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STORY:

In a video that went viral last month, Dillon Reeves, a student at Lois E. Carter Middle School in Warren, Michigan, is seen saving more than 60 children after he took over the steering wheel from the bus driver who had become unconscious.

Reeves’ father told CBS that he thinks part of the reason why his son was so alert was because he doesn’t have a phone and was looking out the window.

What else are you going to do when you don’t have a phone? You’re going to look at people, you’re going to notice stuff. You’re going to look out the window,” Dillon’s father, Steve, told CBS. “It’s a very powerful lesson, maybe a change-the-world kind of lesson.”

Other students on the bus that day told CBS that they were all on their phones and hadn’t noticed the driver had passed out.

In the video, Reeves is seen rushing to the front of the bus, putting his foot on the brake, and grabbing the wheel before telling his fellow students: “Someone call 911, now!” as they scream in the background.
The seventh grader was eventually able to bring the bus to a stop without incident before two passersby stepped in to help the students off the bus and attend to the driver.

While Dillon was busy accessing the situation and saving the day, other students were seemingly engrossed in their smartphones, blissfully unaware of the tragedy waiting to unfold.

“I had my AirPods in,” said one student, while another added: “I was looking on my phone.”

“I was on my phone playing a little game,” added the third student.

None of the students were injured in the incident and the 40-year-old bus driver was brought to the hospital in “stable” condition, Warren Fire Commissioner Skip McAdams told CNN.

The boy’s stepmother, Ireta Reeves, told reporters at the time that her son knew exactly how to stop the bus because he had watched the driver do it every day.
Source: businessinsider.in

SENSES (Child Safeguarding and Protection Issues):

As Primary and Secondary parents taking measures to ensure that we equip our precious with the necessary life skills needed to prepare them for life and understand their inevitable roles in their Personal Safety and Self-Protection can not be overemphasized.

They are growing up in an ever-evolving world filled with different forms of vices and challenges. Taking time to envisage their needs and mitigate any form of threats to them is one of our primary responsibilities as parents.

We emphasize that children learn from the examples we show them, this is exemplified in this story as this child was able to stop the bus by what he learnt watching his parents drive a car.

STONE(Call to action):

It is essential to always ensure that as primary and secondary parents we anticipate the needs and threats to the well-being of our children and make adequate preparation to mitigate these threats well before they arise.

Secondly, anyone saddled with the care of a child, whether as a primary or secondary parent must never drop the ball and must always ensure that every action taken must be in the BEST INTEREST OF THE PRECIOUS CHILDREN.