Well, it’s already mid-June, and that means that the new school year here in the Philippines is in full swing! We have three kids in school, and between the three kids, they attend two different schools. Jean, our daughter, is now in second year High School and she attends Davao Wisdom Academy, which is not too far from our house. Aaron, one of our sons, is also in second year High School and he attends Ateneo de Davao University, High School Campus, which is up to 30 minutes from the house if traffic is bad. Our youngest son, Jared, is in fourth grade and also attends Ateneo de Davao University, Elementary campus, which is in the same location as Ateneo de Davao High School Campus. All three of the kids started back to school this past Monday.
This school year, there is a big change for the kids, though. We will see how they handle it. In the past, our nephew, Deo, has always driven the kids to school. In the morning, he would drive all three kids to their respective schools, then he would go and pick them up in the afternoons. With the way traffic is around the campuses here, this would usually take Deo about two hours in the morning, and another two hours in the afternoon. So, basically, the majority of Deo’s day was spent shuffling the kids back and forth to school.
Over the summer, Feyma and I decided that the kids are going to change the way that they commute to school. Like many Filipino kids, our kids are now using the Jeepney system for their transportation to and from school. For the boys, they first ride the tricycle from the house to the place where they can catch a Jeepney, as the Jeepney routes do not pass in front of our house. After a 5 to 10 minute tricycle ride, the boys are at a location where they can hop on a Jeepney for another 5 to 10 minute ride to Ateneo campus.
For Jean, since her school is closer to the house, she will ride tricycle all the way to school, as no Jeepneys run the route from our house to the school campus. It’s really only a 5 to 10 minute ride from the house to the school anyway. Also, it’s not even that long of a walk, if she wants to just walk to school. I know that I could walk to Davao Wisdom Academy from our house in roughly 15 to 20 minutes or so.
So, why did Feyma and I decide to make this change? Well, we live in the Philippines, and we want our kids to become more accustomed to living the way that most people live here. Also, we want our kids to grow up a bit and gain a bit of independence. After they get used to riding the Jeepneys, they can basically go anywhere around town (with proper permission, of course). A lot of times, Aaron will want to go to an Internet Cafe with his school friends on the weekends. Before, he always had to get a ride, either from Deo, or from me. Now, if he wants to go with his friends, he can ride the Jeepney, just like most of his friends do. I remember when I was a kid, I would use the public buses to go to places where I wanted to go.
This is a big step for our kids, but we did not just dump them into it. Over the summer, they got some training on how to do this. First, their cousin, Glenda, who lives with us (she’s in her 20’s), took each of the kids individually on the Jeepney so that she could show them where to catch the Jeepney, how to pay, how to choose the right Jeepney, etc. The kids each got a number of practice runs with Glenda, and then just before school started, they rode the Jeepneys alone going to their school, and coming home. They did well, and are starting to feel comfortable riding the Jeepneys now.
I feel that this is a very important and big step for the kids. It will help them become more integrated in Philippine Society, and also help them mature a bit too. It kind of starts cutting the strings to their parents a bit, and gives them some independence.
I know that a number of readers will be critical on this, and will especially cry out that this is not safe. I do not believe that is the case. If I was worried about their safety, I would not let them go to school by themselves, but I do not feel this is a concern. My bigger concern is that they make sure to get on the right Jeepney that is actually going either to the school or to where they need to go to come home. But, they have had the proper training, and I don’t think that will be a problem. Worst case scenario is that they will need to call us, and they all have cellular phones so that they can call anytime, so it’s not a big concern. Many of you will say that we need to worry about kidnappings and such, but I just don’t feel that is a concern. We have lived here long enough that we feel comfortable with the safety situation. We are their parents, and we would never do anything that we felt jeopardized their safety, I can assure you of that.
So far so good. The first day of school, we did let our nephew do the driving, but since then, the kids have been using the Jeepneys and Tricycles to commute to and from school. All has worked smoothly, and I am sure it will continue! I must say, I am pretty proud of our kids in taking this big step toward maturing, and fitting in to Philippine society!
