Bus Radio

[ssetta]

I recently read about this new special radio service designed for school buses. It's going to be like satellite radio, and it will consist of news and music, but will leave out some of the adult content heard on regular FM radio, which is piped on many school buses. When I first heard about this, I was shocked, because in my town, we never had radio on the school bus. But people are saying that it might not be a good idea, because it can distract the driver, and maybe even the students. Here's an article about it:

http://www.obligation.org/busradioarticle.php?recordID=754

So, did any of you ever have radio on your school bus? And what do you think of this new service?

 

[PTBoardOp94]

1) Yes, for a long time I did have the radio on on my school bus. That brings me to #2.
2) There is no one set of music that will please even a majority of the students on the average school bus, at least where I went to school. That district put everybody K-12 on the same bus. If there are any 14 year old guys who would put up with Lindsey Lohan, or, God forbid, sing along, I would probably drive the bus off the road, were I the bus driver. The reverse is true. DJ Shadow isn't exactly 6-year-old friendly. There were daily battles between passengers wanting to hear CHR, Country, and Alternative.
3) The radio isn't pacifying to more than a few students on a bus. And there are usually a half-dozen requests such as "change the station", "turn off this b___s___", or "please turn the radio up" that are the real distraction.

I can't evaluate the service specifically, but it doesn't solve any problems for anyone involved in transportation.

If you want to entertain kids with music, encourage them to bring iPods/Walkmans/PSPs/Ham Radio setup . In my particular district, all of those were banned. And I understand the Ham thing

 

[cadillacjack]

I rode to junior and high school in a bus with an eight-track tape deck. :

We would bring tapes and Merle, our bus driver, would play DJ. I seem to remember EJ's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road for weeks on end.

CJ

 

[Turntable]

Oh yeah, I certainly did have radio on the school bus. The driver used to play Classic Rock WRKI 95.1 out of Brookfield, CT. The bus had speakers in the ceiling, which appered to be factory installed. Awesome.

-A

 

[Tom Wells]

Yeah, the school bus I rode in the mid-70's was driven by an off-duty cop, so there was no problem with discipline, and WLS 890 was THE station, so there was no argument about what to listen to.

One tin soldier rides away.....
heartbeat, it's a love beat, and when we meet, it's good vibration...
etc...

 

[KevinFodor]

What really is a tragedy to this 30 plus year radio veteran is that today's "hit" music has gotten
so "controversial" that you can't play it on a school bus. And, that a company sees an
opening to make some money providing a service that "local radio" which "programs to the tastes
of our audience", will not provide.

Funny...I thought radio's job was to serve the "public interest, convenience, and necessity". If your
station's music is deemed too dirty to play on a school bus, I think it's time to ask yourself if your
station is actually serving "interest, convenience and necessity".

OK, yeah. I'm almost 50. I know. I'm supposed to be "dead" by now.

Of course, I always got a chuckle out of CHR programmers who would say "we're not a teen station", blindly
ignoring that 20 or 30 share of teens the station would get each book.

Yes, our bus played the radio, too. Different stations. But if I didn't like what they were playing on a particular day, I just grabbed my transistor radio and put the earplug in my ear. I would never have been
so rude to demand that a driver "turn that *(^*%^$& off"!

But, I know what you mean. About a year ago, I DJ'd a high school homecoming dance. The theme for the dance was "Phantom Of The Opera" and the homecoming committee asked me to play "Music Of The Night" for the Homecoming Dance. I played the song and the students booed...me! Shouted at me to "turn that bull*** off!" It's the only time in 30 plus years of mobile events I have ever turned to a student and told
him, "The song was selected by your school's homecoming committee for this dance. If you don't like it, take it up with your fellow students! For God's sake, it's only 4 minutes long! You can live without hip hop for four freaking minutes!" You should've seen the look on the kid's face. He was speechless, and walked away.

 

[Tom Wells]

About a year ago, I DJ'd a high school homecoming dance. The theme for the dance was "Phantom Of The Opera" and the homecoming committee asked me to play "Music Of The Night" for the Homecoming Dance. I played the song and the students booed...me! Shouted at me to "turn that bull*** off!" It's the only time in 30 plus years of mobile events I have ever turned to a student and told
him, "The song was selected by your school's homecoming committee for this dance. If you don't like it, take it up with your fellow students! For God's sake, it's only 4 minutes long! You can live without hip hop for four freaking minutes!" You should've seen the look on the kid's face. He was speechless, and walked away.

Reminds me of a junior-high sock hop in 1975 when I made a 7" tape reel of music, and included Elton John's version of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, at the request of a dozen or so girls. You seldom seen such a tussel.
The girls were swoozing around, or whatever you do with a song like that, and a mad rush of people ran over to the side,
demanding its immediate cessation. The song finished, and normalcy returned.
But the "take that @$%^&*! off", is still fresh in my mind.
The girls who requested it were the equiv of the homecoming committee, class officers and such.....
Some things never change.

 

[4dude]

Sadly when i was on the bus they didnt have radios in them... (People brought thier own and blasted them )

I guess it works out OK or they wouldnt do it i dunno....