What should be done to these kids?
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The only thing that shocks me about this story, is how shocked people are by it.
This is mild bullying, IMO.
This happens every day, and I also find it weird that people think it's worse happening to a woman in a position of (albeit minor) power, than it happening to a little defenseless kid.
I get your point, but truly and honestly, the worse reality would be if people WEREN'T as appalled as they are by these students' behavior. Continuing to lower expectations of student conduct is not the answer, no matter whether you are a teacher, principal, or bus monitor. Students enrolled in school spend nearly 25% of their day or more interacting with school personnel. The majority of their socialization happens in the school environment from kindergarten on up and parents expect this. Yet... they don't reinforce it at home. My point is, just because you work with children doesn't mean you should ever have to tolerate that kind of behavior, EVER. What are we teaching our kids if we tolerate behavior such as this?? That it's perfectly acceptable.0 -
My wife grew up with bus monitors and she told me she lived in fear of the bus monitor on her bus. She had the power to write demerits which could lead to detention and she was quick to tell the kids to sit down, be quite, stop chewing gum, etc. This woman was not in the correct line of work or the position is powerless. Does that excuse the behavior of the children? Not at all, but if she cannot stand up for herself or at least threaten official retribution, then either she is in the wrong job or the job is incorrectly set up.
Not to drag this out TOO much, but it goes without saying that working with children is not for everyone. Those in the profession have their own ways of dealing with situations like this, but they have very specific guidelines to follow when situations like this occur. She had a job to do, monitoring ALL the students on the bus. This is so that the bus driver can focus on driving, not managing student behavior. There was no need for her to defend herself or even tell the students to stop. Why? That's probably what those kids were BEGGING her to do. The situation would have escalated if she had reacted to it. Instead, she did her best to manage the situation, keep it contained, and keep an eye on the rest of the bus just as she is supposed to do. Obviously, these kids are going to get reprimanded (and hopefully expelled!) for their behavior, but she did a good job picking her battles with these kids. Inner city NY kids picking on a bus monitor? Hardly something that hasn't happened before. Just because she didn't defend herself doesn't mean she didn't know how to handle the situation or shouldn't be in that job. From my experience, employees that try to "handle" situations like that and turn it into an argument with the students face more problems down the road... sadly.0 -
The only thing that shocks me about this story, is how shocked people are by it.
This is mild bullying, IMO.
This happens every day, and I also find it weird that people think it's worse happening to a woman in a position of (albeit minor) power, than it happening to a little defenseless kid.
The kids are *kitten* holes, but the woman should know that, she works with kids!
I learned that some kids are evil little ****s (and I mean evil in the literal sense, no hyperbole) when I was about 5. She should know it by now.
The education system favours bullies. It goes unpunished, victims are essentially told to man the **** up, and there's been many a time I have had to apologize to the bullies for answering back - not even physically retaliating.
If I had a youtube video for every time I'd been reduced to tears by the evil little ****s at school, judging by this lady, I'd be a millionaire.
Also, wonder why your kids are fat America? You give them a freakin bus to school, learn to walk places like the rest of the world. Seriously. I wanna go on holiday to Disney land florida this year with my BF, but neither of us drive, and apparently in Florida you can't get around without a car. What's with that? My school was easily 30-40 minutes away, and I either had to walk or my parents had to pay for me to get the normal public bus. Never did me any harm.
Can you quote anyone who said that they felt it was worse happening to an elderly woman than to a child? I'm pretty sure no one even remotely said that, but please, point me to it if they did.
Between comparing how bad you got bullied vs. this woman, and insinuating that a public bus makes one less "lazy" than a school bus, I think you missed the entire point of this.0 -
Can you quote anyone who said that they felt it was worse happening to an elderly woman than to a child? I'm pretty sure no one even remotely said that, but please, point me to it if they did.
No one here has said that, but the public reaction and media attention says it. Stuff like this happens to kids every. single. day. and it doesn't get media coverage - someone does it to an elderly monitor and all hell breaks loose?Between comparing how bad you got bullied vs. this woman, and insinuating that a public bus makes one less "lazy" than a school bus, I think you missed the entire point of this.
Actually I just think getting the bus in general is lazy, unless you live over an hours walk from school, which I know is the case for some but not most, why does the school/state provide a bus for you? rely on your legs! It doesn't hurt a kid to walk to school, just means they have to be up 20 minutes earlier, OH THE HORROR.
Btw, I didn't miss the point, that was just an added thought, a bit of a tangent if you will, added on, rather than my main reply.
