Bus riders are most likely to engage in appropriate bus behaviors if they have been explicitly taught those behaviors.

At the start of every year, students should have each bus behavior rule explained and demonstrated. If one bus rule is "Remain in your seat while the bus is moving", for example, the presenter should demonstrate examples of acceptable sitting behavior (e.g., student seated and facing forward) and unacceptable sitting behavior (student standing or hanging from seat into the bus aisle). For efficiency, consider first presenting appropriate bus behaviors to all students in a school assembly and then having drivers briefly reteach and review those behaviors on the bus. Another idea is to train older, responsible students on each bus to demonstrate positive bus behaviors to other riders.

References

Bear, G. G. (1990). Best practices in school discipline. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology-II. (pp. 649-663). Washington, DC: National Association of School Psychologists.

Copyright ©2010 Jim Wright