[onetwo_threefour]

Not a helicopter parent here, but I can understand her concern.

On Thursday, first day of school, one of my assistants had her kid put on a different school bus in the afternoon than he was on in the morning, taking a completely different route and dropping him off three blocks away from where he got on the bus in the morning. The only way they found him was because the driver of the bus he was supposed to be on knew him from the previous year and knew which bus he was put on. He's in grade one. When other parents hear stories like this, it's no wonder they get nervous when it's their kid's turn to start riding the bus.

Again, I'm sure this stuff happened when we were kids, but it gets so sensationalized in our 'instant media' culture that it's no wonder parents get overprotective.