I started wondering how the parents of these children will react if they see them hanging like this. Throughout my school life, I was also a van dweller who would wait for it in the morning and then be escorted home by it after the last school bell rang. And the scene that I had just seen was not a new one. It is a problem that every other student faces at some point in their life excluding the kids who study in posh areas where they are brought and taken back by personal cars or standardised air-conditioned vans.
To some extent, the main problem lies in the van drivers’ greed. They would always try to take as many students as they can and then try and accommodate them like sheep in a small area. The problem is amplified by the big satchels that the teeny tiny kids have to carry with them. No wonder we are breeding a race of miniature-sized teenagers. Well, jokes apart, but the debate over the curriculum of what to teach and what not to teach hasn’t been solved yet, then I can only imagine how much time this issue will take to be resolved.
Parents pay a lot of money for the security of their kids for their trips back and forth from school because they cannot rely on public transport, which is a death ride for even grownups. Besides the ever-increasing school fees, the parents add to their expense the cost of their commute, but in return they are never satisfied that their children will be safe. We have seen a lot of transport projects being worked upon for the youth but it is about time we also develop a system where the toddlers and teenagers are facilitated.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 26th, 2014.
1714129906-0/Clint-Eastwood-(1)1714129906-0-270x192.webp)
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