Off the bus, kid

The Elkhart school corporation, looking to save money like everybody else, is considering reducing the number of buses running each day:

The other option was to tighten restrictions on walk zones. That idea passed Tuesday night. It will reduce the number of buses running by having more students walk to school. Fourteen-hundred students will be affected.

Elementary kids who live within a mile of school will have to walk to school. Secondary kids who live within two miles will also have to walk.

I'm not one to pity the poor kids for having to walk (insert old fogy boilerplate: when I was a kid . . . five miles . . . uphill both ways . . . ). But I wonder if the school board is bucking the tide here, as evidenced by the reaction of many of the parents about their kids' safety. And a high school freshman talked about being attacked near her old school: "It was terrifying, idescribable."

It's frowned upon today for kids to roam around unsupervised the way we did when we were young. Those same elementary students who are going to be walking a mile to school can't be left home alone without the parents getting into trouble or, heaven forbid, left in the car while Mom steps out briefly to mail a letter. It's true that kids can attack other kids anywhere at any time, but if it happens while they're on their way to or from school . . . well, maybe the school board should talk long and hard with its lawyer about liability issues, that's all.