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Panama City Beach, Fla:
A routine walk to the bus stop turns tragic as a brother and sister are hit by a car. One of the children was killed, the other taken to the hospital. It happened at the intersection of Wisteria and Front Beach Road this morning (Wednesday) around 7 a.m.
The Florida Highway Patrol says 6-year-old Julie Lister and 9-year-old Michael McFall walked in front of a car. Julie was killed… Michael was sent to Bay Medical Center in critical condition.
Jerry, it’s been a tough day for students and teachers alike. In fact, Bay District Schools sent in grief counselors to help everyone cope with the loss.
“This is just unbelievable to have to deal with, but as a family we are pulling together”…This morning Hutchison Beach principal Shirley Ramsey woke to the news that two of her students were hit by a car crossing the street to get to the bus stop. One did not survive: “They’re wonderful children, as are all of our children,” she says.
Bay District Schools brought in grief counselors to help deal with the tragedy. Joan Harris is Director of Student Services for Bay District Schools. She says the team’s first move is to assess the school’s need: “...to follow their lead as to what the needs are, what support they’re looking for.”
Harris says that when helping children through an emotional situation, the most important thing to do is to have the facts straight: “because the rumors abound when anything like this happens.”
Counselors give teachers space to address the situation directly with students and for students to ask questions. Harris says that today “There were a lot of students that were partly aware of what had gone on, so it was important that they have correct information.”
Harris says that counselors at school do help, but it’s important to talk with your children about tragedy at home. One of the first questions young children will ask, surprisingly, is whether or not what happened was an accident: “That’s a typical reaction. They want to make sure that it was an accident because then it’s easier for them to realize that they’re safe, that they’re ok.”
According to counselors it’s important to let kids ask questions. Harris says to give answers as truthfully as possible.
Transportation for Bay District Schools React:
News 13 wanted to know what Bay District Schools do to help prevent incidents like this one from happening so we spoke to Ken Phillips, the supervisor of transportation. He says that his department routinely checks bus stops like this one to make sure they are safe: “The drivers, they’re our eyes and ears. They tell us if anything is going on, if anything is out of the ordinary. We haven’t seen any complaints and we depend on parents to notify us if they see anything. In this case we didn’t hear or see anything at all.”
The crash itself is still under investigation by Florida Highway Patrol. The transportation department for Bay District Schools will be reviewing FHP’s findings to see if any changes need to be made at the bus stop.
Kudos to WMBB’s news team for NOT showing the yellow tarp.
I hope that poor family can find some peace. They’re in my thoughts & prayers.
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I really don’t feel like this is JUST a matter of children crossing the street/bus stop safety. This is more about reckless drivers, not paying attention, drinking and driving, driving under the influence of medications etc.
You can teach children until you’re blue in the face how to properly cross the street and how to safely get on and off their buses. But it doesn’t do any good when the people behind the wheels of these cars are not paying attention to what the hell is going on around them while they’re driving.
It kind of seems like we’re passing the blame on to the children and their families when in actuality the only person to blame for this tragedy is that 61 year old grown woman. Who as of yet has not been held accountable for this. That woman murdered a 6 year old girl, put a 9 year old boy in critical condition, refused a drug test and was SENT HOME. I don’t know about anyone else, but that seriously disturbs me.