Bob and Fey,
The kids are going to be alright. It just sucks when it rains and have to wait for the right jeepney……I remember enjoying the walks I’d do once in a while from Ateneo in Matina all the way to the house.
Hi Jon – Good morning, great to hear from you! Yeah, the kids will do fine! I hope that the rainy days go smoothly too! Luckily, there aren’t too many rainy days in Davao, though! 😆
I agree with your plan, years ago, my girls were escorted to school by my wife every day, and they decided that they were too old to do that anymore. She finely let them go by their self; of course she would worry every day, until it became second nature. But there is a time when you must let go (a little at a time).
I’ve noted that it is the one time of the day (here in Olongapo City) that there seems to be a higher Police presence during the coming and going to school.
Hi Paul – Yep, I think it’s a good thing to start to let go, a bit at the time. It helps the kids mature, and become independent!
Bob
This is a pretty big accomplishment not only for the Kids but for Feyma and You.
Its hard to let go and not shelter your kids, but then you would be doing a shitty job as a Parent if you did not prepare your kids for the real world and help them gain their independance.
There will come a day that your kids do not need to rely on you. This is a double edge sword as it will suck that your kids no longer depend on you, but it kind of means you are successful parents as your Kids become independant.
Sorry folks maybe 1 too many beers tonight before posting. lol
Thanks, Neal. I’m happy to know your thoughts, and I am in full agreement with everything you say!
Bob
What is the Jeepney system like there? Are they color coded for the route that they travel.
Hi Neal – No, the jeepneys all have the routes printed on the sides. No color coding or anything like that.
The reason I asked is our friends just returned from Barrieto Baretto
(near Pauls neck of the woods) and they have a color code system, so I assumed they were all like that now.
Hi Neal – A big city like Davao has so many different routes there wouldn’t be enough colors to cover them all! 😉
Heck….when I was a kid we had to walk 5 miles….. barefoot….and through 3 feet of snow….oops….that was my Dad’s story. Iwalked about 10 mins to school as a 7 year old….now days things are a little more dangerous, but riding a jeepney to school sounds fun and the kids get a little freedom and responsibility. A fine looking bunch of kids ya got Bob….they musta got their looks from their mother….hehe….joke. I wish them well in their schoolwork and many safe jeepney rides.
Greg
Hi Greg – Was your walk through the snow uphill both ways too? That’s how mine was! 😆 Thanks for your well-wishes… I am sure that all of the jeepney rides will go smoothly for the kids. So far, so good!
Good to see you and Feyma and the kids all together on this, Bob, and I am also glad to see so many positive comments so far. You may recall, must have been a year or more back I shared a blog with you about a woman in New City who was being vilified in the press for allowing her young son to ride the subway to school.
You would have thought she was teaching him to play Russian Roulette with a live round.
Kids have to learn. As a parent, much of that learning is not easy to be in charge of. That’s part of the parental duty that some parents don’t get.
Keeping your child as safe as possible is, of course, a prime parental duty. But it’s easy to let it become the “only” duty, and then you wind up with (very common here in the Philippines), 20 and 30 year olds who can’t make a decision or even get from point a. to point b. on their own. God bless well-rounded people, young and old, who can stand on their own two feet.
Hi Dave – Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I think that loosening the rope a bit and giving leeway is also a way of protecting safety. While giving more freedom may seem unsafe… in the longrun it helps ensure their safety in years to come when they are on their own. They will have a basis for freedom and how to use it responsibly.
Hi Bob, I think it’s great that the kids are learning to ride the public transport to and from school. Not only is it an adventure, and part of city life, but also part of growing up confident and independent from the fanily. Teaching your children and then showing them that you trust and believe that they can handle new milestones, is a gift that parents give their children. Little things like delays or rain etc. will help them to deal with life’s adversities too, that all of us must face. I think that in the west, many children live too insulateded lives for the most part, and don’t have the chances that Filipino children do to test themselves.
I hope that they enjoy their new freedom and independence. Your nephew can have some well-earned free time too.
