School bus drivers have an important responsibility they play daily. They make sure that kids reach school safely and back home in the evening. Besides taking kids to school, they also respond to medical emergencies during the ride to school or back home. Disciplinary issues also they respond and maintain order during the numerous trips they make taking children to school and back. They play an important role.
Pros of being a school bus driver
1. No college degree is required to become one: Unlike others who work in jobs requiring university and college degrees to pay off massive amounts of college debts, a degree is not a requirement for school bus drivers. Even a high school diploma is not a must attain in many cases. Bus drivers receive up to three months of on-the-job training, which combines classroom and driver training. Being one, you don’t need any special training.
2. Free time off during school holidays: drivers enjoy a decent time off, unlike other jobs during holidays. Bus drivers are also off on weekends and many holidays; they have many more days off in a year than most other jobs. As a result, they easily involve themselves in side hustles during a long time being free. They also take advantage of more free leisure time for recreation. Being a school bus driver allows you to lead and have a fairly balanced life. You can also dedicate a great deal of time doing things outside the job.
3. It is not boring work: as a driver, you should always be alert on the road. You have to be ready as much responsibility lies on you—always solving kids’ problems and attending to medical emergencies. Always practice safe driving, bearing the safety of children on board.
4. School bus drivers don’t have supervision: you have a high level of freedom since no one is sitting next to you. Nobody will be supervising you like many other office workers. It makes work easier as you will do it according to your expectations. In this way, work is done perfectly.
5. Working at an independent level: the level of freedom a driver experience leads to working independently. You will follow your own rules. Often you will feel you are on vacation.
6. You can improve your driving skills: as a requirement, you should have decent skills to be responsible for the lives of many young souls. Good driving skills are important for saving lives and are also a source of financial income. You will be on the road daily hence will significantly improve your driving skills. You will improve to be an excellent driver in the long run. Goo
7. Avoiding working in an office: many people get discouraged sitting in the office all day long. It is a waste of time in the real sense. As a driver, you will not be sited all day. Instead, you will be the road-focused to avoid road accidents as possible. You will see many things all day, and time will go off easily.
8. Facilitating learning; without a school bus driver, students will miss classes, and the education system won’t be running as required. School bus drives keep the systems running. Parents are forced to drive the kids to school without them, affecting their normal working schedules.
9. Eligible for benefits; School bus drivers normally work under regular hours. They receive benefit packages that are comparable to full-time employees. These benefits include; retirement savings plans, paid holidays, health insurance, and other forms of compensation. You will have more time than other employees. Also, you will have much time left for personal investments and recreation
10. No office dramas; you will be working on the road and with the company of students. You will have zero time with colleagues; hence you get involved in office conflicts and politics.
Cons of being a school bus driver
1. Disturbing early morning shift: this can be irritating s: if you are a morning person. A school bus driver starts the day at 6 a.m. You need to wake up early and prepare. You will be at risk of sleeping and forgetting to set alarms, running late, and inconveniencing the kids boarding your bus. You will need to develop a daily habit to manage your sleeping times.
2. Discouraging disciplinary issues: This school bus driver’s job isn’t for the faint of heart. Rather, it demands a lot of thick skin, physical and emotional strength with confidence, and a desire to help kids. Kids can mess up time and again. Their brains are developing; often, they are prone to making many irritating decisions and acting impulsively. Their behaviors range from bullying peers to fights and shouting obscenities. The bus driver’s responsibility is to ensure everyone is on his perfect behavior. This job is extremely emotionally sensitive. It is a demoralizing and emotional job since kids are kids.
3. Relatively low salaries: you will earn pretty little amounts. The small salary won’t be budgeted if you have a big family. You will need a second job to help you pay bills, thus much discouraging.
4. Kids can be too annoying; kids are a nightmare to work with. If not well brought up, kids will bring you down. This work will lower your standards and quality. You will put all this aside and show them how to behave. Working with them is a real nightmare.
5. Too much responsibility under your leadership: You are the one driving. Mistakes from you can lead to serious injuries. You may even take the lives of many children. Not only will you be responsible for the children on your bus, but you will have to be very careful not to affect other traffic participants. You have to be careful enough to balance all these responsibilities.
6. You are often suffering from health problems: you probably sit for many hours. It leads to the building up of fats and calories. It leads to overweight problems as you will be lacking exercise. Secondary to this might lead to obesity and many other medical conditions.
7. Difficult to get a lover: It’s difficult for school drivers to succeed in the dating market. Your social status as a driver will be relatively low. You will find it hard to compete with people working in other fancy jobs.
8. Low-level job security: it’s a replaceable job.No no barrier to entry and is open to many. Many will be there to replace in case of downfall. It makes it lack job security.
9. Pretty annoying during rush hour: you are always cursing inside the bus. You will be under pressure on kids to get to school late.
10. Hard to switch into other industries; the requirements here are low. It isn’t easy to get into other job areas as they require high qualifications.