# Bullied Bus Monitor - Big Fat Hypocrisy?



## pani (Jun 22, 2012)

http://www.dailykos.com/blog/uid:94962


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## AuntHen (Jun 22, 2012)

yes it is hypocrisy


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## Marlayna (Jun 24, 2012)

Very good article, though most of the comments were unrelated to it.


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## Shinobi_Hime-Sama (Jun 24, 2012)

I read the comments on this and couldn't bear to even watch the video, I read the comments first though, but just from that I knew it would probably make me cry or mad enough to strangle the little shits who dared to pick on a senior citizen in the first place.


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## EMH1701 (Jun 24, 2012)

I have to agree. It is hypocrisy. We have a society that has brainwashed probably 95% of the population into hating anyone above 5 or 10 pounds overweight. And some even hate the 5 pounds overweight people. Why is this an unexpected result of said brainwashing?


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## LoveBHMS (Jun 24, 2012)

So it's society's fault? Bull. This is nothing to do with fat hatred and everything to do with bad parenting. Even if the kids hate fat people that doesn't excuse the behaviour. Fat hatred is fat hatred but this is bullying and disrespect for a senior citizen. Is there anyone on this board who'd have gotten away with that behaviour? No way. Who among us would not have gotten ass whipped and marched over to Mrs Klein's house to apologize? And probably grounded for life.


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## imfree (Jun 24, 2012)

LoveBHMS said:


> So it's society's fault? Bull. This is nothing to do with fat hatred and everything to do with bad parenting. Even if the kids hate fat people that doesn't excuse the behaviour. Fat hatred is fat hatred but this is bullying and disrespect for a senior citizen. Is there anyone on this board who'd have gotten away with that behaviour? No way. Who among us would not have gotten ass whipped and marched over to Mrs Klein's house to apologize? And probably grounded for life.



Great point, as hate is internal to a person and does not need to be acted upon. We should never hate and we should always respect the dignity of another person, even if there is something we find disagreeable about that person.


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## Captain Save (Jun 24, 2012)

I think it's a matter of excessive leniency and ineffective methods of discouraging unwanted behaviors in children. Sure, we can blame the internet and the routine vitriol spewed on it's walls for all to see, we can blame the general softening of consequences for unwanted behavior in ANY similar situation and the rationalizing of why people do the things they do, but at the end of the day I think we've just gotten too highminded and civilized at the way such things are addressed from a parenting perspective.

The other part of this equation is that I have a hard time believing this would have been covered by the media of yesteryear, and I'd like to think the highminded professionals of days gone by would simply ignored this type of story; without the all pervasive flow of information offered by the internet a news service can spare others the story of what I'd like to consider an isolated and shameful occurance in a humiliated small town. In either case, you can't put the genie back in the bottle, so the equation remains the same for now. Maybe it's for the best; having the entire news watching world find these actions so overwhelmingly repugnant has to be a quite a harsh lesson for these kids to learn, as well as their entire community. It's my understanding the kids involved have become quite apologetic since the story broke; I'm sure their story is easy enough to find online.


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## LoveBHMS (Jun 24, 2012)

Captain Save said:


> I think it's a matter of excessive leniency and ineffective methods of discouraging unwanted behaviors in children. Sure, we can blame the internet and the routine vitriol spewed on it's walls for all to see, we can blame the general softening of consequences for unwanted behavior in ANY similar situation and the rationalizing of why people do the things they do, but at the end of the day I think we've just gotten too highminded and civilized at the way such things are addressed from a parenting perspective.
> .



It's a matter of narcissism and lack of shame. Parents of a generation ago would have been humiliated by this sort of thing. Kids didn't have time outs, they got their asses beat and got grounded and got severe punishments. Parents expected to parent, not be the kids' friends. If you got in trouble at school it was your fault, not the teachers.

Everyone I know who works with kids says the parents are the worst part of their job.


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## EMH1701 (Jun 24, 2012)

LoveBHMS said:


> So it's society's fault? Bull. This is nothing to do with fat hatred and everything to do with bad parenting. Even if the kids hate fat people that doesn't excuse the behaviour. Fat hatred is fat hatred but this is bullying and disrespect for a senior citizen. Is there anyone on this board who'd have gotten away with that behaviour? No way. Who among us would not have gotten ass whipped and marched over to Mrs Klein's house to apologize? And probably grounded for life.



