NEXT GEN VIEWS: My thoughts on Snow Days

January 26, 2017 · 0 Comments

By Wyatt Savage

All parents know we have snow days often enough to argue about it, especially in my house where during every snow day there is the same argument between my parents, my brothers and me.
As a reminder, when the school board cancels buses, schools remain open, but very few kids (three per class) actually show up to school on “snow days” because our school has very few students who walk.
Here’s why parents keep their kids home:
They legitimately can’t drive their kids to school
Some parents say they can’t go to work because they have to drive their kids but they never drive them anyway
The parents think the kids do nothing at school, so they won’t miss anything by staying home

Here’s why kids go to school:

To get ahead on current projects
Their parents say there is no reason why they should stay home because the buses are cancelled
Their parents can’t stay home to take care of them

The solution to all of this is simple, solved by me, a 13-year old: If you go to a school where 10 per cent of kids take the bus and the rest walk, then having the buses cancelled has practically no effect on the school.
It should just be treated like a regular school day for these students. On the other hand, schools that have 90 per cent of kids being bused should just close the school for the day.
Buses being cancelled affects the entire school. This decision should be up to the school to close or not.
Also, if the weather is bad enough for it to be a snow day and the buses need to be cancelled, then it is also not safe for the teachers to drive to school or for the parents driving their kids as well.
In conclusion, I think schools should decide if they stay open or closed on a snow day based on how many students are impacted by bus cancellations. This would especially impact me since my Mom forces me to go to school no matter what the weather!

Wyatt Savage is a local grade 8 student at Lester B. Pearson Public School with two younger brothers, a dog, a cat, and an interest in writing. He’s a curler and a baseball player. This column is a young Auroran’s perspective.