EDITORIAL- Shootings shouldn’t be part of kids’ commutes

Another problem with buses is about the last thing Pennsylvania needed, but that’s exactly… Another problem with buses is about the last thing Pennsylvania needed, but that’s exactly what it has on its plate. This time though, the buses are yellow.

Parents and school officials in Pittsburgh are asking the state for help, in the form of more buses for students in school districts deemed dangerously violent. According to an article on KDKA.com, police have labeled the area around Tioga Street in Homewood a “hotspot for drug dealing and other crime.” The article also mentions that just last month there were eight shootings in the area in a one week period.

The laws governing appropriate walking distance for kids should be made flexible, more flexible than they already are. Currently, state law mandates that any student who lives within 1.5 miles of his or her school must walk; however, exceptions can be made in neighborhoods where traffic accidents create dangerous situations.

This is a clear example of legislation losing touch with reality. In many neighborhoods, violence presents a far greater threat to the welfare of students than does traffic. Cars can be dangerous, but at least they stay in the streets — usually, anyway. Violence knows no bounds. A kid on the sidewalk is no safer than a kid in the middle of Forbes Avenue when bullets are flying.

Additionally, walking 1.5 miles in Pittsburgh is not the same as walking 1.5 miles in a rural town. The state shouldn’t expect children growing up in entirely different environments to live by the same rules.

Obviously a system of picking up each student at his or her house would be impossible, logistically and financially. But the city could very easily set up designated areas for picking up children, otherwise known as bus stops, and allow the students to wait in groups rather than brave the streets alone. There is safety in numbers.

Maybe the city should consider sparing some crossing guards, as it plunges further into slash-and-burn politics to station at bus stops. The guards could, in addition to helping children cross streets, keep wayward evildoers at bay. According to a 2003 story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “no children have ever been killed in the presence of a school crossing guard since the creation of the department in 1947.”

Whatever the outcome, this is a problem that needs to be addressed. Nobody wants to wait until it’s too late to take action. With any luck, Jerome Bettis won’t be the only old bus up and running in Pittsburgh.