If society did not make it acceptable to hate fat people, or hate anyone for anything other than being evil like Saddam Hussein, then it would not have happened. But yes, bad parenting is also to blame. Probably those same bad parents also helped to instill prejudice in their kids. Kids start out as blank slates. They learn prejudice from those around them. They do not start out being prejudiced against anyone for any reason.

We have lost respect for others as a society. In general, society has ceased being polite and civil. When you lose that, your society goes downhill.


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## Donna (Jun 24, 2012)

There was a very interesting (to me anyway) peice on CNN.com that indicates the bullying of Karen Klein by these miscreants is most likely not uncommon. I have heard stories from friends of mine in the education field that make me cringe. 

Society and bad parenting probably both contributed to this situation in my opinion. Children learn what they see and the opinions of these children involved in the Karen Klein incident were not created in a vacuum. No one here will likely argue that fat stigmatism isnt rampant in our society. But the issue in my eyes isnt about fat stereotypes. While the children resorted mostly to the easiest insult in their insult-arsenal when they called Mrs. Klein fat, they also made classist and ageist insults as well.


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## Surlysomething (Jun 24, 2012)

LoveBHMS said:


> It's a matter of narcissism and lack of shame. Parents of a generation ago would have been humiliated by this sort of thing. Kids didn't have time outs, they got their asses beat and got grounded and got severe punishments. Parents expected to parent, not be the kids' friends. If you got in trouble at school it was your fault, not the teachers.
> 
> Everyone I know who works with kids says the parents are the worst part of their job.



I fully agree.

It's sad because it lumps in all the good parents who are doing their job well and raising respectful, kind kids.


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## LoveBHMS (Jun 24, 2012)

What I honestly don't get is why Mrs. Klein didn't smack them all upside the head. That's what my grandmother would have done. At the very least the bus driver would have stopped and in some cases thrown the kids off. And the parents would have been informed along with the expectation that the kids would be punished.


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## Donna (Jun 24, 2012)

Bullying has an effect that doesn't get discussed very often...it makes one feel like they are the cause of the bad behavior. I would say this is not the first time Karen Klein has been bullied in her life. Victims of bullying tend to blame themselves. She more than likely found herself questioning what she had done to provoke their ire and what she could do to prevent it in the future. 

And honestly, the cynic in me believes if she had taken their bait (I strongly believe they were trying to get a reaction from her; why else would they videotape the incident?) and retaliated verbally or physically, we would be having a discussion now about the viral video of the bus monitor who melted down. There would be a lot of clucking about how she should be ashamed of herself for reacting so violently to what would be deemed "simple misbehavior."


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## Marlayna (Jun 24, 2012)

Give the bus monitors stun guns. The internet retirement fund that someone started for her has over 600K last I read. Good for her, she doesn't have to be the target of bullying any more.


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## thatgirl08 (Jun 24, 2012)

I went to the highschool literally 10 minutes from this high school.. tons of family & friends living in Greece right now. I saw the video last week as it was being passed around by people I graduated with and I was absolutely horrified. A close friend of mine made the donation page for Karen and me and several of my friends have contributed. I was both completely shocked and saddened to see their behavior. I have also spoken out on my Facebook about the intolerances I faced for my weight living in Rochester. A little bit of backlash but much more support than I expected.


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## EMH1701 (Jun 24, 2012)

LoveBHMS said:


> What I honestly don't get is why Mrs. Klein didn't smack them all upside the head. That's what my grandmother would have done. At the very least the bus driver would have stopped and in some cases thrown the kids off. And the parents would have been informed along with the expectation that the kids would be punished.



These days, you can't do stuff like that or you get thrown in jail for child abuse, no matter what the reason. You might also get sued, and the school district might also get sued. You absolutely cannot hit kids in public, especially not in a situation like a bus where someone is videotaping it.


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## moore2me (Jun 24, 2012)

When I was teaching public school, I needed a little more income so I learned to drive a big yellow school bus and my school district hired me to driver a route one hour before school and one hour after school each day. The work was hard. The bus was the biggest model, it seated 60 kids. It has no airconditioning. I was standard shift. And the biggest piece of crap, the gas pedal had a "governor" on it so I couldn't give it too much gas or drive too fast. Most of my route was on dirt, rural roads that turned to brown pudding in the winter. It wasn't unusual for me to slide the bus in a ditch and have to get a local farmer to pull me out with a big tractor.

