Quote:
School's Security Pledge after Boy's Trip to Tesco
By Matt Adams, PA
A school has pledged to tighten security after a five-year-old boy slipped unnoticed from the playground and took a bus to the local supermarket to buy cake.
Aaran Taylor managed to evade a child-proof electronic gate at West Hove Infant School in East Sussex before catching a bus to Tesco a mile away.
Despite his age and size, the youngster still failed to arouse suspicion as he pushed a trolley taller than him up and down the aisles searching for his favourite treat.
It was only when a cashier began scanning the cakes through the till that Aaran was challenged and the school alerted.
His mother, Kerry Smith, 23, said: “I was frantic when I heard he’d disappeared. We scoured the school area, local parks and corner shops but we couldn’t find him anywhere.
“We did not think he would get on a bus. He was missing for about two hours and there were eight or nine teachers out looking for him. I just cannot believe he got all the way there without anyone noticing him.”
Governors at the school said staff first became aware of Aaran’s absence during registration after lunch.
Chairman of the governors Jeff White, said: “The pupil had been seen by staff less than half an hour before this. Our procedures kicked in immediately, with staff searching the premises at our school and at the neighbouring junior school, and other staff going straight to the parents’ house to make them aware of the situation.
“We believe the security arrangements at the school are generally sound. We installed the current electrically-controlled school gate in 1999, and are not aware of any problems of this nature since then.
“But we recognise that this incident raises issues about whether the mechanism could be re-designed to stop it happening again. We are reviewing this as a matter of urgency, in consultation with the LEA’s health and safety experts and with the police.”
Mr White said Aaran’s parents were generally happy with the school. Aaran was today back in class.
Mrs Smith, of Mortimer Mews, said she was disappointed that her son had managed to travel so far without the alarm being raised.
She told The Argus newspaper: “He was in his school uniform, he’s not particularly tall and he’s got quite baby features. You wouldn’t think he’s older than he is. None of the security at Tesco spotted him either. They only realised once all his cakes had been swiped through the checkout.
“The checkout girl told him the total amount before she saw there was no one with him to pay. I really can’t believe nobody stopped him in all that time. It’s amazing he even got on the bus in the first place, or knew which stop he needed for Tesco.”
No one at Tesco would comment on the incident.
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I ... Don't really know to respond to this. At first I just laughed out loud at the thought of a Kindergartner escaping through an electronic gate and hopping on a bus, but then it made me angry that
no one noticed. I would hate to think it'd be this easy for
my kids to take off!
If I ever saw a child that young getting on or off a bus alone, I would probably call somebody! And I'm curious how he escaped in the first place ...
As someone else's comment from another forum was on this:
I think I'd be torn between being angry with the school for letting her "escape", and being proud of her for successfully navigating mass transit to the grocery store. 