New York Teacher 41:(4):10, (October 20, 1999)
A bad habit that costs lives
To the Editor:
Regarding "Should kids buckle up on the bus?" (New York Teacher, June 2), I believe that seat belts should be required at all times for everyone in school buses. The 11 children who die each year from being unbelted in school buses may not be the only deaths resulting from unbelted children. Children must learn early in their lives that they must wear seat belts any time they are in a motor vehicle. When children see that they do not need to be belted in a school bus, aren’t we telling them they can travel in motor vehicles unbelted, an obviously wrong message? Are we encouraging the dangerous habit of not wearing seat belts? How many people of all ages are killed each year in motor vehicle accidents because they were not wearing a seat belt, a habit they picked up when they rode on school buses at a young and impressionable age?
PHILIP BARNETT
City College of New York