You opinions on this story

[Miss Chicken]

This story has been causing a bit of a debate in my city

TIARNAH Fahey, of Gagebrook, is only four and loves school.
But yesterday all that changed for the little girl who started in prep at Herdsmans Cove Primary this year.
Tiarnah was left distraught after being thrown off the Metro bus at 8.24am because her free school-bus pass or Greencard did not work.
Her family says the female bus driver told Tiarnah that she had to walk to school up the hill and across the busy double lanes of the East Derwent Highway until she could get her Greencard working.
The bus drove off, leaving Tiarnah in tears. She was saved from being abandoned alone to walk to school only by the quick thinking of her sister Chloe, 13, who jumped off the bus.

rest of story here

People aren't really debating about the bus driver's decision (nearly everyone says that the bus driver should not have told the child to get off the bus). The debate is whether a 13 year old should be taking three younger siblings to catch a bus instead of a parent.


I know when I was 6 I used to be walked home by my cousin, Marlene (aged 11), her brother (9), and my sisters (aged 8 and 7). We had a walk of just over a kilometre. Marlene IMO was responsible enough to be in charge of us.

 

[mari]

Here, at 13 a kid can get certified as a babysitter, including Red Cross certification for CPR and first aid (maybe younger, but that's when I got it). That's certainly old enough to be watching your own little siblings for however long it takes to get to school. In fact, I'm pretty sure that by the time I was 10 I was responsible for my sisters after school, until Mom got home from work.

So what was the driver smoking? Sheesh.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I also was quite capable of looking after a four year old when I was 13. The fact that the older sister got off the bus and took the child to school meant that the older girl was quite capable.

If what this story says is true, I hope that the driver is seriously reprimanded. I have seen adults get on the bus and if their greencards have malfunctioned the driver has told them to take a seat and to get the greencard checked out as soon as they can. Why a driver would refuse to allow a small child on when their card malfunction is beyond me.

 

[Canadave]

I wasn't aware this was the kind of thing that got debated... I was 12, at the oldest, when I was put in charge of watching my younger sister while my parents were out or what have you. I certainly don't see any problem with a 13 year-old being in charge of her siblings.

 

[scotpens]

I was ten and my younger brother was five when our parents stopped hiring babysitters and left us alone when they went out for an evening. At that age, I was already riding my bicycle by myself or with friends around the whole San Fernando Valley. (For those unfamiliar with Southern California, the Valley's a pretty frickin' big place.)

American parents today are paranoid. They're afraid to let their kids out of their sight for a minute. They imagine a pervert lurking on every street corner.

(As it happens, I personally know all the perverts in my neighborhood, and there's one every three or four blocks, tops.)

 

[Deckerd]

Who the hell calls their kid Tiarnah?

 

[Miss Chicken]

Some of the comments made

My first question is...why is a 4 year old, even in the care of a 13 year old (who is clearly also responsible for two other younger children) left to catch a bus alone...would the outcome have been different if a parent was there to supervise the child getting on the bus? I am just glad that it did work out OK and the kids all got to school safely...what would the uproar be if something had happened to these children on their walk to school?

why was a 13 y/o in charge of an 8,6 and 4 y/o? Where were the parents?

Huh? is absolutely correct. How on earth is a four-year-old left to catch a bus unattended in the first place? I really think this is a beat up and blame is being apportioned when the facts of the matter haven't yet been determined. We are only hearing one side of the story here until the CCTV information is available. I think we should all take a deep breath and calm down!

What a disgrace. This bus driver should have known that the pass was so children that age could travel free even if it was faulty. What the hell is wrong with parents these days? We should not be allowing a four year old out without a parent. No child should be given that amount of responsibility with the amount crazy people out there. Being are father of two boys I took my children to school every day and no amount of money,time saving or other responsibilities matter. Our children are the best gift and most precious things in our life. Parents need to treasure these moments because they will not get them back.

to let a 13 year old girl have the responsiblity of caring for her 4 younger brothers and sisters is wrong away. mum should pull her finger out. don't blame the bus drivers.

I thought you had to be five years old to go to school and be accompanied by an adult?? Where was the mother of the child? Dont agree with the bus driver but certainly am concerned of the actions of the parent!!!!

I wonder where were the parents? the older sister shouldnt be given all that resposibility ,she should be able to make her way to the bus and have her own thoughts and childhood at that age

And of course her welfare-recipient mum (with eight children) could not take the time to see her daughter to the bus stop, or indeed walk her child(ren) to school. Are we hearing the full story or just those details necessary to create a "heart-rending" news article?

 

[Mark de Vries]

People are so overly concerned about children nowadays. Not that we shouldn't be bothered, of course, but it's getting a bit excessive. I don't see a problem with a 13-year-old taking her younger siblings to school. Me and my sister used to walk to primary school all the time, well before I was thirteen.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Who the hell calls their kid Tiarnah?

I imagine it is a Bogan name - a Bogan is the Australian version of a Chav.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I was babysitting my younger siblings when I was ten. Thirteen is certainly old enough to be escorting a younger child to school. And this thirteen year old is certainly more responsible than the bus driver is.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Can you explain how the whole bus-riding process works. Is that a public bus she is riding and the school issues the greencard so the children can ride without paying? Why does the card need to be electronically verified? Why can't it work like a monthly bus pass where all you need to do is show that you have a pass and that is enough?

