New School Bus Policy Terrifies Parents on Staten Island

This year some public grade school students are not eligible for school bus service, which prompts concern on Staten Island. "City forces seventh- and eighth-graders from their comfort zone -- namely, the yellow bus," reports the Staten Island Advance. "At 7 a.m. in the wintertime," they lede, "Anna Nieves imagines the Staten Island Mall parking lot as dark, desolate and possibly dangerous." The borough's public transportation is not as comprehensive as is that of the rest of the city, which alarms parents such as Donna Perez, who says "It just concerns me because [her 12-year-old daughter is] a little girl traveling alone." All the borough's city councilmembers have complained. Interestingly, the Times had a story this weekend about parents who are terrified by the prospect of children walking to school even when the children are not their own. The horrific case of Jaycee Dugard is mentioned. An Advance commenter says, "Why do Island kids have to be driven every place until they are 16, when they are handed a brand new BMW? Is it any surprise that our Island 25 year olds act like they are 9?"