But the relevant remarks to this story is you can't let the little bastards think you are afraid of them. They can be like a pack of hyenas and when several of them go after someone, that person better "man up" quickly, loudly, and be the baddest person on the bus. Think Madea. I had to pull the bus to the side of the road and walk like Bufford Pussar (WALKING TALL) to the back and start opening cans of whoop ass. Almost always the troublemakers are sitting at the back. I didn't need a weapon, for years I fought with my two huge brothers and weapons were not used. (They would just take them away from me and use them on my my stoopid head.)

The worst thing I would do is throw them off the bus by the scruff of their neck. Then I would call their mom and/or dad and tell them what their little darlin' did on the way home.  If I was really pissed, I would drive the bus to their house and stop by personally. A minor infraction on the bus would be to require the main trouble maker sit next to me (behind the driver) and make a band of trouble makers split up. I carried a tape player and would put some music on that the kids hated - Lawrence Welk or Wayne Newton kind of stuff or opera.

The main idea is to stop misbehavior from escalating. Stop it soon and stop it fast. Stop it hard. Make the rest of their little ride home miserable by no friends, no talking, bad music, sit next to their little sister, or something they do not like. Then follow it up with formal disciplinary action. My favorite was making them hand wash the bus during their study hall time or during their PE time/ Or tell the coach what they did and he would make them run bleachers.


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## biglynch (Jun 24, 2012)

moore2me said:


> When I was teaching public school, I needed a little more income so I learned to drive a big yellow school bus and my school district hired me to driver a route one hour before school and one hour after school each day. The work was hard. The bus was the biggest model, it seated 60 kids. It has no airconditioning. I was standard shift. And the biggest piece of crap, the gas pedal had a "governor" on it so I couldn't give it too much gas or drive too fast. Most of my route was on dirt, rural roads that turned to brown pudding in the winter. It wasn't unusual for me to slide the bus in a ditch and have to get a local farmer to pull me out with a big tractor.
> 
> But the relevant remarks to this story is you can't let the little bastards think you are afraid of them. They can be like a pack of hyenas and when several of them go after someone, that person better "man up" quickly, loudly, and be the baddest person on the bus. Think Madea. I had to pull the bus to the side of the road and walk like Bufford Pussar (WALKING TALL) to the back and start opening cans of whoop ass. Almost always the troublemakers are sitting at the back. I didn't need a weapon, for years I fought with my two huge brothers and weapons were not used. (They would just take them away from me and use them on my my stoopid head.)
> 
> ...



Spot on, her first error was to try and play along with the joke, and bless her she only did that as she was clearly just a nice person. Granted that was in no way her fault either, but the fact is not horrid kids these days arenot all stupid and will capitolize. They hit fast and hard, its awful, but thats how packs run. If kids cant scare you or irritate you then you win. Still my heart goes out big time to her as she tollerates more than enough.:bow:


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## Delightfully Peculiar (Jun 24, 2012)

EMH1701 said:


> These days, you can't do stuff like that or you get thrown in jail for child abuse, no matter what the reason. You might also get sued, and the school district might also get sued. You absolutely cannot hit kids in public, especially not in a situation like a bus where someone is videotaping it.



Exactly. As an educator, I can attest that you are basically told to never put your hands on a child for any reason. We were even warned about encouraging pats on the back. These days you will get sued. If I had been in this bus monitor's position, I would have turned and told the students, "I am taking down your names, the date, and time. I am documenting all your inappropriate words and actions, as they are bullying. I will take this document to the principal tomorrow morning and personally ensure that each of your parents are called and required to come in for a meeting to discuss your behavior, and I will ask that you are punished to the full extent of the school's bullying policy." Then I would follow through. While I do feel very sorry for this lady, at the same time adults must act like adults and show kids that their actions have consequences. There are other ways of dealing that do not involve grin and bear it or retaliating violently.


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## moore2me (Jun 25, 2012)

Delightfully Peculiar said:


> *Exactly. As an educator, I can attest that you are basically told to never put your hands on a child for any reason. We were even warned about encouraging pats on the back. These days you will get sued. If I had been in this bus monitor's position, I would have turned and told the students, "I am taking down your names, the date, and time. I am documenting all your inappropriate words and actions, as they are bullying. I will take this document to the principal tomorrow morning and personally ensure that each of your parents are called and required to come in for a meeting to discuss your behavior, and I will ask that you are punished to the full extent of the school's bullying policy." *Then I would follow through. While I do feel very sorry for this lady, at the same time adults must act like adults and show kids that their actions have consequences. There are other ways of dealing that do not involve grin and bear it or retaliating violently.



