Tragedy

I didn't want to write about it, yet I did. So I am.

Our town had the unfortunate experience of being on national telelvision because of a tragic school bus accident. I had several people call me from out of state because they saw us on CNN. Not us, or me personally. Thank goodness, no one in our family was involved in this tragic bus accicdent.

A school bus carrying over 40 students crashed over the side of an elevated interstate ramp. It fell more than 30 feet to the ground and killed, so far, 4 students. Three are still in critical condition.

A big focus that has been brought to our attention, here and on national news, is should seat belts be required on school buses? Would they have saved lives or hurt more? I don't know. I'm certainly not an expert. But only 10 children have been killed on school buses on average per year. That is a good safe number compared to the number of car related fatalities.

Still, it makes a mother unsure. It will take a great deal of faith to let my child get on a school bus and go on the next field trip. But I will. Life goes on.

One other thing I learned from this is the variety of *truths* presented by the media. There were so many rumors flying about so many different aspects of this accident.... on the TV news, in the paper, by word of mouth. Don't always believe everything you hear. (A good motto for any news report!)

I have a friend who works at the high school where these kids were from. I'm glad she is okay. She says things are somber and chaotic at the same time. She said it was heartwrenching to hear screams coming from classrooms and hallways when siblings or friends found out about who had died. I asked her if someone came in to inform siblings there at the school.... no, the kids find out these things from text messages. That's how some of the rumors started flying in the first place. Some called from their cell phones right from the bus. There's another controversial subject... students with cell phones.

My heartfelt sympathy goes out the families and friends of all involved in this accident. What a hard thing.