As I state throughout school bus safety website, my goal is not only to raise awareness with real-life stories about what kids experience, but also to suggest various ways each of us can help.  However, I am certainly not the “know all – end all”.  That’s where you fit in.  I want your comments about my approach to situations.  Write about your thoughts.  Or do you have an experience you can share and what did you do to help?

I want to say something about a volunteer organization that is near and dear to my heart – CASA … Court Appointed Special Advocates For Children.  My wife and I are CASA volunteers.  As a CASA the court system refer the most serious cases of child abuse and neglect to CASA.  And what CASA helped me realize is that I can no longer just look the other way.  Or have the mindset that someone else can take care of it because that’s their job.

My CASA training has helped me better understand how to communicate with kids.  Our training also helped me understand the factors that influence the ways a family copes with change, crisis and stress.

Listen … Learn … Take Action

If we really LISTEN these kids are telling us how we can help them.  Sometimes it’s very subtle, but the signs are there.  I highly recommend becoming a CASA volunteer.  Or at the least go through some training to help you LEARN about today’s kids, what they go through, and how to better communicate with them.  These kids are not the same kids that were being bused 10 years ago.  They have changed and so should the skills we use to communicate with them.  As drivers TAKE ACTION and stop looking the other way.  Many kids need our help.

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