Hi queenie – Thanks for the vote of confidence. You know, you readers are really surprising me today. I thought that I’d get a lot of comments along the lines of “you are putting your kids in harms way” and such. It’s refreshing to not get that kind of thing. I agree with you totally that this is a good step for the kids to gain a little more confidence, freedom, and responsibility!
Free time for our nephew? Nah… we gotta come up with some new stuff for him to do now! 😯
I can’t believe you would jeopardize your kids’ safety like this. How dare you!!
Just kidding, just wanted to give you a little of what you were expecting 8-D
My comment might not count since I’m not a parent, but I think it sounds like the right thing to do. I rode the yellow school bus until 7th grade, then walked or rode my bike. Sometimes I think the to-and-from with your friends was the best part of the school day (haha).
You are playing with fire this morning, Gary… trying to get me riled up like that! Shocking! ha ha….
I agree with you, spending times with friends on the bus, or walking to school was certainly a highlight back in the day. Times have changed a lot since then!
Having raised a couple of kids in North America over the last decade it seems as tho the safety issues these days involve 3 things. First is whether they will get robbed of their lunch money, Nikes,i-pods or sports wear on the way – or even at school. Some schools and areas have a much higher incidence of this than others. This is the reason that many parents move to new neighbourhoods when they have kids- so as to lessen the chance of these things happening.
Then there is the chance that if they are young and cute they will get kidnapped by someone who cant get a child through the normal channels. Increased adoption rules has made this more common, although still not very common. But just the thought of it is every parents worst nightmare!
Then there is the possibility of your child being molested by a paedofile. I wasnt exactly sure what a paedofile was so I looked it up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedophilia
It seems the reason i was confused is because the term is used to mean different things by different people. Law enforcements definition is much broader than the precise scientific term. No Matter- suddenly over the last 10 or so years it has become a huge issue. But where did all these paedofiles come from all of a sudden? Why did we rarely hear of it- or worry about it 20-30 years ago ? Has human nature or sexual desires changed that much ? Where were all the paedofiles20 years ago? I’m sure that its not just a matter of eating all the steroids that they raise cattle with these days- so what is it? Is it because the internet has made sick porn so readily available now? And because the internet has made it so easy for paedofiles to find each other, and to contact so many more victims? Assuming that some children are more vulnerable and easy to fool than others- in the old days you had a limited selection of kids to chose from- just those in your neighbourhood. Now you can go online and find millions of kids online world wide- so a paedofile has a much larger number to chose from to try and tempt. Is it because in the old days parents were more hands on, and these days they are willing to let the tv and internet babysit their kids for them?
I know its an easy answer to just go ahead and put the blame on one thing- such as the net- or some other thing- but i dont think the answer is that easy. I dont see how it can be
Hi ian – I think that the concerns you air are legitimate (although minor) for somebody living in a 1st world country. However, 90+% of people in 1st World Countries think that the Philippines is a danger around every corner. You would not believe how many e-mails I get from people planning to visit here and they say things like:
Well, no, I don’t think that. However, I expected that a lot of people would chastise me for putting my “foreigner” kids in harms way by letting them go to school by themselves. I know a lot of people who don’t have a connection to the Philippines will think like that. In fact, I have told American friends about this, and several have been quite shocked that I would do something like this.
So, I was not thinking of the “normal” concerns that you mentioned, rather the “Philippine specific” concerns that many Americans and others in the West fret about when it comes to the Philippines.
Hey Bob,
I think my children getting kidnapped would be a concern of mine. I think it was just last year where some politician’s daughter was kidnapped off the streets of Davao.
Hi Hudson – I have heard of no such incident in Davao City. I am not saying it did not happen, but I have not heard of it. Even if it did happen, kidnapping simply would not be a concern. If I were a politician, I would probably be concerned, but I’m not. I can assure you that if I thought this was a danger, I would not send my kids to school without some protection (bodyguards or something), and frankly, I probably would not choose to live in the Philippines. I simply don’t feel there is much chance of that happening, though.
