Keep your cool around school buses

My 3-year-old twins started preschool last week. What should be a wonderful experience has turned into a nightmare because impatient drivers feel the need to honk and go around the school bus stop sign. It is a very sad day when I have to call and ask for the police department to come and supervise traffic for my disabled son. My son has severe cerebral palsy and is wheelchair bound.

I realize that it is hard to wait for five minutes when we all have places to be. But in reality, the five minutes you have to wait is nothing compared to the lifetime of pain my son will endure. It isn't his fault he is unable to walk. At this point, he is too young to understand why people are honking as the driver is lowering the ramp. But someday he will understand. Someday, no matter how much I tell him it's untrue, he will feel like a burden. He will be embarrassed. There are no words to explain how wrong that is.

So I write this for all the differently-abled children out there. For all the wonderful bus drivers who take on the difficult task of safely getting our differently-abled children to and from school. For all the bus drivers who have to deal with this day in and day out.

Stop honking your horn at buses! Stop going around the stop signs! Have a little bit of patience and act like an adult. You can be fined even if there is not a police officer present. Anyone who witnesses a car going around a bus should write down the license plate number and give it to the bus driver. This is dangerous to our children and needs to stop.

Sandra Tentler

Palatine