Top 10 Worst Things About the School Bus

The school bus is supposed to be your ride to freedom after the bell, but somehow it can feel like detention on wheels. You climb on hoping for a normal trip, and five minutes later you're questioning every life choice that led you to that seat. The drama, the noise, the weird smells, and the complete lack of personal space all team up like they have a group project due.

This list is for everyone who has ever stared out a scratched-up bus window and wondered how a ride home could feel longer than the school day itself. Vote for the school bus problems that make you want to walk, bike, teleport, or just live at school until graduation.

The Top Ten

Mean bus drivers

This sub came about three minutes early before I was even out the door. Of course, I heard the bus pull up outside my house (the bus is usually late by three or four minutes). I was already pretty pissed off. When I got to the bus, I was greeted by a very nasty look, and she said in the rudest tone, "Where the hell were you? We don't have all day to wait for you."
I tried to be cool about it and said it was 6:46, and that she was three minutes late. She then started huffing and insisted that she was on time and that I should be at my stop five to ten minutes early. She then wrote me up and explained that I would have to find another ride home that afternoon and that if I was going to run on my own schedule, maybe my parents could take me to school.
She was mean and nasty the whole morning. Luckily, she was not my sub that afternoon, but there was another less-than-friendly substitute. Oh yes, I never took my bus suspension, and no one did anything about it.
Taking forever to get home

I remember how sometimes when I was in middle school, I'd get a substitute bus driver who was driving around elementary school kids and I'd be the last one to be dropped off at home. This would sometimes be a problem because when I was in 8th grade (2019-2020 school year), I would sometimes watch my show at 2:30, and my school got out at 2:20. If my family was at home that day, they would sometimes get a little worried, and they couldn't call me because I always had to leave my phone at home on the charger in my room.

My primary school bus was terrible. There was an after-school program on my bus, which meant we had to wait for those kids to get out. They were mostly little kids, but they were so annoying. Sometimes the counselors didn't come out on time.
Another bus stop we had was on a busy road, and we had to wait for a kid every time until her mom picked her up. Once, we had to wait at least 30 minutes for her.
Gangs in the back of the bus

I don't know why this isn't higher. My bus has all the bad kids on it, and they like to smoke on the bus. They pass weed around, and the bus driver pretends not to notice. One time, we went to sit in a seat that they typically sit in, and they literally headbutted my friend until she fell over. They play rap music loud enough to drown out every conversation on the bus and talk over it.

From 4th to 6th and probably to 8th grade, there's always been that group of people who are 'cool,' unlike the rest of the kids who sit up front with the lower grade levels. They curse, throw apples out the window, play annoying music, have a louder music contest with the bus driver, throw paper airplanes, roast people, fight people, hit other kids, throw their backpacks, and throw pencils. Mmm... when did life become so complicated?
Little kids screaming on the bus like banshees

The other things on this list are annoying but not too irritating. Now THIS... This is the worst... OBNOXIOUS PEOPLE... In the morning, I go on the bus that is usually crowded. It's terrible. There's always a kid screaming for no reason, there are stupid conversations, and kids who smell like crap. The list goes on. Luckily, I go on a different bus that's completely the opposite when I go home (oh, the irony).
Once, when I went home, we combined buses. I went home exhausted with people screaming in my ear and barely any space to move on the seats. Sorry for the long comment.

On Friday, 4/8/2022, some girl who rides the school bus with me was screaming like a demon for no reason. I moved from the back of the bus to the front, but I could still hear her obnoxious screaming, and covering my ears didn't help at all.
Missing the bus

When I was in high school, I used to ride the regular buses instead of the special ed buses. During the first few weeks of school, the buses left me and several other students several times during after-school hours. (This was during my freshman year.) After calling my mom to pick me up several times, my mom complained to the school and bus company, and then I got put on the special ed bus until I got out of high school.

Yes, so here is the thing. I know I am supposed to be out 5-10 minutes early, but sometimes I have other things to do and/or I get up late.
It's usually my fault if the bus comes early, or if I am not outside when the bus is on time or even late. But it sucks because I get in trouble. When my parents drive me, they always get me there last minute or late. It just sets me up for a bad day when I miss the bus.
Bus drivers not letting you put down your window

We don't have a bus at my regular school, but when I go to summer school (no, I'm not an idiot), we have to take the bus, and it's hot on that bus. There are two tiny fans, and they're both pointed at the driver. Talk about selfish.
We can put down our windows, but it's still hot. Especially since I live in Chicago, the weather gets fierce.

I agree. At least three of the seats on my bus have one or more nasty stains. My crush sits almost right across from me, and her seat has five spots from a brownie that is at least five years old.
The bus coming late

The bus being late on a rainy, cold, snowy, stormy, or some other kind of day like that can make your morning miserable.
I have had two bus drivers who came whenever they felt like showing up, even though the bus barn is in my neighborhood. The bus seemed to always be late or early, almost never on time. I am not talking five or ten minutes - I think I waited 30 minutes once! The bus has come as early as 20 minutes before the scheduled time, but luckily, when it is that early, they send the bus back.
However, if you miss it by just a few minutes, then you're out of luck.

This stupid bus driver I have is late every single day by 15 minutes. In fact, the website says 15 minutes, yet it takes 25 minutes. My perfect attendance record for enrichment classes was broken due to this, and I blame him. The reason why I don't want my old bus driver back is because he always was so annoyed by us talking and said it distracted his driving, yet he is a goofy driver. We then had this bus driver who wasn't late, but he stayed for like 2 days and went to another bus which was never late originally. What is this?
No electronics

The bus driver will suspend you from the bus if he sees you with your phone. Honestly, I go on my phone anyway. I'd rather be kicked out of the bus for a stupid reason than not text my parents for an urgent reason.