I think some of my fear is comming from my wife. she is not as trusting of the filipino people as I am 🙂
I think that is true, hudson. A lot of Filipinos are scared to death of almost anything that moves. They caution you against even stepping outside your gate. Feyma used to be like that, and I’m glad she is not like that any longer.
Hudson- I believe the background to your story is that there was a shoot out in a mall in Davao and a man was killed . And one of the many reasons given for the shooting was that it was an attempted kidnapping of a child. But there were many other variations on the story .
And there was certainly a political component to the story.
Ah, yes, that is probably the incident that hudson was thinking of. That was all an offshoot of the Maguindanao Massacre, just some of the players happened to be in Davao when it occurred, at Gaisano South Mall. For me, that has really zero bearing on the safety of “regular” kids.
ian, we must have been writing at the same time. You have identified the things I meant when I said “bad things are more widely publicised”. If it happens a five hundred miles away, because of the publicity, you feel it as if it happened down your street. I believe that the publicity has made such things seem more common than they actually are. It doesn’t change the fact that we consequently worry about it though.
Ian you didn’t hear about it ‘in the old days’ because it was hushed up. Haven’t you read any of the hundreds of stories of institutional child abuse that have surfaced in recent years in countries like the USA and Australia? Haven’t you read the findings of research studies into the number of people who were sexually abused as children? It was all happening in the old days; in fact kids are less likely to experience it these days because they get more information about it and they have more people to tell who are likely to listen to them.
Yes Ken- I have read all of those things !! lol I am very much aware of them. But at least in the old days you only had to worry about your kids when they went to church or independant schools, you didnt have the large number of perverts trolling for them on the net !
And I do disagree with you that kids are less likely to experience it these days- which was the point of my post. I feel that today they are much more exposed. Anyway Ken- we dont need to argue because i know for sure we are 100% on the same page when it comes to protecting kids.
I think you have a good point on that Ken. After so many years, we are hearing about the abuses of the past, which indeed was hushed up before. Good point.
Well done,
IMHO, there is excessive over protectiveness in society today, leading to kids growing up not knowing how to fend for themselves in a lot of cases, and without a sense of natural wariness. I walked to school 1.5 miles each way from primary year 4 onwards, though my Mum did it with me for years 1 to 3, so I knew the way pretty well. Same with all the other kids too who lived within two miles. The further away ones took the bus. Being dropped off by car was an absolute luxury, and would have eventually made you a laughing stock amongst your peers anyway, since those journeys were the time when a lot of fun was had, and street wisdom was learned. From about 13, this was also the time when early courtship rituals were begun; “do you want help with your bag Karen”…he he he…fond memories. Of course, it was different because we all went to the same school, so there was a crowd walking same way same time.
High School was a little further away, and I was given money each week for a five day, ten journey special bus ticket. After the first week of the bus, like all my other friends, this money was (with the full though denied knowledge of our parents) much more wisely spent on confectionery, and the walk was back on. Rain, hail or snow! Fifteen minutes instead of ten…even more fun. We had a great time, were never under threat since it was daylight, was a busy public route, and it was just normal.
Now, in reality, I don’t think that much has actually changed except parental attitudes. Bad things are more widely publicised and have instilled fear into us, to which we have pandered.
But speaking for myself, I can’t even let my seven year old daughter ride her bike out in our very quiet street without at the same time sitting at the window observing, rising from my seat and making for the door every time I hear a car coming. Invariably, she is halfway up someone else’s drive waiting for it to pass by the time I get there. Luckily, her school is fifteen minutes fast drive from where we live now, so I don’t have to think about it…only option is to drive her. But when high school comes, I hope that I will have the courage to let them go with friends walking/on the bus, whatever.
Again, well done, it’s part of them growing up and learning to be responsible for themselves, and that has to be applauded.
Nice barbeque, incidentally!
Hi Jim – Your thinking and mine are almost identical. I guess the only thing I disagree on is that I do feel that some things have changed since the days when you and I took that walk to school. I do think that the world is more dangerous now than then. However, I don’t feel it is dangerous enough that we have to fret and worry all the time. The kids can take care of themselves for a short 15 or 20 minute journey to school and home every day, so it doesn’t worry me.
