Another incident of the schools not paying attention, just surpises me , its portland this time

Cars driving by at 50 miles an hour?

Try 75-85......

Thats the Interstate.

My Min speed is 73 MPH....

This kid will have nightmares now just like the Woodland boy. Great just great.

It's not the school systems responsibility to babysit students. There should have been arraignments made by the mother if the child was going to stay after school. If he missed his bus and had to stay late the school office should have been involved.

johnsod27330 its the law that your children are to be in school,if its not the schools job to babysit a child at that age while they are in the care of the school they attend ,then just who is responsible??????

How dreadful! He "decided to walk home"...? Whoever would allow an eight-year-old to make such a decision is terribly irresponsible.

This one is on the school, who would let an 8 year old just walk home in a big city?

The Portland school superintendant said he would investigate.

Twice.

One of the drivers who helped the boy told the TV station that no child should be walking on the highway.

Brilliant.

What a well written, informative article.

One of the drivers, Kerry Goulder, told the television station no child should be walking on the highway.

This Kerry is a smart individual...

It points out that when a child stays after school, someone should ask if he/she has a way to get home; at age 8 walking shouldn't count.

OlMainer, i cant agre with you more than that. Your right. Who is responsible. Brings me to a incident at At a bangor school, wont say name, but the kid was wating for his father , mom called told them , they let the boy go outside. It was almost a hour later he was found in a classroom. Mom went to speak to principal, and he said you should be happy he was found. GREAT BANGOR SCHOOL SYSTEM

If you read the complete article in the Portland paper, you will learn that the kid did not want to board the bus. The school had somebody track him down and watch him. However, in the confusuon of boarding the buses, he ran away.

Doesnt Matter Winfrom, that is the schools side, If he did run away when the buses were being boarded, where was the teacher that stays after school, hmmm not doing his her job.

How many mooooooooooooooooore! Mistah! Speakah! How many children have to walk the interstate

ydnar723 wrote:

"...who would let an 8 year old just walk home in a big city?" Portland is a big city?

My mother and father allowed me to walk anywhere I wanted in the "Big City" where I lived. and I'm ever so grateful today. They taught me how to fend for myself at an early age, and guess what, I was not alone. I walked home from school with many of my classmates.... And the city I lived in was New York. My brother tells me children are still walking home from school there now. Tell you one thing, there are far fewer fat children when they have to walk occasionally. Parents should teach them how to walk, where to walk, and what to av=oid.

Harry, you are absolutely right.

I remember back in the day,,,,,I was 8 yrs old, the year 1968, I made a decision that I would walk home instead of waiting for my mother to pick me up after school. I was not stupid and knew what I was doing. I got home, went inside and started playing with my toys. Then my mother came in, seen the panicked look on her face and wondering why she was so upset. She instructed me to stay at the school and wait for her. She hugged me and told me to never do that again, that I scared her to death. Kids do things that adults cannot understand and raising kids is a trial and error experience for most parents.

therealmaine18~~~ Your last sentence says it all...trial and error for the SCHOOL as well. People should stop trying to blame the school for the

children's bad behaviour or the miscommunication between the parent and child. I'm sick of people wanting to place the blame on schools for EVERYTHING!

How about thumb print scanners with internet access so Parents and schools can keep track of the kids. Scan every 30 minutes. If 1 hour goes by without a scan then someone has to verify the childs whereabouts.

maine school department has NO interest's when it comes to protecting our childern i had a meeting today with murray shulman to voice my concern's on my child's safety and behavior ect........ during school,(my son has mental disabilitie's ) he did personal attacks towards me was rude and rushed through the meeting cause he had more important places to be and that the meeting was a waist of his time made comments referring to my son as many other students in the bangor school's having a disfunctioal home front ect..........but i don't trust maine schools when it comes to my child.

Janet Napolitano is going to put a chip in every youngster, get them into a government database and solve this problem once and for all!

Snobabe--if you don't trust Maine schools when it comes to your child, maybe it's time you home schooled.

THE PROBLEM IS MONEY THE SCHOOLS JUST NEED MORE MONEY TO PREVENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENING.

Looks like snobabe could use a little education herself before she can home school her child.

To those of you who are unaware: the Google toolbar, which is free, contains a great spellchecker. eastman, I was thinking the same thing, but maybe it is just spelling that is not her forte.

Our school underwent a couple of years of bad leadership. We had a principal who was a truly excellent administrator in most ways, but her ability to relate to kids with problems was almost nil. She held grudges too, although I know she didn't realize this, nor did she mean to, but it still had an impact on a number of kids. My kid was one, yet when my kid needed a long distance trip to the doctor, she was the ONLY person who offered to take us.

During this time, I did try homeschooling. My advice is DON'T DO IT. I am well educated but serious lack the skills to provide a well rounded education for either of my kids. It is a serious challenge. My child asked to go go back to school and the school was very accommodating.

All schools have rules and safety nets in place for our kids, but no matter how tight the security is, there are going to be places for a kid to slip thru. The important part is that school districts tack each incident seriously and try to put a stop gap measure in place. A brand new safety policy will just create new possibilities.

bud55 is half right. The schools do need better budgets, i.e. more money, but for the education of our children. Those extra eyes can never hurt the safety of children at dismissal and bus time.

Communication is another key for parents and schools and day care providers. Parents should make clear to the school, in writing, if the child is to be dropped anywhere but home. No matter where the child is dropped off, the bus driver should see an adult, ask the kid if that is who is supposed to be meeting him before letting a child off the bus. No adult and the child should be returned to the school and escorted by the driver to the office.

Finally, there are affordable GPS devices and GPS phones that will allow you to view your childs location. Check on line for your best solution. These same GPS devices work well for anyone, including those with demetia, who might be prone to wandering, or are at risk of becoming lost.