 

[Miss Chicken]

She was riding a public bus.

Metro Tas (a state-run company) issues the cards to school children and to the general public. The card is placed onto the scanner when someone boards the bus. The card is read and the cost of the fare is deducted from the account balance on the card. People can place money on the card by doing it online, by giving the driver money or by going to stores that has Metro facilities. If more than $20 is put on at once than the user gets 25% extra credit. I generally just hand the driver a $20 note when I know my credit is getting low.

In the case of school children - the children of those on welfare and the children low income earners who qualify for a health care card - get free travel to and from school. Also children in some areas get free travel regardless of their parents' income (i.e. if there are no footpaths for them to safely walk to school on etc)

Up to this year these children were issued with a pass that they simply showed the driver and he gave them a one-way ticket. This year the children were issued with a Greencard.

In this lcase the ittle girl's card failed to scan. I have seen this happened to adults and the drivers have let them onto the bus telling them to get the card checked out. If a person runs out of credit on their card they are allowed one ride and that fare is deducted from the card when they next add some credit.

 

[Punky]

I believe that if the parent is not working then by all means that parent should have been with that child. However, I also believe that a child of 13 yrs old is MORE than capable of caring for her younger siblings. She proved it by getting off the bus with her sister.

As a parent, I would be OUTRAGED at the bus driver for this situation. The child was only 4 yrs old!! If the child was 13-16 yrs old then maybe I could understand the bus drivers decision. For a child of 4 yrs old to be told by an adult to walk to school is completely UNACCEPTABLE!

 

[tharpdevenport]

Bus driver needs her ass fired, and prohibited from working as a bus driver anywhere else.

Even with a 13 year old sister, the situation for the siblings was still unbeliably dangerous, and unbelivably ridiculous.

Every bus I rode to school, for the brief period I did, never charged or had a card system. Is there some legitimate reason for this stupid practice, or is this just like dumbass blanket policies we hear about every month or so?

 

[Miss Chicken]

Metro are saying that it didn't happen like the children have said

Metro yesterday rejected claims the little girl was thrown off the bus.
Metro chief executive officer Heather Haselgrove said audio and visual evidence from the bus in question had been examined and the driver's report was significantly different to media reports.
"The student attempted to use her Greencard yesterday but it did not work as there was no money on the card and the free pass was not working," Ms Haselgrove said.
"The driver told the student she needed to put money on the card. The student then passed the card to an older child – possibly her sister.
"The driver reported that another older child, who was not on the bus at the time, called out to the group of children saying 'Come on – get off the bus'."
Metro said the driver was reaching for a form to record the student's details to seek reimbursement and let the child travel but the group of children had left the bus."
Ms Haslegrove said the driver had a responsibility to other passengers and could not leave the bus to get the students back once they had decided to leave.

If it happened this way than I still think the bus-driver handled it wrongly. Telling a very small child that she needed to put money on the card would only confuse her. It doesn't seem that the driver asked the child who she was travelling with so she could talk directly to an older person. The child the girl handed the card to was probably a 10 year old neighbour not her sister.


The older sister (who wasn't yet on the bus) might have told her little sister, and possibly her brothers, to get off the bus because the driver told the little girl she needed money and none of the children had money. These cards are a new system and it is quite possible that the older girl had never dealt with a faulty card before. It was far easier when all children had to do was show a card to the driver.

Beside

Metro's policy is to transport school-age children even if there was a ticket mix-up or malfunction. Under the policy, Metro writes to parents requesting reimbursement of a fare after the child is safely taken to their destination.

The driver should have made it clear to the child, from the beginning, that she was allowed to stay on the bus but that she should tell her Mum that she needed a new card.

 

[scotpens]

Why does the card need to be electronically verified? Why can't it work like a monthly bus pass where all you need to do is show that you have a pass and that is enough?

I would imagine that the card needs to be electronically scanned because, like any form of paper ID, it can easily be forged. Hell, back when I was in junior high (middle school), kids used to make fake bus passes all the time. It was something of a contest among the “bad” kids to see who could come up with the most convincing forgery. (This was before Xerox machines were as common as they are today.)

Every bus I rode to school, for the brief period I did, never charged or had a card system. Is there some legitimate reason for this stupid practice, or is this just like dumbass blanket policies we hear about every month or so?

Are you talking about school buses owned and operated by the school district? The Tasmanian bus system the children were riding is the regular public bus. Actually, it sounds like a very fair and practical system to me. It's the stupid driver who showed very poor judgment.

 

[Angela 0077]

I am really disgusted with the bus driver doing this to a very young child.

I catch the bus to work sometimes and you will see kids of all ages getting on the bus.

If they do not have a updated ticket the bus driver lets them on for nothing..

I do not understand how a parent letting a child of this age take a bus at the age of four

This is way too young

 

[Miss Chicken]

But she wasn't catching that bus alone. She was with a 13 year old.

 

[Angela 0077]

Geez missed that she was with a 13 yr old.

Well if she was with a 13 year old she should be safe walking to or from school.

It depends how far they have to travel.

I know whe l was a little child l used to go to school walking with my two brothers.

We were aged 5 yrs 6yrs 7 years old.

But these days it is dangerous to be walking even in pairs with all these weidos which get around

 

[Miss Chicken]

I think the weirdos were there when we were children. Look at what happened to the Beaumont children and other children who disappeared in the 1960s and 1970s.