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The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

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Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#41

Post by alwa »

bongodongobob wrote: post #8
giarc wrote: post #4

I think this article misses the one big problem (as I understand it). It's that schools need to dismiss the kid to their parent. I have family in North Carolina and I understand that cars have the family number displayed, and someone with a radio communicates to the school staff "Car 315 is here", they then find that kid and dismiss them. Just do away with that. When the bell rings, send the kids outside and they wil…

That's fucking ridiculous.

Normally I’d ding a comment like this as low-effort, but… I honestly can’t think of any more appropriate reaction.

I know I’m behind the times, but I was surprised recently when, at an elementary school in the US, they showed me painted lines on the floor of the classroom, indicating the zones out of the line of fire for somebody shooting through the small, jail-like window in the door… apparently they train the babies on this.

I wonder what led up to a system like that—overcompensation for a really big mistake in the past? Abstract fears? The genuine wishes of the parents?

(Edit: looks from sibling comments like this [the pickup line technique] might be a hangover from the excesses of the COVID times…)

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#42

Post by bryanlarsen »

giarc wrote: post #4

I think this article misses the one big problem (as I understand it). It's that schools need to dismiss the kid to their parent. I have family in North Carolina and I understand that cars have the family number displayed, and someone with a radio communicates to the school staff "Car 315 is here", they then find that kid and dismiss them. Just do away with that. When the bell rings, send the kids outside and they wil…

For what age? That's similar to what our school has for kindergarten. But if they did that all the way up to grade 6 it would be a giant mess.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#43

Post by lvl155 »

Counter point: I used to walk home from school. Got robbed at gun point several times. Jumped for my skin color numerous times. Had a neighborhood buddy who got stabbed three times on his way home and survived. I can go on and on and on. I had to learn to walk an extra 20-30 minutes to avoid these situations. I will never let my kids walk home in 2025.

Edit: no one told these parents to drive up for pick up like a drive-through. In most cases, it is a choice. You can opt to park like a normal person and walk up. This article is absurd. Most of these parents are too lazy to walk 5 minutes. I’ve seen parents show up 40 minutes to be first in queue…just so they don’t have to get out of their cars. Makes zero sense.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#44

Post by mooreds »

This is why I was adamant that my kids took the school bus when it is an option.

Even though my family has the flexible schedule to handle dropping kids via car, by using the bus system I help support the community and others who might not have that flexibility.

Plus, the school bus is one of the first places a kid might be without (much) adult supervision. A tremendous growth opportunity, where you learn how to deal with discomfort, difference and drama.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#45

Post by willmeyers »

I live in a relatively residential neighborhood in NYC next to a school (outside of the congestion zone). The morning dropoffs and afternoon pickups are insane. It literally causes a gridlock for a couple hours in a part of the neighborhood that has like 4 intersections. Somehow we have to get back to the days when parents trusted the community that their kid is going to get home safe, otherwise this nonsense is never going to end.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#46

Post by [deleted] »

bongodongobob wrote: post #23
hombre_fatal wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The traffic is caused by vehicles queuing up in line, period. The system you describe isn't necessary to cause the traffic. It's not the root cause.

But it does cause it because every car needs to get checked off. When I was a kid in the 80s, there were still quite a few kids that got picked up, but no one was picking them up from the door. They'd park somewhere around the school within a block or two.

[deleted]

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#47

Post by toomuchtodo »

mmmlinux wrote: post #26
aklemm wrote: post #5

Well that headline sums it up. After 10 years of dealing with it and wondering "how the f did we get to this point", it's satisfying to hear it called what it is. A small win in our family was in my son's final year of elementary school when he finally decided to try walking home 1.5 miles; that Spring was a delight for him. He was properly decompressed and had logged a minimum amount of physical activity for good sl…

"he decided" is probably one of the issues here. back in the day it would have been "this is what your doing now kid"

Every generation grows and becomes better than the last*.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#48

Post by furyofantares »

The article makes a lot of great points, but looks to miss that kids are enrolled in a lot of after school activities these days.

I was never enrolled in any as a kid and never really expected for my kid to be, because I thought parents were the motivating factor for kids to get into a bunch of activities, but IME they aren't. My kid loves her activities and picking her up to shuttle her directly to it is a lot quicker than using a bus or walking.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#49

Post by JumpCrisscross »

charlie0 wrote: post #16
bongodongobob wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's fucking ridiculous.

What's more ridiculous is someone probably sued them and they were forced to do something asinine like that as CYA.

> What's more ridiculous is someone probably sued them

I'd almost bet nobody sued them. (I'll extend: I'd be surprised if a parent has ever won such a case.) An idiot parent made a stink at a PTA meeting and nobody could be bothered going head to head with Karen.

Re: The School Car Pickup Line Is a National Embarrassment

#50

Post by mitthrowaway2 »

ryandrake wrote: post #22

An odd choice of dates in the charts: 1969, 2009, 2017, 2022. 40 years between the first two and less than ten between the other ones. I would have liked to see more uniform spacing between the first two to understand whether the change across those 40 years was gradual. Our family suffers this insanity, too. This is one of the few things my spouse absolutely refuses to budge on: she won't let our child walk, bicycle…

It's not always easy to find the data you want. When you're writing a blog post like this, you do research and find the studies that you can, published when they were.
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