Oh yeah, I remember the days well, as you said, the walks to school or to the bus stop were the times when much of “who we are” was formed, and socialization began for us.
Glad you like the Q!
I think you are doing the right thing, the Philippines is probably safer then the US for children. They dont have to wory as much about bullies, or perverts etc and people are very family oriented there. I would suggest that they not walk alone if they do walk though, its always safer in a group.
I myself will have to judge when the time comes if im willing to let them go to school alone as they are only 2 and 4 and not born yet now and they lean toward the fairer skin like there father :/ Im not really worried about them getting hurt but since my wifes family has money and I have a bit as well, it may make them more of a target for kidnappers.
Luckily we are going to be living in a relitivly crime free area but who know in the next 10 years what will happen.
All in all I feel for you having to let go like that 🙂 I know its hard.
Hi Jack – my kids certainly don’t have to worry about bullies, as they are the biggest kids in their classes! 😆 Over summer vacation, my youngest took a vacation in GenSan, and he got teased by some local kids there…. after a week or so of teasing, that local kid ended up being laid out on the dirt road…. ha ha… I had a talk with my son to control his temper more… but kids will be kids, and in many ways I am happy that he stood up for himself. I’m betting that he won’t have any more problems with that group of kids! 😉
Bob my main problem is getting kids to walk more than 100 metres! Always the demand is for money for ‘transportation’, which means a sidecar or jeepney for distances I walk every day without a second thought. But I agree that it’s good for the kids to make their own way to school and that they are very unlikely to come to any harm.
Hi Ken – I hear you, my friend! Getting kids (or even adults) to walk is hard to do here. I enjoy going out for a walk, just seeing what is going on in the neighborhood, getting a little exercise along the way, etc. But, most people here seem adverse to walking!
Bob and Ken;
I’d rather walk than ride a Trike short distances when down town, I enjoy the walking and the sights I see along the way. The excise I really need, and every couple of days I walk around my Barangay where I meet and greet people and I enjoy that also.
Hi Paul – I enjoy walking too, and meeting and talking with people along the way. Sometimes I walk toward the north… but I doubt I’ll ever walk far enough to bump into you on one of your walks! 😯
Hi Bob,
Excellent post. I think kids need a bit of ‘supervised independence’ from time to time. I think you and Feyma made a great decision. Your kids look Filipino so if they speak passable Bisaya they should have no real problems, only the kind of ‘problems’ kids everywhere always have, lol.
My Mark – Our two youngest boys look more Caucasian than Filipino, but that’s not a big problem here. In some parts of the Philippines where there are not too many foreigners, perhaps looking white would cause a bit more trouble, but there are so many foreigners in Davao that it really isn’t a big deal.
Bob,
I think what you have decided to do is fantastic. Letting kids gain some independence and responsibility is a important part of growing up. It also allows them to feel more comfortable with their classmates. Besides once they get a routine they will probably have a few familiar drivers they will always use.
And being safe I would trust the philippines more than I would the states. Can’t even trust the bus drivers or the teachers over here. 🙁
I take great offense to you saying you cant trust bus drivers and teachers in the usa since i am a bus driver and my wife is a school teacher there are bad people who slip thru the system every once in a while. but you really dont know what your talking about we are back round checked thoroughly we cant even have a parking ticket on our record let alone a speeding or criminal offense ! we are not just checked locally by our police dept but national for crimes committed in any state. are those jeepney drivers screened like that I doubt it and seeing where the Philippines is so corrupt in every aspect of goverment and levels of society and culture where a former President who went to prison for corruption can run for president again I would venture to say I still would trust the USA A LITTLE MORE ON A BACKROUND CHECK!!!!!!!
Mike
Guess again!! I work Law Enforcment in Jacksonville and we are continuously arresting
teachers and bus drivers for having affairs with students,molesting kids and physically abusing them. That is not to say that the majority of the teachers and supporting personnel don’t do a good job and are dedicated to their profession. But every year we seem to arrest more and more educators it is very distrubing to me. I know your background check is complex with ncic/fcic checks, DMV checks, Local and credit reports. I do them everyday on people. People can pass these checks and stil yeild to temptation.
