch and LEARN

Good stuff. Thanks for posting it.

[anaxie]

I can't wait until this new generation becomes adults. If you think Millennials are lazy, just wait for late Gen Z/Gen A.

Hopefully the backhand your disrespectful kids is OK makes a comeback

[Zafire]

When I was 8...I was walking across the busiest street in town, visiting the busiest plaza in town, and renting video games from Blockbuster. Granted, it was only about half a mile away, but still.

Public buses are probably safer than that. I don't disagree with the fathers decisions. Nothing bad is going to happen with that many people around at all times. Maybe we should put more emphasis on stranger danger education and less on coddling.

[Noomz]

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...al-debate.html




So what do you think? Is this overkill? Or is the province right to ensure that kids are safe from predators.

Maybe we should attack a society in which kinds aren't able to be safe by just going on a public bus from point A to point B, rather than the parent who wants them to learn selfsufficiency?
It seems excessive to me. Some kinds are stronger and more independent than others. And if the guy has 5 kids I'm sure that any kind of parenting pressure he can take off of himself is welcome.

[Ayla]

not that i disagree, but laziness is not the issue when talking about kids riding public transportation

Eh, but it's the end result. If you don't teach your children how to clean properly for example, they do a worse job and therefore are labeled lazy.

It's not about laziness, it's about the perception. Can't afford a home? You're lazy. Bad job? Lazy. We are a society that no longer wants to teach or pass on our skills. You are expected to figure it out for yourself.

[Ozzyorcborne]

More than likely some nosy, bubble wrap children busybody got triggered and whined about it. Theres nothing wrong with letting your kids take the bus. But of course if you want a bunch of invalids with no independence then by all means. Also, this is total retarded bullshit if its a "national debate".

[Elim Garak]

Well, I applaud Canada. They are making sure that future Canadian soldiers will be a bunch of sissies and Russia will be able to conquer Canada in a couple of weeks, including travel time across arctic ice on foot. It will be bloodless!

[Deleted]

Only a fuckin idiot his against this dad

[zealo]

Helicopter parents... What sort of overprotective hell is that if a kid aged 11 can't be trusted to ride a bus without their parents being there?

[Queen of Hamsters]

I was fending for myself large portions of the day when I was 8.

[shifu]

When i was in 3rd grade I saved up and bought a motorized stand up scooter. I hated taking the bus to school. Especially hated walking to school. I rode that bad boy to school for the next 2 years. Within the first year, i got pulled into the principles office. They told me "You cant ride your scooter to school because it is making the other kids at school jealous." I told them "Not my problem, tell them to save up and purchase their own like I did". A year later they told me they were concerned for my safety and asked me to stop. I told them "My safety is my own concern and responsibility."

I grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Not the biggest city. But not tiny either.

I believe I was 8 or 9 at the time.

This is absurd children need to learn independence. Especially need to learn to handle their own problems. Damn children these days are being set up for failure. Get out there and do something on your own. Your parents will not always be there to hold your hand.

[Vash The Stampede]

That was clearly a schoolbus.

A public school bus would be even better.

[rayden54]

Some kids can handle mature tasks at a young age and operate independently well.

The thing is, the law has to protect the one's aren't by assuming that none of them are.

There were no deaths of children 14 and under on buses in Canada between 2009 and 2013, according to the most recent available data from Statistics Canada. During the same period, 106 children died inside private vehicles.

Funny the article should say this since it really has nothing to do with the issue. The dad apparently said the same thing, but it's completely irrelevant. No one's saying the kids shouldn't take the bus. They're saying they shouldn't be taking it alone. Even then, dying on the bus isn't the only issue, it's the trip too and from the bus as well.

[Wewlad]

Because this has anything at all to do with people flying planes into buildings? The hell are you smoking?

On a side note however, I guess Child Protective Services hasn't discovered the countryside yet. Children riding buses? Pfft. How about children operating machinery. I was using a riding lawnmower to cut grass on property with a half acre of lawn when I was 9......

Fucking helicopter safety bubble society indeed. Might as well just never let children outside of the house alone until they are ready for college at the rate we are going.

Apparently you completely forgot how 9/11 set in-motion an age of paranoia. It's not 9/11 as an isolated event (as you framed it), but what was set in the minds of people in Western society.

[Sunseeker]

The thing is, the law has to protect the one's aren't by assuming that none of them are.

I think that's the way the law works.

I don't think that's the way the law has to work.

Child Protective Services should be the mechanism by which the system determines if Jimmy is capable of riding the public bus to school unsupervised or not. Child Protective Services should not simply be enforcers of the law without regard to the situation.

[Tennis]

How do you explain that in the Nordic countries it's normal for kids to walk/bike to school ?

Um the tiny Nordic countries are very different from the rest of the world. Weak argument.

[zlygork]

I live in Canada and have never heard of this in my life outside of this forum, might want to tone down the "national debate" claim

[Khallid]

So what do you think? Is this overkill? Or is the province right to ensure that kids are safe from predators.

Total overkill.

Besides, it says the 4 children were riding together. In which universe does that mean "alone"?

[Seranthor]

Um the tiny Nordic countries are very different from the rest of the world. Weak argument.

Are you suggesting that Canada is so full of child predators and other unsavory folks that we need to hover over our children to ensure that nothing happens to them?