PARENTS--Earthquakes and kids in school--what's your plan?

Has there ever been a scenario where teachers had to stay at school for days? I think you spend a lot of time worrying about things that have never happened to talk yourself out of things. Millions die in car crashes every year. Does your family use a car?

I am betting on autonomous cars by then. Teacher can set the destination if needed :slight_smile:
Under current conditions, one reasonable thing is probably making friends with other parents, so whoever arrives there first takes care of the kids.

The question isn’t “has there ever been,” the question is “could it be?” My understanding is that in an Earthquake, teachers have to stay with the kids until they are all picked up or let go. That’s my understanding. So if someone cannot come and pick up the kids, because, say, the bridge is down, and the parents live in Marin or East Bay, then someone has to stay with them right?

I’m sorry, I didn’t grow up in an area with Earthquakes, but that’s what my school handbooks tell me. So I have to take it at face value, that teachers don’t just leave the kids unsupervised and take off towards home. And that’s three different handbooks, btw…

Here:

“In the event of a major disaster, SCHOOL WILL NOT BE DISMISSED. CHILDREN WILL REMAIN UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF SCHOOL AUTHORITIES. Under no circumstances shall any child be released from the custody of school personnel unless and until such may be done with complete safety. Students shall be released only to persons authorized by parents and listed on the emergency card. Parents are asked to provide an accurate and current list of persons authorized to assume custody of their child in an emergency. Any adult calling for a pupil at a school site will be required to identify him/herself to an assigned staff member before being permitted to take a pupil off the premise. An accounting record of those pupils so released shall be kept.”

Those are their caps, not mine btw.

The problem is modern American culture. From 7 on I walked alone to school. At 13 I was going to SF by bus. Most SF kids still use public transportation. NYC too. Suburban kids are chauffeured everywhere, coddled isolated and not taught to take care of themselves. Now kids are required to have 24/7 adult supervision. No wonder kids have self esteem and drug issues. The threat of kidnapping is lower that ever yet parents are guilted into overprotective behavior.

2 Likes

I hope that wont happen to us. We live in burbs, and dont have kids yet, but it was the greatest freedom to bike everywhere, and going further and further distances with older friends(2yrs older usually) was the real adventure :slight_smile:

1 Like

I think kids in Tahoe are more free range than the BA. I see plenty walking alone to and from school. Plenty chauffeured too.

Exactly why I don’t see any problem with raising a kid in a city. Don’t need to move to the burbs to raise a family.

This would be difficult even without major emergency like earthquake.
You will get a call from school office due to sick kids or have to attend school events/conference. Proximity to your office will determine the quality of your life when both parents are working.
Me and my husband offices are about 20-30mins drive from our home on local road.
In case of emergency, our plan is both of us come to pick up kids immediately.
When we choose new job, we both consider 2 things as the high priority. No travel and proximity to our place.
Life is full of compromise and so far we survived as both working parents without family to rely on.
My advice is “trying to find the best option for your family life but don’t be afraid too much”. I remember that i had anxiety all the time for the first few years after i got back to work. However, things were way better than i expected. You will figure things out and adjust to new set-up.

2 Likes

@Terri, I have kids in school and I share your concerns. Our family plan for earthquake is that kids will stay in school if they are allowed to. They have cellphones and assuming they work we will figure out a way for them to get home (call neighbors and friends etc). If we can’t call each other and the kids can’t stay in school (they are in high school), then the plan is for them to walk to their nearest friend’s home. We identified 3 such friends. If they cannot stay with their friends, then I identified the route that they should walk home from. I will be looking for them along that route. Being a parent makes you paranoid. :smile:

2 Likes

I live in MTV, and you can give me a call - i volunteer to pick your kids if they are going to some school nearby.

  • Random internet dude named tomato.
1 Like

@Jane and @zensri

THANK YOU SO MUCH for actually answering the question!!!

You are right, zensri, “Being a parent makes you paranoid.”

We don’t have family here either. One neighbor works near the school our kids are at and has a kid at our school. I’ve thought about asking her to bring them home (walkable) in case of EQ, but then they’d have to be on their own for a while or our next door neighbors would have to supervise. Which they might be ok with. I don’t know if it’s better to leave them at the school though.

The sick days my husband would have to handle**–that’s the price of me going back to work. I think he’s ok with that. I originally thought he was planning to take a job closer to our house in the next couple of months, but now he’s talking about sticking around for another year or so at his job in the city. His reasons for that make sense financially, so I don’t want to tell him not to. Right now, the conference schedule for one school would be during the days off at the other.

My other concern is Caltrain getting stuck if the kids are in after care since I’d be the one getting back first (around 5:10pm), and it’s possible I could have just morning classes and try to come back on an earlier train to be on the safe side. If I can get a house in close to #1 and #2’s school, that’d be great, but not sure if that’ll happen.

** He’ll probably call one of those nurse-companies that take care of sick kids though if they’re sick a lot.

@Terri you have a valid question that has made me think we should create a plan - we don’t have one yet!

1 Like

Yup, we got the calls from our NY relatives since they saw the videos of the fires in the Marina and of course the downed Bay Bridge section and thought mass mayhem and destruction throughout the city. No, it was not that bad. Our power was out for several days though but we managed through pretty well. Yes, for sure, if an earthquake was centered or more closer to the Fab 7x7 for sure the damage would have been greater.

Our big winter last year was a lot worse. Earthquakes are over hyped. Not a big deal with wood frame construction.
Big deal in the third world with unreinforced masonry buildings

1 Like

That’s what I thought too. In any case, I don’t have to think about earthquake plan since one parent is always at home. I just provide 3 phone numbers to the school to call if there is an earthquake. Also, I have checked effect of past earthquake in my neighborhood, the worse was a 1-minute shaking, some pictures drop to the floor that’s about it. Is not like house sliding down a slope like Santa Cruz.

1 Like