ANALYSIS


Technology Can Be Good, But Are We Forgetting Something?


By Steven Lynch In the school bus industry, which offers the safest form of land


transportation, we want progress, and many use technology to get it. Technology has given us heated mirrors, student check alarms, video surveillance, GPS, routing systems, fuel manage- ment, cleaner emissions, etc. Tey are too many to list, but they present some very good things. Te greatest drawback is that technology changes frequently.


Keeping up with the changes takes time (and money, which is a subject itself). Often, the time necessary to keep up takes us away from the very thing our industry is about — people. Specifically, children and drivers. Do you find yourself spending less time personally communicating with your staff, peers, and


customers? Do you now rely more heavily on in-services, DVDs, memorandums and e-mails to communicate? Gone are the days of actually sitting down to talk with your employees and getting to know them. We are too busy going from meeting to meeting and researching every new product or system. We get to the point where our only communication involves respond- ing to complaints. Very little is proactive, just plain social, or being out in the field. GPS and video are there so we don’t have to be. Progress? Even more concerning are bus drivers and technology. Drivers


now have access to all kinds of “help”: GPS, navigation systems, Nextel, Bluetooth, laptops, Blackberry, video (inside and outside the bus), crossing arms, etc. How much of this is actually a good thing? How much long-term research has been done? Te most important safety feature a school bus can have is a well-trained, courteous and attentive driver. Are drivers more attentive when saddled with more stuff to watch and listen to? Or do we create a more complacent driver who assumes technology is doing the work? Are we guilty of adding distractions to our own drivers? It is easy to get caught up with technology — look at what it


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does to our kids. Tey cannot go anywhere without it. Instead of speaking with a friend who is 15 feet away, they send texts and tweets. Is that where technology is taking us? Will we need screens, lights and buzzers to let us know when and where to sit, stand, talk, or move? If you think this is an overstatement, try getting change from a young person if the machine doesn’t figure it for them. You don’t need to think if you can read a screen. Progress? Is technology going to protect children and create a safer en-


vironment? It can certainly help, but just because something works well in an office, at home or in a car, it doesn’t mean it works great for the school bus. Anyone familiar with the seat belt issue? Tat technology has been around for 40 years with- out definitive answers. Progress is a wonderful part of life, but sometimes it can be


found by sitting down and talking or watching and listening with our own eyes and ears. It’s called staying connected on a personal level. We forget this is exactly what the bus driver brings to the table. We are forgetting the very safety feature that has given the


school bus industry an incredible safety record — the bus driver. Te current process has been to cut drivers, hours and compen- sation, but we are willing to throw more money at technology. Te bus driver has done such a good job, they are taken for granted, and their importance has diminished in favor of more technology. If it was your child or grandchild, would you prefer an awesome GPS or a courteous, well-trained and attentive driv- er on the bus? You get what you pay for, and with money in limited supply,


we need to be very careful where we put it. Let’s not forget what got us here.


Steven Lynch is the transportation supervisor at Dearborn (Mich.) Public Schools. He can be reached at LynchS@dearborn.k12.mi.us.


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