All students who are assigned to ride a school bus should be assigned by the bus driver a seat on his/her particular bus and should be expected to sit in that seat every day. Speaking from my child's personal experience, there is a lack of common courtesy among the children causing a problem where some children are prevented from sitting during the bus ride. Saving seats, bullying, and peer pressure, make seat assignments a must as there is no adult to intervene while the driver is focused on the road.

Below please find a few reasons why it should be mandatory for our school buses.

1. The driver's main focus is the operation of the vehicle and for the most part is restricted to the driver’s seat. This limits the driver’s interaction with students. A driver on a bus is strapped in a chair with his/her back to the students while driving.

2. Assigned seating is the backbone of discipline management and control for a driver. A driver uses seating to establish control and set the tone for authority on the bus. Seating can be used to help deal with disruptive behaviors, as some students are assigned to a seat on the bus that lessens their disruption on a bus. In some instances it is used to keep students separated who are in conflict with each other.

3. If a driver has no control over student compliance with seating, then the students will believe the driver has no authority or control for anything else. This leads to increased discipline issues on the bus and dangerous distractions for the driver.

4. Assigned seating serves many administrative purposes. It assists in the taking of attendance on the bus. If a student becomes unaccounted for or missing, it helps in the process of determining where to start looking for that missing student. It makes it easier to determine if the student was on the bus. Assigned seating also assists in the investigation of discipline issues by knowing which students may have information about an issue because of where they sit on the bus.

5. Assigned seating and a seating chart identify specific students to specific locations on the bus. If vandalism is found it makes it a lot easier to identify which student is responsible. If drivers check the bus before and after each run then they know when any damage appears. If only a certain student sits in that seat then it makes it easier to hold a student accountable.

6. In the event of an accident even a minor one, the first thing law enforcement wants is a seating chart. They have to identify the location and age of every passenger on the bus. This information goes into the police report. To not have this information delays the work of the police and keeps a bus load of students sitting longer than needed.

7. Assigned seating helps to limit the amount of time the bus driver waits at a stop for the students to find a seat. If they know exactly where they are supposed to sit, they can go directly there and not waste time looking for a seat or asking someone to move.