Most exchange students are used to using public transportation since they were like just cutting teeth, but most places in the United States does not have adequate public transportation. Plus school transportation is separate thing here, where in a lot of the world you have to get to school on your own. Also! Our organization does not allow our students to take public transportation without an adult, that includes: buses, trains, taxis, Ubers/Lyfts, and the like (they can fly alone as long as they have permission from all parties). Also absolutly no hitchhiking (actually had a student ask about doing this becasue it was normal back home! She was 15!). So transportation is generally left up to us, the host parents, to figure out and/or supply.
So here are my rules about transportation.
First I do drive them to school, because their bus ride would be 2 hours long (each way) and it is unreliable as we do not have enough buses/drivers to cover the entire county properly—this is insane to me and it left the students exhausted and cranky at the end of the school day. So I drive them. I pick them up too, usually because they participate in a sport and there isn’t an after-school activity bus at the school.
If they are getting a ride from someone else, either way, I need to meet this person and know ahead of time (not while I am on the way to the school!).
If they are going to be riding with anyone that the driver is not a full-fledged adult I need to meet them first.
If they need a ride somewhere, school related or to the store, they need to give me as much notice as possible. And I understand things come up and don’t usually get fussy about it, and if I do I don’t mean it I’m just complaining.
If they want a ride to go to a friends house or go out with friends, I need preplanning here. Mostly because we might have plans. Or going over after school can get tricky because I can’t pick them up and cook dinner at the same time and in our area it takes 15-30 minutes each way to get anywhere. This is why I encourage them to make friends with students that can drive hahaha, because it makes life so much easier.
No public transport, not that there really is any here, without an adult.
MUST wear seat-belt in car at all times no matter who you are with AND if the driver is playing on their phone while driving they are banned from riding with them anymore. Obviously this is on the honor system, unless I find out otherwise (and then there is extra hell to pay).
That is it! All my rules regarding transportation. Living out in the middle of nowhere with no use of public transportation is something that they have to get used to, some do better than others. Where my house is you can’t even bike or walk anywhere (well, you can to the post office I guess if you really want to) and that is a struggle for some students as well. We try to explain these difficulties early in our conversations with them before they get here so that they are prepared. But you will need to make your rules or guidelines to your area and family situation as each is unique.
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