Posting Bus Routes Publicly is Asking for Trouble
I just saw a disturbing post on Facebook that took me to a link to a local newspaper that is published both online and offline. It was three pages of detailed school bus route information. It provided the bus driver’s name as well as exact times and locations where the bus, containing minor children would be. Any time you are time and place predictable, especially when it concerns minor children, you could be making committing a crime by a potential kidnapper or attacker so much easier.
Below is an example of one of the routes published. The article contained the entire school district. I sanitized it a bit as I clearly don’t want to perpetuate this dangerous practice.
XYZ Area Schools bus routes for 2011-12
Thursday, September 1, 2011
The following is a list of XYZ Area Schools’ bus routes for the 2011-12 school year. For more information call 555-3890.
[SPECIFIC SCHOOL ]
Driven by [Specific Bus Driver’s Name] — Bus No. 02C
The bus will leave the bus garage at 6:40 a.m. and travel north on Jebavy to Decker, East on Decker one mile turning around and backtracking. The bus then travels north on Jebavy to Angling Road, east on Angling to Beaune Road, north on Beaune to Ehler and east on Ehler to Jebavy. Then north on Jebavy to Barnhart, west on Barnhart to Sherman, south on Sherman to Shagway and west Shagway to Lincoln. The bus will then turn around and take Shagway back to Jebavy, turning south to Fountain Road, east on Fountain to Sherman, south on Sherman to Mavis, east on Mavis to Jebavy. The bus then turns south on Jebavy to Dewey, west on Dewey to Sherman where it turns around and backtracks Dewey to Jebavy. The bus then travels south on Jebavy picking up children who live on the west side of the road and continues on to the XYZ High School/Middle School complex, ABC, DEF, and GHI elementary schools.
Does anyone else see anything wrong with this practice? If I was a parent whose child rode one of these routes you can bet your bippy I would be on the phone to the school district expressing dissatisfaction over this information being so readily available to the public.
For more information on the dangers of being time and place predictable continuing reading here.
Be Wise When Using Craig’s List
Craig’s List is a site of local classifieds and forums that are community moderated, and largely free. Once at your local forum you can find jobs, housing, goods, services, romance, local activities, advice – just about anything really.
If you’ve opted to participate in the trade of goods, whether buying, selling or picking up a free item, it’s important that you exercise caution and don’t become lax about your personal safety. Ideally buyer and seller should meet at a neutral, public location. Though for larger items, that is not always possible. When inviting strangers into your home for any reason, there are a few sound security precautions you should consider beforehand.
1. If at all possible, move the item outside so that the buyer has no need to enter your home. If that is not possible, such as heavy appliances, furniture or exercise equipment, then extra precautions are necessary.
2. Under no circumstances allow any buyer to enter your home without having someone else with you during the buyer’s visit. If this is absolutely not possible, schedule the pick-up during the day, preferably while neighbors are home. Consider having the volume of a radio or television playing softly behind one of the closed doors. Briefly phoning a friend within earshot of the buyer making certain to explain that Bob from Craig’s is presently in your home picking up your piano and you will return her call after he leaves. I know of one woman who goes to the trouble preparing a light snack for the occupant watching TV behind one of the closed doors whenever a stranger must enter her home. What is incredibly ingenious about this is that she lives alone and smart as a whip. Continue reading
Steal My Stuff Please
Is anyone looking to burglarize a home? If so, I have names of people who will be gone for a while. You will likely find their homes empty and free from anyone who could distract you while you load your trunk. No, no, it’s not proprietary information. They posted it on Facebook for all to see. These notifications were taken from status updates from my small list of friends over the last 24 hours.
On second thought, to protect those who are in denial about the dangers of announcing to the world that you are or will be gone, I won’t share their names. Some of the information made it way too obvious who it was, so I sanitized it a bit. Take a lookie see at some of these recent FB Status Updates:
- Good Morning from Central Florida. Last full day in this beautiful weather
- Friday finally here, off for weekend to Mt. Pleasant
- At the hotel. Rough travel day today
- Getting packed to head to [state] for the [college] game on Saturday
- I’m heading to the [school] meeting while hubby heads out to the [another place]
- I am getting ready to go downtown at Rosa Park Circle join me there
- Getting ready to head out the door to have some fun
- Heading to South Bend for the day
- [Name] is at Wolfgang’s Restaurant with [name] and [name] (3 for the price of one!)
