The father who told off the kids who were bullying his daughter on the bus got probation, community service, anger management classes and a fine. What he did not get what jail time.... http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=460537314265
I saw his interview on The Early Show. I think he realizes that what he did was right, but he went about it the wrong way. A lot of people (myself included) are like that. They let things build up until they explode in an incorrect manner. One that pretty much accomplishes nothing. I'm glad he is getting the support he needs for himself & his daughter, while still learning a valuable lesson himself. We never stop learning, and if one chooses to, then I'd say THAT is the real tragedy.
Also glad he is getting help, but also hoping the schools will look into bullying on the bus too. Kids shouldn't have to put up with that.
I will admit that he went about it in the wrong manner, but maybe he put a fear into those bullies that their parents should have put into them a long time ago. I.E. There is a recourse for your actions...this is how to treat other people...I'll bet that little girl (his daughter) can hold her head up high, knowing she is worth more than what those rotten brats were throwing at her. In spite of her dad having to admit he went about it in the wrong way, she will always remember that she is worth so much more than what the bullies say & she will know she can fight back. He proved to her that she was worth fighting for.
I read the comments that were attached to the video. Several people were saying that the bus driver didn't care, he should have done something, he opened the door. As a school bus driver I would like to comment on this. Children do not come to the driver and tell what is happening. Between watching the road, the lights or stop signs, the pedestrians, and the vehicles or people that think "It's a school bus, it won't hurt me" and cut us off. We are also supposed to watch and control up to 76 students sitting in back of us. Tack onto that that we are told we have no authority to do anymore than to tell them to stop. We can offer no consequences. We can report it in a write up. After that it is up to the principle at the school the child attends. Usually nothing is done other than saying to the child, "Don't do that". Trust me, we would love it if there was not the additional distraction of the children acting up. As a driver of your own vehicle how distracting is it if a child is trying to get out their seat belt? Or fighting with a sibling? You at least have the option of saying, "Wait till we get home!", or, "I'm going to pull the car over!" We are told to keep to our schedule. If we pull the bus over, then children will get home late and parents will be complaining. We could lose our job. This driver risked his job when he opened the door to the parent. We are also told we are not allowed to let parents on the bus. How do we prevent that? This boils down to the current attitudes of the children. There is no respect. For the driver, or for the bus they ride. I have had seats slashed, grafitti, gum stuck where-ever, and tons of trash that has to be swept out of the bus. There is no cleaning service. We are responsible for the bus ourselves. Sorry, but it just really irks me when people say the driver should have done something. More than likely he already wrote it up and nothing was done. The kids know this and continue with the antics. IMO - school bus drivers are a rare breed and it amazes me they continue to drive!
See in Baltimore it's different. When my son was in PS on the bus and there were problems the driver would pull over and separate the kids. There were many times when the bus was late because of problems on the bus and she had to stop. Sometime the bus pulled up and there was complete silence because the kids were being punished for misbehaving. When she got to the stop she spoke with the parents of the students involved and spoke with the principle at the school. At that point the kids and parents knew that if the problem continued then certain kids wouldn’t be allowed to board the bus. Now that was in my county. I don’t know about other places. But where I used to live the bus driver had the right to request that any kid causing trouble find other means of transportation if the problem wasn’t corrected. They aren’t allowed to put them off the bus and leave them, which has happened too, but they can certainly tell the school that so and so cannot ride until discipline issues are resolved. This is why I could never drive a school bus.
I wish it was that way here. I am not driving a bus right now because a student that brandished a knife and threatened to follow me home from the bus yard only got 2 days suspension from the bus. He was still able to attend school. He was sitting in a buddies car on the bus lot both days.
I think I would have called the police from the bus lot and told them that you were being threatened by a kid and were afraid to leave the lot. Let them come and deal with him!
Oh, I did call the police. That's how I got home without him following. The bus yard refused to give me a different route, or an aide to ride with me to keep him in check. So I took an office job. I was a victim of downsizing there and have been out of work for almost two years. This bus yard will not hire me back now. They act like I was to blame for me leaving. I gave them notice, but told them I would not drive my own bus. To have a sub driver do it and I would sub. I guess they are still bent out of shape. I'm just saying. There are areas in this country where things are uneven. The driver might have tried and felt his hands were tied. That's probably why he allowed the father to board the bus. If you see the film, he is reporting it, but it is done calmly. He just opens the door, sits back, and grabs the mic. If his district was anything like mine, I can understand to a degree. Still, that was like letting a loaded cannon on the bus. There was no way he could know in advance how this father would behave. That was a danger to the innocent children on the bus that could be caught in the crossfire. My main observation is that the children that ride have changed since I first learned to drive a school bus. They are disrespectful, disruptive, and destructive. They climb around, refuse to listen to you, and since it is such a small area, can really cause harm. There should be an aide on each bus. But with the government cutting school budgets left and right I don't see anything but more headaches in the future.
We had an incident on the church bus this past Friday night. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but ONLY because of the number of adults on it. If there had been just one driver without anyone else, someone could have been seriously hurt. What would have happened if you had got a restraining order against this boy? I mean, he threatened you, and coming to the depot two days in the row would constitute stalking imo. I also know that the bus drivers have their hands tied so much of the time. Yes, they need an aide on the bus, but will happen right after all buses get seatbelts!
