My brother’s 5 year old didn’t want to get on the bus today. Stressful for dad and child. I suggested he set up a reward program that celebrates cooperative bus riding. Ride the bus Monday-Thursday. 
Friday dad and son celebrate by going for a breakfast and getting a car ride to school on Fridays!
Nice bonding time, less stress, more smiles. Do you have a solution for children that do not want to get on the bus and create school bus stress? Please share your ideas.
Lori Lite / Stress Free Kids/ Author /Mom / Aunt
Stress Free Kids founder Lori Lite is a freelance blogger, social media strategist, parenting expert, and successful entrepreneur. Her line of books and CDs are designed to help children, teens, and adults decrease stress, anxiety, and anger. Ms. Lite’s books, CDs, and lesson plans are considered a resource for parents, psychologists, therapists, child life specialists, teachers, doctors, and yoga instructors. Lori’s award winning books received national attention on Shark Tank and her sort after accessible tips have been featured in hundreds of publications to include: CNN Living, Real Simple Magazine, USA Today, Family Circle, Working Mother Magazine, and Web MD. For more information visit Stress Free Kids and for daily advice follow Lori on Twitter and Facebook.
I guess my question is WHY didn’t the kid want to get on the bus? You can provide solution before you understand what’s going on for the child. Rewards is an iffy system, if you use it to solve all the problem you give the wrong message and the kid will always think how to manipulate?
Does the child want to spend more time with dad? Is there something stressful about riding the bus? Once you know what the issue is sometimes just acknowledging understanding solves it, many times the kid is the one that can offer a solution.
We don’t need to solve all the problems.
Another thing you can do is offer a choice (which really isn’t a choice) like do you want to get on the bus by yourself or should dad step in with you? Or when you come home from school would you like to do legos or read a book?
I have a School Bus Problem too, but it’s a bit different. My almost 10 yr old gets very emotional when the bus driver hands out discipline. In other words, she is quite mean and degrading to the children. I live in a community in the south, where most parents (and administrators) may think it’s acceptable to demean children to get them to comply with their rules. Just a few gems- “I’ll write you up and kick you off my bus if you can’t remember where your assigned seat is”. “Sit down and shut up”. Not sure how I should proceed. Do I talk to the bus driver directly “Can you please be kinder to our children?!”, do I talk to the principal, the bus company. She probably hasnt’ broken any rules, but I really don’t want to have to drive her home from school each day. I drive her in the morning, but she takes the bus in the afternoon for a whopping 15 minutes. However, it’s quite upsetting to her, regardless of how short the ride is.
I agree that further discussion is warranted about why a child does not want to get on a bus. The reason we did get was “school is boring.” I agree totally with choices as long as both of the choices suite the parents needs. Thanks for posting your comments and keep them coming
Rose, This is similiar to the stress my daughter experienced at school lunch. Speaking to the bus driver could make things worse. Unfortunately, our children are going to be in environments that will be less than ideal. Since she is not in any actual danger;I would suggest teaching her coping skills so that she can apply them in other situations. I present a few techniques on my CD Indigo Dreams: Garden of Wellness. I have a visualization where you imagine you are on a school bus. There is a Bubble Blowing practice session where you put hurt feelings into a bubble and send it away. There is a light or protective shield technique where negative words hit the shield and fall silently to the ground and positive statements. Your daughter can apply all of these techniques during and after her bus ride. Hope this helps. Keep me posted!
My daughters in a preschool program last year they had an exceptionally mean man who took children home for them. This year she is afraid of the school bus because she thinks all bus drivers are mean and I will have to self transport until she can overcome the post traumatic stress disorder that man has caused her. I need to know what is the best way to get her over this fear in a timely fashion. It is expensive she has a younger sister who really doesn’t like travelling in the rain to go get her sister with me and I have noone to leave her with when I go. Is it worth the drama to try to get her over this anxiety? Can any of you please let me know how I can repair the damage the school district did.