To the editor,
In a recent article it outlined the issue of children bused to school. It outlined the new rules for children grades 1 to 8 having to walk 1.6 kilometres each way.
Now I might be aging myself here but for grades 1 to 3, I walked 1.3 kilometres each way in Toronto. There was no expectation of taking a school bus.
The weather back in 1959 in Toronto was remarkably close to what we have here in Thunder Bay today. We had skating rinks in our backyards for much of the winter. I am the oldest of six and there was no kindergarten in those days in that area.
The first year I walked by myself and the following year I took my brother to school (he was one year younger).
The school I went to had portables. In grades 2 and 3 I was in those portables heated by coal. Everyone took turns going to the coal bin at the back of the school bringing coal into the classroom and stoking the stove.
We had to be more self-sufficient and taught that we all had responsibilities to help each other.
My parents moved to Vancouver in 1962. The school I attended was much closer, but the grade 6 and 7 students had an additional chore. Only the boys participated in this chore.
We took turns being crossing guards. The street we guarded was 10th Avenue. This street is six lanes wide and one of the busiest in Vancouver.
There is not a street in Thunder Bay that comes anywhere close to the traffic we encountered every day. We received training, and the police would monitor us to ensure that the motorists followed the rules.
What I am pointing out is that children of our generation took on responsibilities that helped us mature. There is no reason we need to hire people to be crossing guards. Let the children in the oldest grades learn responsibility. Let only those who are outside of reasonable walking distance take the bus.
David Munro
