The fear of your child going missing is a uniquely harrowing thing for parents, and something which is never to be taken lightly.
Therefore, when one Texas mother noticed that her child didn't get off the bus on the way home from elementary school, she was terrified, and ultimately furious when she discovered why.
Tipton's son, Gunner Rex, had not arrived home on the bus which he was meant to take, which sent her into a panic.
Speaking to KXAN, Tipton described the feeling as, "the scariest thing that I’ve ever gone through [...] All I could think about was, he’s 7, so he got off on the wrong stop and I have no idea where he’s at."
The distraught mother called the school in an attempt to locate her son, and was furious to find out what had happened.
Tipton reportedly said that the school administrators described the mix-up to her as a "minor" error.
The substitute teacher in charge of Gunner Rex's first grade class had mixed him up with another boy, whom the teacher had sent on the bus meant for Gunner by accident.
According to her interview with the radio station KXAN, Tipton's daughter had been incorrectly told she was being picked up and made to stay instead of getting the bus earlier in the same school year.
"It’s a serious thing that should have never happened once, let alone twice."
What is most confusing is that the school, despite having discovered the mix-up, did not inform Tipton, but instead waited for her to call them.
Districts transportation director Ms Fausett was quoted as saying, by Yahoo Lifestyle, "Our process on that is to take them as soon as we can, depends on our route, back to the campus. And they’re safe from the time they get on until they get back to the campus. Meanwhile, the parent is called and informed of the situation."
In order to try and prevent this sort of thing from happening again, the district is hoping to employ SMART Tag devices on their busses, which will hopefully stop this sort of stress being put on worried parents.
The way that the tag works is, upon entering the bus the student presents their low-cost ID Card. The SMART Tag system then logs the time, student info, and location and uses this information to verify whether the student should be on that specific bus. Finally, when the student is getting off the bus, they present the ID Card once again and the system ascertains whether or not the stop they are getting of at is the correct one.
Fausett was quoted as saying, "By the end of the school year, we’re hoping to have all 54 campuses up and running [with the SMART Tag system]."
Anything that can be done to increase the safety of America's children is surely an avenue worth pursuing.
h/t: Yahoo Lifestyle
