Bus Safety Program

About the program

In an effort to address the concerns of schools, parents, and transportation officials around the issue of bus safety, the SMART Boston Program operates a bus safety class on Saturdays during the school year.

The school bus safety class is held on Saturdays as part of the SMART Boston Program conducted at the BPS Counseling and Intervention Center in collaboration with the Boston Police Athletic League. Any student who had problems on the school bus, which directly impacted their safety and the safety of others, are referred. A bus driver, school administrator, school police officer, and counselor staff the program.

• Bus Driver- reviews the rules and expectations for students riding the bus and also relates to students how misbehaving impacts his/her ability to concentrate on driving and how this creates an unsafe situation.

• School Adminstrator- discusses school expectations and also reviews possible consequences that could result if a student continues to misbehave on the school bus.

• School Police Officer- reviews legal ramifications for creating an unsafe situation by fighting, throwing things out of the window, etc. The officer shows an age-appropriate video of bus accidents and their results caused by students who were not sitting in their seats safely.

• Counselor- conducts group counseling sessions with a focus on decision making skills and improving understanding on how unsafe behavior impacts others. Positive strategies are discussed to help the students deal with situations that may come up on the ride including dealing with peer pressure issues, bullying, etc.

At the end of the program, students are taken on a twenty minute school bus ride to assess the appropriateness of their behavior and to help them incorporate what they learned as they rode on the school bus.