Delightfully Peculiar, I agree with you that these days you cannot put your hands on a child. (This is one of the reasons I quit, my natural tendencies would get me in trouble.) However, if you have the right tone of voice, posture, and the right look in your eyes (think T-Rex), you can freeze the little gangsters with your alpha dominance and not touch them. Two of my uncles were Marine drill sergeants - one a Master Sergeant and these guys did not have to touch anyone to get a person's undivided attention.

And in my book there were a few incidents that would merit escorting a rule violator off a bus or out of a classroom if they refused to leave. One boy had hidden a hunting sling shot in his backpack and carried it on the bus. He was drinking a canned coke and when finished drinking it, wadded it up in a small ball, loaded it in the slingshot and shot it from the back half of the bus at the back of my head while I was driving down the road. When he hit me, I pulled the bus over and stalked to the back - the little kids were pointing at the perp. (My bus carried grades K-12.) He was going to leave - I was not going another inch with him in a vehicle I was in charge of.

In a similarly dangerous incidence, a youngman had brought a captured wild screw in a shoebox onto the bus. (A screw is the size of a mouse, but has a nasty temper, very sharp teeth, and runs around like a Tasmanian devil.) Again, the bus was loaded with kids of all ages and we were rolling down the road. All of a sudden he let the screw out of the box and put it on a little girl. She started screaming and other girls followed her lead and pandemonium broke out. Girls were jumping and running in the aisle. This frantic activity could have caused a wreck. The release of a predator (even a miniscule one) that frightened the children earned this perp a ticket off the bus - personally delivered by myself


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## moore2me (Jun 25, 2012)

Delightfully Peculiar said:


> Exactly. As an educator, I can attest that you are basically told to never put your hands on a child for any reason. We were even warned about encouraging pats on the back. These days you will get sued. If I had been in this bus monitor's position, I would have turned and told the students, "I am taking down your names, the date, and time. I am documenting all your inappropriate words and actions, as they are bullying. *I will take this document to the principal tomorrow morning and personally ensure that each of your parents are called and required to come in for a meeting to discuss your behavior, and I will ask that you are punished to the full extent of the school's bullying policy." *Then I would follow through. While I do feel very sorry for this lady, at the same time adults must act like adults and show kids that their actions have consequences. There are other ways of dealing that do not involve grin and bear it or retaliating violently.



Dear Delightfully Peculiar, I like your heart and find your attitude great for being a mentor. I do have a couple of suggestions for talking to kids tho. I don't know what age group you are working with, but the sentence I have bolded is waaay too long. The average high school graduate can read/hear understand at the most a 17 word sentence. Your sentence is 49 words long. Even college graduates limit is usually a 21 word sentence. I would divide a 49 word sentence into three sentences when talking to high school students.

If you get into a bad situation like the granny on the bus incident, it would be better to stop the situation quickly. Get their attention with something like "STOP IT NOW!" "GIVE ME YOUR NOTEBOOKS!" (Or whatever they are poking the old lady with.) Make the main tormentors move, then say, "DON'T GET UP UNTIL I TELL YOU TO!" "WHAT IF A GANG BULLIED YOUR GRANDMA?"


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## LoveBHMS (Jun 25, 2012)

EMH1701 said:


> These days, you can't do stuff like that or you get thrown in jail for child abuse, no matter what the reason. You might also get sued, and the school district might also get sued. You absolutely cannot hit kids in public, especially not in a situation like a bus where someone is videotaping it.



Ridiculous. Imagine parents of a generation ago suing the nuns for child abuse if their kid got smacked on the knuckle? When that happened it was assumed you deserved it. I have a former colleague who played semi-pro baseball and later was elected to the City Council .He has a story of sitting at the dinner table when his dad noticed his knuckles were bruised and asked what happened. He fearfully admitted he'd mouthes off to his teacher. Daddy nodded and went and made a note on the calendar. A week later he was called over so dad could check his knuckles to make sure they'd healed. Upon ensuring they had, dad rapped them again. You mouth off to a teacher you not only deserved your punishment but you got it again from your parents. Adullts backed each other up back then.


