All You Need To Travel Is A Dollar Van And A Dream!

Many of us enjoy doing simple things in public that are illegal. Whether it's jaywalking or littering - it can be a minor day-to-day activity that could cause an accident or maybe even a fire. We don't think about the consequences of the minuscule actions we take to make our lives easier.

Don't get in that van!!!!

So what - you took a dollar van from the junction at Brooklyn College to get to Kings Plaza Mall. So what, you hitched a ride on some mysterious black/white jitney for a couple of bucks (is a dollar van really JUST $1 any more?) to Downtown Brooklyn because you're sick of waiting for the city's above ground mass transit system. So they're illegal - BIG DEAL! You'd do anything to get to your destination and make your life easier! Right?

What you don't care about is the fact that, not only are those dollar vans illegal, they are dangerous to those traveling inside and outside of the vehicle. Even if you do care and you're still hailing these cryptic-looking monsters, you're putting more fuel on the fire to keep them operating and posing a risk to the public. 

To those commuters who give up waiting for that LEGAL form of transportation - YES, it's YOUR fault that there are massive collisions and accidents as a result of dollar van traffic. You don't care that the dollar van in which YOU'RE hitching a ride just cut off someone on the road and now they've slammed into another driver who hit and killed two pedestrians at a major intersection? You don't care that the dollar van driver you just trusted with your life has NO insurance - so if you and the other passengers are injured, you're SCREWED?

You know the business phrase "supply and demand..." In my opinion,  dollar vans are out in full force - despite the city cracking down on their practices - because many commuters are utilizing them instead of protesting their illegal operations. Those vans are not only illegal because they're not licensed by the Department of Transportation, chances are the drivers do not have insurance that will cover the number of passengers hopping aboard. Forget about all of the moving violations practiced by dollar van drivers! There have been so many reports of hit-and-runs, accidents and deaths as a result of these careless drivers who just want to make some money - and take money away from the city. 

Furthermore, why would anyone want to jump in these vehicles that bottleneck at major intersections and LOOK like a creepy van that the A-Team members may have found a kidnapping victim inside? 

Let's get real! These aren't legitimate "shuttle buses" with their own safely positioned stops away from mainstream traffic. The minute one of these hellish-looking bad boys swoops into a designated bus stop to pick up a passenger, it reminds me of a scene from a crime show - where the driver is waiting for an accomplice inside to grab the innocent passenger, knock them unconscious and shove them inside of a huge laundry bag to be held for ransom. 

I recently saw a woman waiting for a city bus along Flatbush Avenue in the Flatlands section of our community. She asked me if I saw a bus pass, and I said yes. She looked stressed...But alas! Here comes the monstrous, black van with NO legal transportation license number showing and a couple of shady looking fellows peeking out the tinted windows. Someone from the inside slid the door open, she got in and then the door quickly closed with a slam - as if some shakedown were going to occur and this woman was part of their hoodlum hijinx. Did anyone in that van have drugs? Weapons? Alcohol? 

Who cares! When you make it to the mall in under 10 minutes because you're just that impatient, rules and regulations go out those tinted windows!

Another reality we can't ignore is that these dollar van drivers KNOW they're going to get business. For the most part, it looks like they're accommodating residents in lower-income communities who don't want to pay for a MetroCard or get on/wait for a crowded bus. 

How about using Uber? Still too costly to get into a vehicle with an operator who's licensed and insured? COME ON! Risking ones life by using illegal transportation can prevent someone from reaching their destination altogether. What if the van you hitched a ride in is stolen? What if the police pull over that driver and you never make it to that baby shower in East Flatbush?

When the hit-and-run incident happened by Kings Plaza Mall in early August, a dollar van was the culprit of the unnecessary tragedy. Reports stated that the driver had no license and after striking two people, left the scene. This is what most dollar van drivers do when they've caused an accident - because they're NOT law-abiding citizens who care about the safety of others!

Local precincts can do whatever they want to "crack down" on these  drivers, issue tickets/fines/violations... The public should not only STOP using these vans at all costs, but they should also notify authorities about these drivers instead of getting in for a ride! By getting in one of these shady transports, you're supporting their business and giving them a reason to keep operating. 

Obviously, I would rather walk five miles to get to my destination than climb into a creepy looking van driven illegally by someone who has no regard for the lives of others. Stop using this mode of transportation...stop these money-hungry drivers from operating and save your dollar for a safer commute! You could possibly save someone's life, not to mention your own!

Suspending An Idea That Gives Educators More Work

When I was 13 years old, I was "suspended" from Canarsie's Bildersee Junior High School. Sadly, I was going through my adolescent years - the most tender time of growing up during which I felt like there was no place that was "right" for me - mentally, emotionally and academically.

What did I do?

Who fails? Students or schools?

One spring school day I sent a letter to my guidance counselor, claiming that I "felt like hurting myself" and that my middle school peers didn't understand me and I was "frustrated" at home. In the 1990s, school officials didn't seem to take "self-inflicting threats" too seriously. Of course they do now - which gives more responsibility and accountability to the Department of Education (DOE) to recognize at-risk students. Even in my younger days, self-inflicted threats meant that any student waving red flags about their psychological growth - or hindrances -  was taken seriously. Subsequently, they were ordered to be removed from school until deemed "safe to be in the company of themselves and/or others."