And the comparison about my own bullying again reinforces the point I made that I was surprised by the reaction. Worse things happen every single day, to defenseless kids (made increasingly defenseless by school policies), and no one bats an eye lid, but it happens to a woman in a position of authority and everyone is like OMG THESE CHILDREN ARE EVILLLL
IMO she has more to defend herself with as an adult and as a bus monitor than these childrens peers, and so while it is incredibly rude and disrespectful for them to treat her like that, she can have them put in detention or given lines or sent to the electric chair whatever it is Americans do to kids, while the kids they are (definitely are) bullying at school have none of these tools or defenses.
Oh, and the parents on this threads claiming their child would stick up for the woman, or should anyway, that just makes your kid a target, and does nothing for the original victim either.0 -
Mystery solved! American kids are fat because they ride school buses!Also, wonder why your kids are fat America? You give them a freakin bus to school, learn to walk places like the rest of the world
What's the difference between a "normal" bus that you took or the fat-inducing school buses American kids take to school? I'm so confused!My school was easily 30-40 minutes away, and I either had to walk or my parents had to pay for me to get the normal public bus. Never did me any harm.0 -
Mystery solved! American kids are fat because they ride school buses!Also, wonder why your kids are fat America? You give them a freakin bus to school, learn to walk places like the rest of the world
What's the difference between a "normal" bus that you took or the fat-inducing school buses American kids take to school? I'm so confused!My school was easily 30-40 minutes away, and I either had to walk or my parents had to pay for me to get the normal public bus. Never did me any harm.
It's more the attitude, like the assumption you have to drive everywhere in life. And lol I didn't take the bus, I walked. I think the bus is lazy in general. The public busses don't run for school kids, it's the parent/childs choice to take the bus - but by having a designated school bus it's kinda deciding for you or at least suggesting/assuming that everyone is getting the bus to school rather than...like...walking.
Both busses are equally lazy, (well actually the public bus doesn't stop right outside your school), but by having a designated school bus you are encouraging the kids to get the bus rather than walk0 -
Mystery solved! American kids are fat because they ride school buses!Also, wonder why your kids are fat America? You give them a freakin bus to school, learn to walk places like the rest of the world
What's the difference between a "normal" bus that you took or the fat-inducing school buses American kids take to school? I'm so confused!My school was easily 30-40 minutes away, and I either had to walk or my parents had to pay for me to get the normal public bus. Never did me any harm.
It's more the attitude, like the assumption you have to drive everywhere in life. And lol I didn't take the bus, I walked. I think the bus is lazy in general. The public busses don't run for school kids, it's the parent/childs choice to take the bus - but by having a designated school bus it's kinda deciding for you or at least suggesting/assuming that everyone is getting the bus to school rather than...like...walking.
Both busses are equally lazy, (well actually the public bus doesn't stop right outside your school), but by having a designated school bus you are encouraging the kids to get the bus rather than walk
That's all fine and good to say that buses make kids lazy, but where I grew up if you didn't live in town you had no choice but to bus because you were in the middle of no where on a farm that was a good 1hr bus ride out of town... or you were in the neighboring town that came to school in my town and it was absolutely not possible to walk to or from school because you would have had to walk down a highway and that would be unsafe.
As for the original post... I like Brett's idea.0 -
That's all fine and good to say that buses make kids lazy, but where I grew up if you didn't live in town you had no choice but to bus because you were in the middle of no where on a farm that was a good 1hr bus ride out of town... or you were in the neighboring town that came to school in my town and it was absolutely not possible to walk to or from school because you would have had to walk down a highway and that would be unsafe.
I said in an earlier comment that I know some people need to get the bus, but if you're less than an hours walk away you should just walk.
Plus, it wasn't like a main point or totally serious comment :L
I guess I just find it weird that everyone seems to drive everywhere.
I wanna go on holiday to Florida but apparently you can't get anywhere without a car and I can't drive </3
Plus child obesity is such an issue and walking to/from school is such an easy/practical way to get exercise in.
This is going well off topic though :L0 -
Mystery solved! American kids are fat because they ride school buses!Also, wonder why your kids are fat America? You give them a freakin bus to school, learn to walk places like the rest of the world
What's the difference between a "normal" bus that you took or the fat-inducing school buses American kids take to school? I'm so confused!My school was easily 30-40 minutes away, and I either had to walk or my parents had to pay for me to get the normal public bus. Never did me any harm.