And as far as the Philippines I lived there for four years and everyday when I went to work I always had a hand full of tricycle drivers and jeepney drivers I would ride with I was a regular customer and felt safe with them. And I’m sure those kids will have the same experience and be a regular customer to a few drivers.
Believe it or not the filipino people have alot of care and respect for children and elderly.
In fact their laws for protecting children are very strict. If you are caught with a kid under 16yrs and they are not your family or relatives or have permission from their parents you will go to JAIL.
Corruption!! Yes there is corruption in every levels of the the goverment in the Philippines thats a known fact. As far as culture and society I believe they are more religious and family orientated then we areas a nation. But before you go off on a tangent you need to look in our own backyard we have more corruption in our own goverment,society and culture then the philippines ever had and it is getting worse. Study history my friend and follow current events they tend to repeat themselves.
if your constantly arresting people for crimes against children who are bus drivers and teachers i would say the people doing your backround checks need more training in inputting the info into the ncic. and the same could be said for police you see the occasional story about cops doing bad things also all the time on the 6 oclock news . Florida is a hot bed for degenerates and perverts thats where all the loose change got shaken down to and settled there in the usa all the deadbeat dads and bums migrate to Florida.
Hi Mike – I don’t think that Michels meant that comment to be offensive. I am sure that both you and your wife are honest and trustworthy people. Yes, there is corruption in the Philippines, but when it comes to family values and care for the young and also the elderly, I do feel that the Philippines is way ahead of the USA and also other Western countries.
No I did not mean for my comment to be offensive to all the hard working and honest educators and staff that put children first and are dedicated to their education and welfare. I’m just concern in the way the US education system is going. When Unions, Lawyers, Goverment, Money dictate how are schools are to be run and what subjects are to be taught and in what ideology. They also protect and make it almost impossible to fire inadaquate and law breaking educators. So who suffers Good teachers and staff and most of all the children.
Tidbit of history when President Carter formed the Dept of Education and took away the States authority to oversee their education. The USA dropped from being in the top 5 in educated nations to around 26th and falling all in about 20 yrs. That is disturbing to me.
Hi Michels – I think that it’s a move that will benefit the kids a lot. What they are doing is not much different than how I grew up, but a lot of kids these days don’t get the same kind of experience, which is sad.
Bob,
Your right most kids don’t experience this kind of responsibility and freedom.
When I was in grade school me and my brothers and sisters took the city bus in Detroit to school everyday. An when we moved we walked 4 city blocks but that was in the 60’s. Now a days most parents won’t let their kids walk one block let alone take a city bus. It’s the sign of the times here in the USA.
Hi B. Michels – Yeah, times have changed a lot since we were kids! That’s one thing I love about the Philippines, it is much more like the times when I grew up.
For a place where it seems a majority of the population is so reliant on public transportation it sounds like the right time you have chosen to have your kids learn how to make use of it themselves. I never used public transportation when I was growing up and to this day I still don’t, only when visiting in a foriegn land where I am reluctant to drive as in the UK and Philippines. Fortunately when I came to visit the Philippines I was with Filipino friends who introduced me to the use of the Jeepneys. If it had not been for them I might have been at quite a loss or just use Taxis all of the time.
If your childrens classmates also use Jeepney Transportation to and from school I think it will make them blend in better with their own crowd. I think it is a good move.
Driving in the UK ? I did rent a car there once just to try it for the experience. I only ran into the curb 3 times on my first time out but trying to figure out how to navigate a 4 lane roundabout near Oxford, now that was a real experience !
Hi Bob – at Ateneo, where my kids go to school, there are lots of kids who ride Jeepneys, and also lots who get rides from their parents. Ateneo is probably the school with the most “rich” students in Davao, so you get a real mix when it comes to things like this.
