Heat impacts kids riding school buses

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) – Summer vacation may be over for a lot of children, but summer itself is still here.

With school now in session for many, high temperatures can be dangerous for kids who have long bus rides to school.

That’s especially true if the bus doesn’t have air conditioning.

LEX 18 reports the extreme heat we’ve been dealing with can really affect kids, and this time of year, one potentially dangerous situation they find themselves in is riding a school bus without air conditioning.

Delisha Walker looks over her 6-year-old grandson, Asan Moore, who came off his bus yesterday crying because of the heat.

Walker says, “Children get off the bus exhausted. You can see the sweat pouring off of him.”

She understands that sometimes kids don’t know how to take care of themselves in this kind of weather.

She says that’s why it’s important for adults to step in.

Pediatrician Dr. Elizabeth Hawse says water is especially important, because kids get dehydrated much faster than adults.

Hawse says some other ways parents can help prevent their children from overheating are to dress them in light clothing and monitor their behavior.

She says, “When you’re older, like it’s really hot, and you get a headache, and you’re like, oh I probably need to drink some water. Like you said, a six year old is not going to come to that conclusion.”

With all that in mind, the grandmother says she’ll do everything she can to keep her grandchild safe, and she has made sure her grandchild has learned from this experience.