2008-10-08 07:07:09 - When a five year old boy was abandoned by a school bus driver, he showed more courage than most adults give children credit for.

When Jaeden Vasqeuez, a five year-old decided to explore the big wide world without his mum, he showed an incredible amount of courage. More than most adults give kids credit for.

Jaeden lives with his mother, right across the street from the Public School 111. He was due to go to the Beacon after-school program next door. Instead, the bright yellow

school bus looked much more attractive to the five-year old. After all, Jaeden had seen heaps of kids climb onto the bus every night.

Happily Jaeden watched the world race by, as he sat quietly on the bus with the other kids. At the last stop, the 60 year-old grandmother bus driver, Ewers, called, 'Everyone out'. There was nothing for Jaeden to do, but climb off with all the others. Ewers didn't know that Jaeden's mother was not among the waiting parents on the pavement. No children were allowed off the bus if an adult was not waiting for them.

Totally undaunted by the situation, Jaeden picked an unsuspecting Good Samaritan who just happened to be passing, to tell her "I'm lost". Keeping her cool, the Good Samaritan rang Jaeden's school. It was Jaeden's mother who went to pieces, when a strange woman on the end of the phone said, "Excuse me but I have your son". The Good Samaritan leapt into a cab with Jaeden and returned him to his home.

Bonilla, Jaeden's mum, received no explanation from the Education Department, the school, or the bus company, a week later. She will now sue the City, while the parents of the Primary School 111, look on in shock horror. Where can their kids be safe, if not at school?

The question which remains to be asked is whose fault was it? The person who allowed Jaeden onto the school bus, or the grandmotherly bus driver who put him off? She says she is being used as a scapegoat. Maybe the fault was with Jaeden because he merely wanted an adventure. Or was it just that the lovely yellow school bus looked much too tempting for a five-year old?

Jaeden definitely showed the same adventure travel spirit, which led thousands of pioneers in the past, to embark on dangerous and unknown journeys. Journeys that formed the foundation of many a colony.

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You can find out more about the author at Win a Resort (winaresort.com). Dr Wendy and her husband provide education grants for kids who will never have the privilege of seeing the inside of a high school classroom, without your help. You can read more at YouMe Support Foundation, (youmesupport.org).