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## Lamia (Jun 25, 2012)

If you watch the entire thing the majority of it is about her weight. At one point they discuss stabbing her and what "food items" would fall out. They dehumanized her which made what they were doing to her easier for them. She wasn't a real person with real feelings she was a "fat bitch" and a "fat slut". I do find it interesting that the media and everyone is so focused on them picking on this elderly person, but none of them touch on the fact that it was all about her weight. 
If this was a young fat woman I doubt there would be such an outpouring of sympathy, but people see this woman and they see their grandma and their anger is magnified. 

I hope she enjoys her money and I am sick of hearing people bitch because she's getting all this money. 

If you didn't donate it's not your money so who cares.


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## LoveBHMS (Jun 25, 2012)

What's troubling is that bullies target the weak. A generation ago, an older person would never have been viewed as weak or as a potential target. I would honestly like to find one person on this board who would have dared, as a child, to be rude to a senior citizen. Beyond that, didn't we all see older folks as authority figures who had power? I still don't get why that bus driver didn't throw them the hell off the bus.


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## Surlysomething (Jun 25, 2012)

LoveBHMS said:


> I still don't get why that bus driver didn't throw them the hell off the bus.


 

I wouldn't mind knowing that too.

Holy hell, those kids are lucky it wasn't me they tried that on. The can of whoop ass I would have brought out...MASSIVE.


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## AuntHen (Jun 25, 2012)

it is BOTH fat hatred and bad parenting... being fat makes you an easy target (at least to them)... being old could also but the boys comments on the video were about her *weight*! To most of society being called fat is one of the worst things you can be told. The boys went for her obvious and biggest "flaw".

A bully is a bully, yes, but those boys still consider "fat, bad". Why? Well we all know why.


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## Myn (Jun 27, 2012)

One thing I've found effective - and I taught kids that had been kicked out of their regular schools - is to have my phone handy, along with the numbers of the kids' parents. "You have one more chance to sit down and be quiet before I call your mama (grandma, dad, probation officer) and ask whether you didn't get any home training or you're just choosing to ignore it." 

There's also, "Baby, I love you, but if you start crap in my room, I'm going to get in the middle of it, and then as soon as you lay a hand on me, even by accident, I'm pressing charges. Don't make me send another of my students to jail." That one might be a bit too specific, though. 

With kids bullying other kids about weight, I'd speak up with, "You're calling her fat, but I'm twice her size - what are you saying about me?" Which, depending on how well the kids knew me, was answered either by a mumbled, "wasn't talkin' bout you" or "Oh, Ms. Myn, you ain't fat, you just big."

Which, coming back to the original point, just underscores the cultural attitude about fat, and the dichotomy people feel when they like a fat person. Fat people are bad, and you're not bad, so maybe you're not, like, _fat_ fat, you're just big/healthy/husky/fluffy/insert euphemism here. That's why I specifically use the term "fat" in describing myself - it's not a shameful indictment of me as a person, it just describes my size.


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## moore2me (Jun 29, 2012)

Just a wee update from tonight's news:

The bullies have been sentenced to one year being booted out of their public school. They will be attending an "alternative" school in the community. This probably translates into school for bad kids. They have written formal letters of apology to Ms Klein. Ms Klein refused to meet with the perps (you go girl). The legal sentence continues with doing community service to be done with senior citizens (let Betty White have them) and completing a bullying class. Gramma has been donated over $650,000 for a "vacation" in a record breaking speedy response to airing the video.


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## Blackhawk2293 (Jun 30, 2012)

LoveBHMS said:


> So it's society's fault? Bull. This is nothing to do with fat hatred and everything to do with bad parenting. Even if the kids hate fat people that doesn't excuse the behaviour. Fat hatred is fat hatred but this is bullying and disrespect for a senior citizen. Is there anyone on this board who'd have gotten away with that behaviour? No way. Who among us would not have gotten ass whipped and marched over to Mrs Klein's house to apologize? And probably grounded for life.



How is it not society's fault? Society has a lot to answer for when it comes to bullying in general whether that because for fat people, gay people, people of different race or religion, whatever. Society has this two faced approach to bullying where they superficially say "oh it's bad, it shouldn't happen" but then when someone is actually bullied they are completely impotent in dealing with the problem and worst case scenario is the victim gets blamed, and if the victim fights back there'll be people judging and saying "oooh that's so wrong, they should have trusted in the system because now everybody's going to fight back".


