Bus vandalism is a crime

Parents and kids need to be reminded again that vandalism to school buses is a crime. At this time of year it seems that school buses become big yellow targets for bored kids looking for an outlet, and I think that we parents need to be proactive and warn our kids of the serious safety issues, repercussions and consequences involved in vandalizing buses.

When school buses are targeted, not only is the safety of the kids on the bus put into jeopardy, but the personal well-being of the drivers is also put at risk.

We're not just talking about egging, soaping or t-ping here (those are fairly innocuous acts). I'm referring to seriously damaging safety components of a bus. Stop arms and stop signals are there for a reason; brake lights and signal lights serve important functions; tires and engines also are critical to the safe operation of a school bus. If those components are tampered with, broken or rendered useless, the potential for that vehicle to have serious problems is unnecessarily increased .

As residents of Bolton, many of our kids ride school buses daily. When I wave goodbye to my eight-year-old in the morning I expect her to return safely in the afternoon. An act of vandalism that causes damage to her bus could change that in an instant, though.

And then there's the financial implications of course. Vandalism costs the bus lines thousands of dollars each year. The cost of that vandalism will eventually need to be deferred somewhere, and you and I know where that's most likely to show up - on our school taxes.

Bus drivers also face anxiety at the end of each weekend. "Did my bus make it through the weekend unscathed, or am I going to find a real mess that will involve getting my (sometimes inoperable) bus out the the mechanics at the yard, getting a temporary bus, rearranging my delivery/pick up schedule( s), facing angry parents who demand to know why I'm late?"

Think of it this way. What if you arrived at your workplace to find out that someone had tampered with all your tools, walked through your freshly poured cement, or broken some equipment? Or what if someone had unplugged, damaged or removed components from your computer system and rendered your ATM machine inoperable? Or what if you got to work to find out that the door to your hair salon had been broken, the hinges on the chair had been bent so you couldn't use it and all your hair products had been emptied all over the floor. Or what if the battery on your cell phone was removed or damaged so that you couldn't use it? Or what if all the keys on the face of your Blackberry were ripped out?

That would be very frustrating right? And in some cases, even dangerous and maybe even pose a safety risk, right?

Please join me in discussing these issues with our kids.

Stephen Owen Husband of a Bus Driver

Bolton