Should I Say Something or Leave It Be...

Please talk to the school. The next time she pulls this stuff, she could get a kid killed.

The reason she does this is so that she has something to DO. Not because she cares about the kids. A crossing guard is supposed to be watching the road and the children - not gabbing away with people.

I'd be plenty irritated over her attitude if I were you,too. But the real reason to talk to the school is because she is not safe for the children OR for the cars.

Typically.,.. I am not one to say anything. However if it pertains to direct safety of children, I would mention it to the principal.

As a regular substitute and familiar with school policy , as a parent, I would make sure authorities were around to supervise this guard,

Report it. She is not doing her job and putting others at risk.

You call your school district and complain.

Say something to the school. She should have been paying 100% attention to the kids and the traffic.

One of our crossing guards got fired last week for something very similar to this. They stepped off the curb and actually did make a car swerve into another car.

A crossing guard is supposed to keep the kids together, look at traffic, put their sign up, make sure traffic is stopping, then step off the curb and watch the vehicles the whole time to make sure none of them are going to start across the crosswalk before they are finished and safely up on the grass or sidewalk again.

Report her. Now. Before you find out she took down your license number and reports you for driving through a crosswalk with people in it (which is what she may claim even if it's not so). The point you should make is not so much that she was chatting (by itself that's not horrible) BUT she had her back to you and came out without looking. In our town, the crossing guards are required to walk into the middle of the road with a hand-held stop sign, and then motion the others that it's safe to cross. Your guard isn't doing that which is why she started screaming at you - to cover up her negligence to the other adult. But since this has been habitual, you've got to report it.

I would say something. I see life guards at the pool like this too.

really you need to ask? hell yea report her to whoever her bosses are..she was not only extremly careless-but rude n abusive on top of it-yea just what kids really need to see these days-road rage by a crossing guard..unreal..

Habitual or not, I'm surprised you even have to ask whether or not you should report the negligence. If she's so comfortable doing it once, it's very possible and likely she's doing it habitually. You can't assume that the one time you've witnessed it is the only time she's done it. Burden of proof is not on you. Don't assume someone else has reported it. That's called passing the buck.

You have a responsibility here. Even if that was "the only time."

If it was a one time incident, I'd probably let it go. Humans make mistakes. But since you have witnessed her being distracted more than once, I'd mention it.

Our crossing guard is very nice and he chats with everyone. But as soon as he steps off the curb, he is all business. So it's possible to do both.

And make sure your complaints are going to the right party. Around here crossing guards are hired by the city, not the school district. Besides requesting them, districts have very little to do with that position.

Say something.
It might save her (and/or some kids) life.
We had a crossing guard who died a few years ago when she was hit by a car.
Where we are the crossing guards are now trained by the local citizens police academy and many times the guards are police themselves (they'll park their squad car with their lights blinking near by as they do guard duty).

if it's REALLY something you've observed 'every day' then say something.
if it was just this once, i'd let it go. she was probably shaken up too, and instinctively started blaming you because it scared her. at least i hope so!
khairete
S.

I agree that she was not doing a good job and was being annoying, but weren't you supposed to wait until she waved you to go? I don't know, I guess the rules are different everywhere. I'd find out exactly what the rules are and go from there. Hopefully you can just TALK to her, and it can be resolved calmly.

Because she turned on you as if it were your fault, I'd be upset. I would not report her though. You child is there and your child will indeed get the brunt of her wrath.