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## moore2me (Jun 30, 2012)

Blackhawk2293 said:


> How is it not society's fault? Society has a lot to answer for when it comes to bullying in general whether that because for fat people, gay people, people of different race or religion, whatever. *Society has this two faced approach to bullying where they superficially say "oh it's bad, it shouldn't happen" but then when someone is actually bullied they are completely impotent in dealing with the problem and worst case scenario is the victim gets blamed, and if the victim fights back there'll be people judging and saying "oooh that's so wrong, they should have trusted in the system because now everybody's going to fight back"*.



Blackhawk, I know this is not exactly what you were talking about, but it brought up a point that should be fully understood. Driving a school bus filled with 60 kids of varying ages is very difficult. You have to worry about other traffic, making sure the right kids go to the right place, making sure the kids don't get run over getting on and off the bus (either by you or by oncoming traffic or people wanting to pass a stopped bus - illegally.)

You have to handle the big yellow behemoth of a vehicle that steers like a 20 mule team prairie wagon. While doing all these things at one time, you have to keep eyes on the kids to make sure they are not fighting or trying to do the wildthing or torturing a smaller kid or their little sister. There are no seat belts in buses and one of the main rules is that the kids must stay seated while the bus is in motion. 

Having kids get out of their seats while the bus is moving is a recipe for disaster. The driver gets distracted from watching the road because little Johnnny is running the aisles, smacking Larry with a notebook. Then Stevie jumps up and joins in the fun and a fight starts. To quote Sheriff Barney Fife "this thing has to be nipped in the bud." This situation should not have escalated in tormenting Ms Klein because the kids were out of their seats and were brandishing weapons (or threats of weapons) at her. This is the fault of the bus driver and the debaucle should have been stopped the first instant it started. You think texting and driving is dangerous? Imagine what 60 screaming, jumping, frightened kids and preteens would sound like and do in a full blown riot/fight or flight situation.

And lastly, do you have any idea what kind of shitstorm would rain down on a driver who wrecked a bus and hurt some of the children inside? One soceer mom mad at you is enough - think about twenty of thirty mad soceer moms plus their husbands and their lawyers on your butt. Followed in close succesion by the police, the local news media, and then the school board. OUCH!


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## Blackhawk2293 (Jun 30, 2012)

I fail to see how one bus driver is supposed to control 60 kids by himself (or herself) especially when their job is to drive the bus and not get them all killed. Maybe there should be extra support on the bus for drivers... such as security guards and if anyone (or group) plays up, the security guards can escort them all off the bus.





moore2me said:


> Blackhawk, I know this is not exactly what you were talking about, but it brought up a point that should be fully understood. Driving a school bus filled with 60 kids of varying ages is very difficult. You have to worry about other traffic, making sure the right kids go to the right place, making sure the kids don't get run over getting on and off the bus (either by you or by oncoming traffic or people wanting to pass a stopped bus - illegally.)
> 
> You have to handle the big yellow behemoth of a vehicle that steers like a 20 mule team prairie wagon. While doing all these things at one time, you have to keep eyes on the kids to make sure they are not fighting or trying to do the wildthing or torturing a smaller kid or their little sister. There are no seat belts in buses and one of the main rules is that the kids must stay seated while the bus is in motion.
> 
> ...


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## Lovelyone (Jul 1, 2012)

I heard on the news last night that these kids were banned from riding the bus for an entire year. If they were my kids they wouldn't have been able to sit down due to the ass-whipping they would have gotten. Riding in the car with me for a year would have been a nightmare...because I would make them ride in silence--no talking no music--so that they could learn the proper way to ride the bus. They would have lost ALL of their "priviledges" (phone, internet, tv, being able to go outside to play) for a LEAST two weeks (maybe even a month). I would have made them do community service with my supervision in a retirement community...so they could learn to respect the elderly as they should. At the end of it all they would have been forced to write an apology not only to the lady who was victimized but to everyone riding their bus who had to witness it. They would learn that the value of respect is not to be taken lightly in ANY circumstance.


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## prplecat (Jul 1, 2012)

Yeah...they were banned from the REGULAR bus. Most places have "special" buses to take the kids to an alternative school. The parents still won't be inconvenienced on a daily basis by this. They'll just have to make sure that the kids can make their community service appointments.

I would have liked to see the little shits WALK to school for a year. Every. Single. Day.