Was it a mistake to be honest with my guidance counselor that I felt "depressed"  and as if I didn't fit in? It was honestly NOT how I really felt - maybe I was just sad or upset over something and reacted in an extreme manner. However, it must have been a blessing in disguise - because school officials suspended me for a week and I had to seek remediation and be evaluated for my  seriously "disturbing thoughts." 

I didn't get into ANY fights with my peers...I didn't inflict injuries on myself/others or show ANY repetitive signs of what today's psychologists would call "unhealthy at-risk behavior." I was considered an average student with minimal absences who had a small group of friends. Yet my behavior wasn't monitored by school officials - they jumped on the signal and simply pulled me out of the building for a week because of an empty "threat" I made that wasn't too specific in nature.

Hey - a week off from school?? Great!

All I had to do was go to the Kings County psychiatric unit and explain that I'm having "a mid-teen-life crisis" and needed some "time off from school" to get my ducks in order??? Forget about planning outfits for five days and forget about having to do homework!!! Sign me up for this "suspension" thing!!! Not being around a bunch of annoying kids in a classroom all day??

COUNT ME IN!

And what did I do during my suspension - other than get mauled on the phone by "counselors" and "academic advisors" until I was reevaluated and deemed safe to return to Bildersee? Waking up late every day was a treat - and not smelling that God awful school lunch for a week did wonders for my nose!

No - I didn't need "disciplinary action" or rehabilitative practices. I didn't need to be "punished" by being removed from school completely. But who was I to argue with getting a school-mandated "break" that did little in terms of holding me back from my studies? I still graduated on time and - as you can see - turned into a fine, successful and productive adult who just had a few road blocks to barrel through as many teens do.

Of course, nowadays they've reformed what constitutes being "suspended" and, according to the DOE, any suspension must include alternative instruction and not just removing the disturbed child from the school to save their peers from eminent danger.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is once again practicing his liberal approach to academics by banning suspensions for children in kindergarten through second grade. Really? When you have a violent child who is disruptive and infringing on their peers' rights to learn, removing them from the CLASSROOM - not the school entirely - is an action that needs to be taken responsibly.

I contend that schools are now historically spending more money on programs to combat/reform violent children and their disruptive behavior. Trying to figure out why a child can't grasp the concept of conflict-resolution and what their mental state may be takes a lot more than a suspension or two during the school year. Is all that money changing the generation and quality of students our schools produce?

I didn't think it was fair that I was  removed from school when there were physically dangerous students lurking the hallways on a daily basis. There were students who were suspended at least once a month for starting physical fights and bullying to the point where productive students couldn't focus - and when a brawl broke out and the dean/principal had to be called to calm down or remove the repeat offender, that was more time taken away from our studies. But they let the trouble makers stay in the same classrooms and come back for more.

Why does de Blasio want to keep those students in the classroom while trying to get down to the "underlying" issue of their anger? Some students need to know that if they can't be civil, there will be repercussions - and more than just "tough love."

Let's get real - no matter how young a child is, they NEED a strict set of rules, values, morals and disciplinary actions to guide them towards being productive teens/adults. To make excuses for them - and their parents - is giving them a pass to act in whatever manner they chose with minimal consequences.

Those who are violent or have problems which can't be solved by sitting in a classroom all day need to be placed in another environment where they can't infringe on their peers' right to learn. As the DOE connotes, there should be alternative instruction within the school perimeters. 

Being sensitive to children who will feel "different" and ostracized if they are pulled from the classroom is justified. YES, these children ARE different - they are not productive, they are disruptive and a possible distraction. They may also suffer from mental problems which are exacerbated by remaining in the same learning environment with other students who do not know how to communicate with them effectively.

We also can't deny that parents play the main role in this "plan" as the artery of their childrens' behaviors. School-disciplinary actions are only temporary - and we're paying for public school programs which are trying to "fix" and "reform" children who aren't recognized by their parents as being "at-risk." Many parents are in denial and leave it to the school to raise their children. Is this what de Blasio wants? For school officials to baby the younger students and presume that there are just a few "bad seeds" who have to outgrow their childhood?

Parents should be suspended too!! If their child is behaving extremely dangerously, parents should be mandated to take off from work and join their child in school for a week to be part of the counseling/discipline process - and not just attend "workshops." Adults are summonsed to jury duty - they should be summonsed to suspension leave and - along with their children - re-learn how to socialize and identify mental health problems.

Obviously, I'm not an educator and I have no background working with the DOE or its academic advisors. I'm the one looking into the snow globe from the outside after having one harmless incident shatter my reputation during my teen years in junior high school.

Whatever problems students face and however their "suspensions" are delegated, literally handling our troubled children with "kid gloves" doesn't solve the deep-rooted issues they face. There's "school-reform" and "student-reform." Let's not confuse the two...