I feel bad for people with this rule. On my bus, we can use our electronics, but we have to turn off the volume or use earphones.
Bus drivers purposely making you late

Years ago, we had a driver who would come between 6:45 and 7:00. She would be here at like 7:15, and we barely had any time to do anything when we got to school. Eating breakfast was a challenge when, on a good day, you would have ten minutes. Some days, it was 3 to maybe 5 minutes. If the bus was late, sometimes we would be late to school. There were days when I would walk into school, and the bell had already rung, so I had to rush to class.
She was a nice lady, but she was a pain in the ass when it came to stop times. I don't think she was ever late in the afternoon. When there were subs, though, sometimes they would come closer to 7:25 or maybe even 7:30.
Having no friends on the bus

The Newcomers

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People teasing you for sitting next to someone of the opposite gender

I hate this. People are so sexist.
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Obnoxious kids

One student on my school bus keeps constantly making fart noises, calling everyone a chicken butt, and talking about burping and farting. He is a weirdo!

The Contenders

Long bus rides

We went on a three-hour trip to Canberra that was separated by a rest stop.
No seatbelts

There are no seatbelts on buses because every single child of all ages would need to unbelt themselves should something happen. Buses have something called "compartmentalization." It has been studied extensively and is why the seats are placed where they are and why the backs are as tall as they are.
If something were to happen to the bus, the driver is the one that needs to get those kids off. The driver cannot get 72 seatbelts unbuckled in the time it could take for something seriously horrible to happen to the bus. That is why there are no seatbelts on buses. Cars are completely different. They are built differently and do not have the same structure, which is why you need seat belts in cars.
Catching every red light

Near my high school, there is a traffic light that takes over five minutes to turn from red to green. Then one minute later, it goes from green to red again.

This sucks when you're on your way home from school.

My high school bus driver keeps doing this.
Carrying a large instrument on the bus

Before I talk about the main topic, here's my short story about the bus. In California, it took two hours to get home every day. There were also stupid annoying kids who ruined it. In Vancouver, Washington, things got a little better. Not really. There's a bus that would take me home in 5 minutes, but the stupid school doesn't let me. Instead, they make me go on a bus that takes 20 minutes to get home.
And now to the story. Every morning on the bus, 95% of the time, I have to sit by someone with a large instrument on my lap. What a fun, miserable start to my morning. After school, it only gets worse. My science teacher makes everyone put their backpacks in their lockers. I have to grab my instrument, and the bus is the second in line all the way across the school. Oh, and I have 5 minutes to get there. Recipe for disaster?
Not finding a seat

I can relate to this tremendously! My bus is overcrowded with kids, and a lot of the time, half of the bus has to sit three to a seat. It's really annoying when no one likes you and wants to sit with you.

Ugh, literally no one I knew except two jerks in one of my classes was on my bus. I ended up making myself get to the bus super early at the end of the school day so that I could just find an empty seat.

Once in elementary school, all the seats were full. We were not allowed to have three kids in a seat at once. I decided to stand, and I got in trouble.
Germs

In my old lost property, there were used ladies' pants, and I'm not even joking. It was so gross. I was looking for a jumper and found used underwear instead!
P.S. I hate gum chewers who stick their used stuff under the seat. Chewing gum in our place is instant detention, and yet every table in the English and Science blocks is held together with the stuff! And you can't even eat in Science!

I'm a germophobe, and buses are so dirty. I decided to bring a small hand sanitizer. When the bus driver smelled it, he yelled at me to put it away and not use it again. I asked him why, and he said it's a bus policy, which it wasn't.
Trash everywhere

The bus either has a little trash or a lot of trash. I mean, it's America. What else do you expect from future failures? Also, it makes New York City look cleaner.

Not to mention any ants that might be there.
Sitting three or more to a seat

Similar to the germ thing, if I get coughed on, corona will start up again.
People eating on the bus

What would happen if the bus made a sharp turn? The food would fly everywhere!

Two seven-year-olds on my school bus won't stop eating!
Graffiti on bus windows
Being the kid no one wants to sit with

I'm not exactly the kid no one likes to sit with, but everyone on my bus in my grade has their own friends they sit with, so I'm stuck all alone. It really sucks.

Well, that's the opposite of what's happening to me. I'm the popular guy in the school, but unlike some, I'm actually really nice and friendly and don't mind helping you.

Thank God school is over! Now I do not have to deal with this! I am a loner. Sure, I have three true friends, and the rest are fake!
The bus smelling like sweaty gym socks

Yesterday, I saw dirty gym socks in one of the seats on the bus ride home from school. I really wish I was kidding right now.

My bus in high school had air freshener, but it didn't work well.

Ugh, so many farting boys. Including my bus driver! Ugh.
Traffic
Being stuck with little kids

You are the oldest student on the bus. Then you have a handful of elementary school students who talk, yell, and scream, which slows down the bus driver. In my experience, the bus driver had to stop many times to prompt the passengers and assign seats to avoid conflict. It usually takes more than 30 minutes to get home because the annoying brats ruin it for you, even if you were the best-behaved person.
Assigned seats with random kids or bullies

Every time I ride the bus, I always make sure I bring headphones and my phone so I can drown out the horrible music, little kids, and stupid people by listening to Slayer, Slipknot, Trivium, Korn, System of a Down, Whitechapel, Lamb of God, and Children of Bodom.

My bus driver memorizes who each person's friend is and separates them completely when they try to sit together quietly. I always have to sit in the last seat, and my friend sits in the first seat. I hate the bus.

I'm 15, and my bus driver makes me sit with a 10-year-old kid. He does this because I have trouble talking to the kids my age, mainly because they're girls and I'm a guy, plus they're weird. And the 10-year-old is a little thuglet.