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## LoveBHMS (Jul 1, 2012)

Lovelyone said:


> I heard on the news last night that these kids were banned from riding the bus for an entire year. If they were my kids they wouldn't have been able to sit down due to the ass-whipping they would have gotten. Riding in the car with me for a year would have been a nightmare...because I would make them ride in silence--no talking no music--so that they could learn the proper way to ride the bus. They would have lost ALL of their "priviledges" (phone, internet, tv, being able to go outside to play) for a LEAST two weeks (maybe even a month). I would have made them do community service with my supervision in a retirement community...so they could learn to respect the elderly as they should. At the end of it all they would have been forced to write an apology not only to the lady who was victimized but to everyone riding their bus who had to witness it. They would learn that the value of respect is not to be taken lightly in ANY circumstance.



THIS.

One bus driver isn't supposed to control 60 kids, 60 sets of parents were supposed to have taught the kids some manners and respect for both authority and the elderly.

The only thing "society" is at fault for is having abdicated responsibilty. If you ask most people over 25 or 30, they'll tell you if you f**ked up around an adult you'd get it twice at home. A generation ago parents didn't harass teachers about their kids getting bad grades; they told the kids to study more or got them a tutor. Anyone I know who was dumb enough to threaten to call child welfare services on their parents was told "oh you'd like to go live in foster care? Ok....bye." Parents weren't afraid of kids....kids had a healthy fear of their elders.

When I was a kid if you'd done something like this you'd either get thrown off, or the bus driver would pull over and stop and then you could explain to your parents that you were late and made everyone else late because you didn't behave yourself. Then you'd be punished.


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## IwannabeVERYfat (Jul 1, 2012)

I would have tossed those brats off the bus, without opening the door!


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## Lovelyone (Jul 1, 2012)

Blackhawk2293 said:


> I fail to see how one bus driver is supposed to control 60 kids by himself (or herself) especially when their job is to drive the bus and not get them all killed. Maybe there should be extra support on the bus for drivers... such as security guards and if anyone (or group) plays up, the security guards can escort them all off the bus.



The woman who was bullied WAS a bus monitor.


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## KittyKitten (Jul 14, 2012)

Shinobi_Hime-Sama said:


> I read the comments on this and couldn't bear to even watch the video, I read the comments first though, but just from that I knew it would probably make me cry or mad enough to strangle the little shits who dared to pick on a senior citizen in the first place.



Strangle the 'little shits'? I can't stand language like that directed at children. Why don't you direct the anger to the parents who raised them? Or hell, society at hand! These are middle school children and yes, they got suspended for a year. They later apologized. Kids are not inherently 'evil', unless psychopaths, someone made them that way, and they can easily be lead in the right direction or the wrong direction. And yes, I've worked in the public school system before.



LoveBHMS said:


> So it's society's fault? Bull. This is nothing to do with fat hatred and everything to do with bad parenting. Even if the kids hate fat people that doesn't excuse the behaviour. Fat hatred is fat hatred but this is bullying and disrespect for a senior citizen. Is there anyone on this board who'd have gotten away with that behaviour? No way. Who among us would not have gotten ass whipped and marched over to Mrs Klein's house to apologize? And probably grounded for life.



If more kids act up, it's our fault as a society. It takes a village to raise a child. Come on, look at television, reality shows that promote bad behavior and such. You see politicians acting like spoiled brats, publicly insulting the president, something you didn't see a generation ago. Rudeness seems acceptable or even encouraged. Hell look at this board, it's even cool to attack and gang on newbie posters. If kids are acting up these days, look at the damn adults! All these people disparaging children, why don't you find a child and mentor them, teach them right from wrong? Oh, I'm wondering why this story is making such headlines, what happened to her is wrong, but there are thousands of kids who are bullied every day and they don't get monetary donations.


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## Shosh (Jul 14, 2012)

There has been an online fundraising campaign to send Karen Huff Klein on a vacation.
There is six days left in the fundraiser and it looks like they will be sending her on early retirement instead! Woo!

Look who's laughing now!

http://www.indiegogo.com/loveforkarenhklein


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## KittyKitten (Jul 14, 2012)

I watched the video. But at the same time, it's sad that she just sat there and let those _niños_ walk all over her. Kids need structure and for someone to say, 'hey that's wrong' .....keep their asses in line. I'm not saying the insults are right, but she just ignored them. They smell fear and weakness and feed on that. One has to put her foot down and she knew that as a bus monitor. Adults should NEVER let kids walk over them, then they get out of control. I'm surprised at the amount of money (almost a million dollars) she is receiving when so many other helpless children and teenagers are bullied and get nothing.


