THE plan to teach school pupils how to catch a bus is just the ticket.

We regularly hear that our children are to be taught lifeskills. That often seems to mean tackling the complex issues of sex, drugs and relationships. By contrast, a lesson in taking the bus has the twin virtues of being simple and practical.

It is an eccentricity of modern life that many children will be more used to travelling by air than by bus. Why should they wait for a bus, when they can call on the in-house taxi service run by mum and dad?

But this situation is bad for everyone. It discourages children to develop a sense of independence. It binds parents to their children's often hectic schedules, as they ferry them to sports games, friends' houses, dance lessons.

That creates more traffic on our already congested roads. Ultimately it will see the greater part of a generation growing up unwilling to use public transport, which bodes ill for this vital service's future.

As fewer parents rely on buses, children have no one to show them the ropes. It can be daunting. But by the end of the lesson at Lakeside Primary School, all the pupils will have planned and completed a journey.

That will include the tricky knack of deciphering a timetable - available online for the benefit of this computer-literate age group.

Millions of pounds have been invested in York's bus service, so hopefully the children will have a pleasant journey. They might then develop the confidence to start using buses on their own, and rediscover what previous generations enjoyed: childhood freedom.

That will depend on parents having the courage to let their children out on their own, of course. If they do, they too will be liberated, from the role of cabbie. They might even have the time to pop to the pub by bus - after their children have shown them how to catch one.

Updated: 10:24 Thursday, May 22, 2003