Whoa-oh they gotta go back to school

Aw, do I have to go?” will be heard from more than one cracked-open bedroom window on Wednesday

Aw, do I have to go?” will be heard from more than one cracked-open bedroom window on Wednesday

morning. It will likely be followed with gentle a nudging, then a verbal pleading, then an outright demand: “Geeet oout of bed.”

Pause.

“Yes, you have to go … who’s gonna teach the class if you’re not there?”

Yepperdoo, the halls of learning will be filled once again with brand new shoes, crisp blue jeans, popped collars and eyes freshly wiped of sleep, as school resumes for what the kiddies may now deem bright and early after a few months of relaxation and vegetation.

It can’t be easy for teachers, either.

Regardless of how long it takes to get back into the school routine, to quote one of the worst school movies of all time — that would be “Grease 2” — “whoa-oh /they gotta go/ back to school.”

Now comes all the usual reminders that accompany the first week in September.

Parents: Make sure your children have their vaccinations or a waiver and all necessary school supplies so they’ll step into the classroom ready to learn. Students: Don’t hate your parents for making you go back — it’s the law, man.

And, as a community reminder: Those little flashy, blinking lights precariously placed in front of schools aren’t put there for amusement. They are a reminder that there will be little tykes walking to and fro from school and home for the next few months. Watch out for them, as that, too, is the law, man.

More than a few of those young-uns are very, very not tall and cannot possibly be visible from the driver’s perch of a minivan or SUV. If you drive such a vehicle, be extra careful.

School zones aren’t the only place that require extra attention during the school months.

There’s a handy contraption called a school bus — they’re big, bright yellow vehicles that carry many little precious souls every day. These vehicles, too, have little blinky lights on the back, but there are different rules for these red, flashy lights.

If, in the course of your driving — be it to work, The Buck for a coffee fix, or to the gym to let off steam — and you get behind a stopped yellow school bus and its red lights are blinking, you have to stop, too.

Here it is again: If you get behind a stopped yellow school bus and its red lights are blinking, you have to stop, too. This is the school bus driver’s way of telling you that precious little cargo is getting out of the bus and crossing the street.

Don’t put your own errand ahead of the children’s lives. If you choose to drive around the bus, you may hit a child. The repercussions of that would be horrible for the child, you, and your attorney.

So it’s best just to avoid that scene all together.

Oh, and if a school bus is in front of you, beware: They stop. A lot.

Please watch out for children walking in school zones and for buses on the road on Wednesday.

It’s the law, man.

And it’s a good one.

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