It's more the attitude, like the assumption you have to drive everywhere in life. And lol I didn't take the bus, I walked. I think the bus is lazy in general. The public busses don't run for school kids, it's the parent/childs choice to take the bus - but by having a designated school bus it's kinda deciding for you or at least suggesting/assuming that everyone is getting the bus to school rather than...like...walking.
Both busses are equally lazy, (well actually the public bus doesn't stop right outside your school), but by having a designated school bus you are encouraging the kids to get the bus rather than walk
When I went to school in the UK, we had buses to take us to school. Barely anyone walked to school. It was mostly because the area was more rural with no sidewalks so it was kind of dangerous to walk on the streets to school.0 -
That's all fine and good to say that buses make kids lazy, but where I grew up if you didn't live in town you had no choice but to bus because you were in the middle of no where on a farm that was a good 1hr bus ride out of town... or you were in the neighboring town that came to school in my town and it was absolutely not possible to walk to or from school because you would have had to walk down a highway and that would be unsafe.
I said in an earlier comment that I know some people need to get the bus, but if you're less than an hours walk away you should just walk.
Plus, it wasn't like a main point or totally serious comment :L
I guess I just find it weird that everyone seems to drive everywhere.
I wanna go on holiday to Florida but apparently you can't get anywhere without a car and I can't drive </3
Plus child obesity is such an issue and walking to/from school is such an easy/practical way to get exercise in.
This is going well off topic though :L
Many US cities, unlike Edinburgh and most of the UK, are very spread out, have poor public transport (by UK/European standards), especially outside the city centres, and are designed for cars, rather than pedestrians. Don't forget that most US cities are a lot more recent in advent than most European cities and were therefore designed with different things in mind. I can well understand, both from a geographical and a safety perspective, why the majority of schoolchildren in the US take a school bus on a daily basis. If you go to Florida, you will understand quickly why people drive - in many US cities, there really isn't an option. I will happily, and safely, walk a significant distance from one place to another in the majority of the UK/European cities, but when in the US,I find that is rarely a practical option, though the willingness remains the same.
Buses specifically for school children (not a part of the normal network) also mean that children are safe and supervised en route to and from school. Again unlike most UK and European cities, 'safe' and 'less safe' areas in American cities tend to be less segregated. When I have tried to walk, I have quite often found myself in places I felt vulnerable during the course of my route; sometimes just one street further across can make a big difference. Schools and their catchment areas also tend to be bigger, so many children will live at a significant distance from their school. The point is, there are good and valid reasons for US kids to take the bus to school, and 'laziness' really doesn't come into it as much as you seem to imply.
Re. the OP, one wonders what, if any, comeback the bus monitor had against these kids. Presumably, had she retaliated, or used her authority (assuming she had some) in a way the kids objected to, she would be the one in trouble for causing 'emotional distress' or worse.
Of course the kids were wrong, but a system that removes all ability to react appropriately from adults in positions of authority seems to me to be the real culprit. If no-one is able to draw a meaningful metaphorical line in the sand for kids, who have always tested the boundaries as a part of their developmental process, is it any wonder that their behaviour transgresses societal norms? Simply trusting kids to know where the edge of acceptable behaviour is, by instinct, has never worked, and we are doing many children of the current generation a grave disservice, and creating an array of rods for our own backs, by preventing and sometimes even punishing the setting and enforcing of clear limits and behavioural standards.0 -
Also, wonder why your kids are fat America? You give them a freakin bus to school, learn to walk places like the rest of the world
My son's current school is close enough to walk, though he generally drives himself, since he's got football/baseball/hockey gear, depending on the time of year. He's also got huge textbooks to lug around. He's 16. His last school was more than a half hour by bus, so much too far to walk (probably 15 miles).
My daughter's school is 3 miles exactly. She's six, and much too young to walk that distance alone without a sidewalk, crossing a major intersection. I'd rather keep her from getting fat by taking her to the gym 5 days a week, and riding her horse 4 days a week. Throw in some swimming and gymnastics, and I'm not too worried about her.
Even if we lived a mile or less from the school (the criteria to be able to ride the bus), we'd never be able to do it in the winter. No sidewalks and snowbanks that are often in excess of 5-7 feet would be dangerous.0 -
Children must be taught from preschool on that verbal and physical aggression against others will not be tolerated and that cooperation, not competition, should be the norm in most situations.
However, there is great resistance to this. When a more cooperative, community mindset is encouraged, commentators complain that we are sissyfying our children, that we are giving them a sense of entitlement, that we are not raising strong citizens. People lament trophies given to losing teams of children in sports.
This to me speaks of a society that has its basis in aggression and competition rather than in non-violence and cooperation.0
