Think Before You Honk: A Neighbor Reminds Us About The Importance Of Respecting Children On The School Bus

With a large number of children with different levels of ability living in the neighborhood, there’s a need for greater awareness of how to support our kids in Ditmas Park – including not honking at special needs school buses, a parent recently wrote to us.

Neighbor Christine Salerno, who lives around Cortelyou and Coney Island Avenue, is putting together a flyer about the importance of not honking at these buses, including the one that Christine’s daughter rides, which she points out is “full of toddlers who have all sorts of sensory and anxiety issues.”

Christine, who recently moved to the neighborhood, said she has been “excited about how welcoming and kind and diverse everyone is” and said she hopes people just need a reminder to be a little more thoughtful while driving. And she said that she’s happy to get input from neighbors on what kind of information she should include on the flyer, a version of which we’ve posted above.

“Having respect for all school buses and all children is paramount to the safety and well-being of our entire community,” Christine wrote to us.

Of course, there are all kinds of ways to support the kids in our neighborhood, including those with disabilities, and Christine, whose daughter has Rett syndrome (a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects girls almost exclusively), noted that October is Rett Syndrome Awareness Month – which means there are many different ways you could help out those living with this disorder.

You can also help Christine with the walk she is co-hosting in Hoboken on Sunday to fundraise for Rett syndrome awareness.

For more information about Rett syndrome, you can go here and here.

Photo courtesy Christine.