No excuse for bus safety lapse

Readers call for fool-proof school-bus safety measures. Other topics: child safety, exercise

Readers call for foolproof safety measures on school buses. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

It's disgraceful that schools and their bus services are so careless with small children (Girl, 6, found locked in bus, April 21). People pay a lot for their children's schooling and safety should be the priority.

Karon Al Zaabi, Abu Dhabi

How terrifying for the child and the parents. I cannot imagine how this must have felt. The school boards ought to train these people every three months and send supervisors to monitor the buses. They should put cameras on the buses to record staff actions as well.

Jen Bishop, Abu Dhabi

What do we have to do to have professionals who care about their job with children? The last time this happened, there were lots of ideas on how to improve the system. Do not wait for another child to pay with their life. Please do something.

Valentina Gherardi, Abu Dhabi

In addition to competence checks and training, it is important to implement safety drills on exiting school buses in case of an emergency, so that the kids at least will have a strategy for saving themselves.

Eartha Guerra, Dubai

Most drivers are impatient. They keep honking so that attendants get the children off the bus quickly. I see this every day in Ajman.

But they have other people’s lives in their hands, so they should behave responsibly.

Ronelle Ron V Dyk, Dubai

We can follow UK’s example of child protection

I read Ayesha Almazroui's opinion article It's time the child protection law was introduced (April 20) with interest. The UAE has been leading the region in this matter, as the writer has pointed out. Sharing other countries' experience should be taken into account, but cultural sensitivities should also be considered.

The point that caught my attention was that the UAE hospitals have provided in-house child protection training for their staff to identify and report violence and the mistreatment of children.

I worked in the UK’s National Health Service as a paediatric dentist for 24 years before moving to the UAE recently. I have been impressed with the steps this country has taken in this regard. However, I agree that more needs to be done.

Child protection in the UK and the laws that govern it developed gradually after several awful cases came to public attention. Regulatory changes subsequently took place. This changed the way that all professionals dealt with children. They were trained to notice signs of abuse and neglect in children. It became mandatory, for instance, for dental surgeons (general dentists and paediatric dentists) to undergo the relevant training. It was the same for nurses and doctors. Perhaps such training should be mandatory for health care professionals here.

The UK has created an effective mechanism to deal with child abuse by involving everyone from the community – doctors, nurses, social workers, teachers, police officers and lawyers. I think we can emulate the model here.

Iyad Hussein, UK

No substitute for exercise

There is no truth in the story How to lose fat without exercising (April 20). Eat right and exercise and you'll get better every day. Improve yourself in a natural way. Ignore such quick fixes. This is a moneymaking idea. Don't get fooled.

Ajay Thombre, India

I’m curious to see if this works. There must be some truth in it. I exercise regularly, eat healthy food, but I still want a little boost.

Leila Debbazi-Husain, Abu Dhabi

Adverts like this are found in abundance here. There are people who claim to use neuro-linguistic programming or NLP technique and massaging to help you lose weight. Others offer medication.

Please note that all of them take the money in advance. If you don’t lose weight, you’re just out of luck. I think these individuals and organisations should be heavily fined for misguiding people.

Aditya Kothare, Dubai