Some of you may have heard about the recent attempted student abduction in Decatur that did not happen because the student had the good sense to pull out her cell phone and call for help. Unfortunately, we do have people that prey on children, and as the weather warms up the danger to our students increases.

As far as I can remember, we have not had a student abduction by a stranger in the A/O school district, and I would like to keep it that way. Our bus drivers are trained to watch for unusual vehicles or suspicious activity on their routes, but child predators learn our routes and are skilled at avoiding the bus. Therefore, we would like to give you a few tips that will help keep your children and our students safe.
• Talk to your children about strangers and tell them to always report problems to you, the parent, or the bus driver or their teacher at school.
• Children do not understand the danger. Explain why they are to always ride their assigned bus, get on and off at their assigned bus stop and go directly home. If a child rides home with a friend, he/she must have a signed note from the school office. These are all safety factors that help us quickly locate a student if he/she does not arrive home after school.
• Monitor your child’s bus stop. We ask that our younger students be accompanied by an adult to and from the bus stop. Older students may not want Mom walking them to the stop, but a watchful eye out the door or window will help to keep them safe. A predator is less likely to target a child at a bus stop where he knows parents are watching.
• Cell phones. Although students are not allowed to use cell phones in school or on the bus, the example above is the perfect reason for a student to carry a cell phone in the backpack or pocket.

Occasionally, a driver will become concerned and ask us to check on the child to make sure he got home or was able to get into the home. It is our top priority to deliver your children to school and home safely.

Karen Rolofson
Rolofson Bus Service