Quarrel on the bus? The new bus escorts are now on duty!

13 young people have now started their voluntary service as school bus guides. They assist pupils with words and deeds during the journey. And if there are disputes on the bus, they are supposed to calm down and mediate so that school traffic can proceed in an orderly manner. They are also there as contact persons for all other passengers and the bus staff.

Pia Blecking, Ole Emming, Maximilian Hoves, Stella Stroet (all Euregiogymnasium), Svenja Heuer, Ben Sun (both Mariengymnasium), Adrian Joormann, Marle Kampshoff and another pupil (all St. Georg Gymnasium), Ferenc Alexander, Alexandria Papas and another pupil (all Gesamtschule Bocholt), as well as Steliano Pashaj from Hohe-Giethorst-Schule now received their ID cards from the hand of Bocholt's head of public order, Thomas Waschki, which identify them as officially appointed school bus escorts.

Review: In June, the 13 young people were trained in the "Café Karton" by social education worker Julia Nubbenholt and Detective Superintendent Michael Wanning from the Crime Prevention and Victim Protection Department. The programme included exercises and role plays in the areas of communication, de-escalation and dispute resolution.

The new bus attendants will start their voluntary work in the current school year 2023/24. As a reward for their voluntary work, the participating transport companies grant the bus guides free rides in their free time. They have fixed contact persons at school (support teachers/school social workers), because the project cannot be implemented without support from the schools.

Background to the idea

In order to counteract the numerous complaints in connection with school bus traffic, the idea arose in the 2005/2006 school year to use pupils as bus escorts on school buses.

For the first time in June 2006 in Bocholt, pupils of grades 8 and 9 were trained as bus escorts. Already six months after the start of the programme on four different bus routes, the feedback clearly showed a need for further bus escorts in school transport, also on other routes.

More committed pupils are now joining the programme every year. In the school year 2023/24, there will be a total of 26 active bus escorts on school buses. Since the beginning of this project, more than 200 young people have already been trained.

Cooperation partner

The project is supported by: Hohe-Giethorst-Schule, Euregiogymnasium, Gesamtschule Bocholt, Mariengymnasium, St. Georg Gymnasium, Kreispolizei Borken, Fachbereich Jugend, Familie, Schule und Sport, Presse- und Informationsdienst der Stadt Bocholt, DEKRA GmbH, Stadtbus Bocholt GmbH, Westfalen Bus GmbH, Busverkehr Rheinland GmbH, NIAG Niederrheinische Verkehrsbetriebe AG, Café Karton (school café). DEKRA bears the costs for the speaker and the keyholder of the badges.