Not knowing how to use a Jeepney or Tricycle seems almost criminal to me. 😉
Sure they are safer if you take them to school. Everything we do has risk, not knowing how to get around on their own or being to shy to stop a tricycle though would be a much bigger risk.
People like to say, safety fist, but if that were really true we’d never get out of bed or even turn on the lights. Nothing would get done if safety were truly first. Getting things done is first, doing it safely is second. True, doing the job as safely as possible is of course the goal.
You wont always be there.
Hi Rusty – Great to hear from you after a long silence! Yes, the real key is the last line: You won’t always be there. That is why it is important to prepare the kids, give them some independence, etc.
Hi, Bob!
I really think it’s a good decision from you and Feyma to let your kids go out on their own and experience being independent in some ways while they’re young. After all, when they grow up, they will have to do these things in the real world. When I was a kid, my dad used to bring me and my brothers to school everyday using the family car until his untimely demise. We were still in gradeschool/high school when he died, and then we were left to do most things on our own including going to school using public transport (jeepneys/tricycle). (My mom can’t drive and she has to attend to our family business). When I will have kids of my own, I will do the same thing as you did for your kids (of course, like your kids, after getting old enough), letting them gradually learn in the real world. From big cities to the countryside, many kids in the Philippines in fact, do get to school on their own even at their young ages (except probably when the weather’s bad).
By the way, congratulations on the new look of your website, Bob! I think it has a more Philippine flavor to it and the background is great. I like it! Cheers! 🙂
Hi JR – Thanks for your comment. Your experience, although very unfortunate (about your father), only proves how important it is for the kids to learn how to get around town on their own.
Thanks, I’m glad you like the site, JR.
Good move. I can only speak from my experience: I too studied at ateneo (high school) and initially was driven & picked up.
Soon, I grew tired of not being in control of my time & switched to the jeepney. My commute is a little further than your kids (I lived in Lanang) and took 2 jeepney rides & a trisikad to get home, but I loved it & I believe it helped improve my self-confidence & being independent.
When I didn’t feel like taking the lengthly 2 rides home, I would simply stop at the downtown family business. I took great pride in seeing the security guard’s logbook listing of my arrival. On the vehicle chart beside my name, my transportation would constantly be listed as “on foot” and I loved it.
Later on, in my brief stint at UP Mindanao in Mintal, I would take an even more distant public commute whenever I chose to go home 2-3 times a month. Some may find it a hassle, but I truly enjoyed it. Come to think of it, I must have caught the traveling bug with the jeepney rides …Be careful what you wish for 😉
Taking a jeepney in Ateneo is a breeze. You guys are right about making the switch.
Hi macky – your opinion is important to me. One big reason for that is because you’ve been there and done that, and real world experience is the best way to form an opinion. I appreciate what you had to say, Macky!
That’s nice of you to say, Bob. By the way, I should mention that I took the jeepney home, but we were driven to school. It was for the best, since I was not really not as a morning person 🙂
Another alternative is to have them driven in the morning & then take public commute going home. This way, your kids are fresh & not affected by the heat/humidity before class.
Hi Macky – for now, it works better for the kids to ride jeepney in the morning, because in the afternoon, our youngest son gets out of school earlier than our older one (one is HS and the other is Elementary). So, sometimes, Jared gets picked up in the afternoon, especially if Aaron has an after class activity of some kind. Usually they ride both ways, but on afternoons it never certain for Jared.
COOL! When I used to skip school, hehehe ROTFL all those years ago, my friends and I would jump on a jeepney, LOL LOL! And go wherever!
Skip school? 😯
Bob;
If I’d not have skipped school, I never would have met “Charlie on the MTA” (sung by Peter Paul & Mary) in Boston. My friends and I would ride the subway all over the city, or would that be under?
Ha ha… I’m shocked, Paul!!!
hi bob,
That is a good decision for your kids, they will soon build their own ways and means of protecting themselves. we humans are very similar to an animal, any animal raised in captivity has a less chance of surviving in the wild, while the one raised in the wild can surely survive anything.
Thank you dans. So far, this arrangement is working out very well.