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## Surlysomething (Jul 14, 2012)

happyface83 said:


> giving when so many other helpless children and teenagers are bullied and get nothing.



This has nothing to do with the other children. This has to do with her. Someone ELSE set that fund up and people are giving money towards it. Don't make it sound like it's a bad thing as it's one of the nicest gestures i've seen done in a long time.


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## CastingPearls (Jul 14, 2012)

Surlysomething said:


> This has nothing to do with the other children. This has to do with her. Someone ELSE set that fund up and people are giving money towards it. Don't make it sound like it's a bad thing as it's one of the nicest gestures i've seen done in a long time.


Right. Also, it was not her job to give those kids structure or teach them anything. We can all say what we would do or what she should have done, but that's from our perspective, not hers. Saying that she should have done something (especially some of the violent suggestions I've been reading here and elsewhere online) is just another way of blaming the victim not to mention, she would have lost her job/retirement pension. Those kids' parents are responsible for their upbringing, their schools, an education. Karen Huff Klein did her job by not reacting out of anger or with violence. 

She's also said during interviews that she intends to donate some of the money. I'm not surprised at the amount of money. People feel more empowered on the internet and crowd-donating is easy to set up and contribute to.


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## Surlysomething (Jul 14, 2012)

Exactly. ALL of this.

And these kids DO need to be held responsible for their behavior. Too much stuff gets swept under the rug these days because people and parents fear repercussions. You are not your kids friends. You are their parents and mentors. Do your job (like disciplining).




CastingPearls said:


> Right. Also, it was not her job to give those kids structure or teach them anything. We can all say what we would do or what she should have done, but that's from our perspective, not hers. Saying that she should have done something (especially some of the violent suggestions I've been reading here and elsewhere online) is just another way of blaming the victim not to mention, she would have lost her job/retirement pension. Those kids' parents are responsible for their upbringing, their schools, an education. Karen Huff Klein did her job by not reacting out of anger or with violence.
> 
> She's also said during interviews that she intends to donate some of the money. I'm not surprised at the amount of money. People feel more empowered on the internet and crowd-donating is easy to set up and contribute to.


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## KittyKitten (Jul 14, 2012)

Surlysomething said:


> Exactly. ALL of this.
> 
> And these kids DO need to be held responsible for their behavior. Too much stuff gets swept under the rug these days because people and parents fear repercussions. You are not your kids friends. You are their parents and mentors. Do your job (like disciplining).




And I don't disagree with you, they need to be held responsible for their actions. I never denied this issue. You are not supposed to be your kids' friends. At the same time, as adults, it is our responsibility to lead kids the right way, in the correct path. As I said before, it takes a village to raise a child and never once did I excuse these children's behavior. But don't act surprised when kids are cutting up when the rudest reality shows on television have the highest ratings and when these little ones examine (and model) the behavior of adults around them. 

We are responsible too! 


Kids are extremely impressionable at that young age. But I stand by my statement that she should have laid down the law on that bus. She is a bus monitor and if one cannot control kids, cannot discipline them, then they do not need to work around children. It's not blaming the victim; it's common sense. What is a bus monitor supposed to do? Maintain order and discipline, no? I know it's not cool to go against the grain on here, but sorry, I'm not crying over a grown woman who chose this position. I save my cape for defenseless children and teens who are bullied every day in society.


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## moore2me (Jul 14, 2012)

I agree that kids should be raised properly by their parents. Unfortunately, there are some shortcomings in our modern world. And I also agree that it takes a village to raise kids too - but in today's society outsiders are limited on what we can do to other folks kids. Here are a few suggestions that I still have for the bus ride from hell. 

1. The prime rule in riding on a school bus is to stay in your seat until the bus stops. Keep your hands to yourself and your voice in quiet mode with good manners. If you start a fight on the bus or do something dangerous or illegal - you will forfeit your right to ride - immediately.

2. Parents should be wary of defending their child as innocent when they have been accused of breaking a school rule - especially serious infractions. Judge Judy has a good saying about this . . . "I know when teenagers are lying because their lips are moving." (You can insert the word "preteens" for teenagers too.)

3. Not to be accused of discrimination against the elderly or women - but that poor woman was out of her depth. In her day, she probably was competent to handle a "barrel of monkeys", but as some of us age, we sometimes start losing our confidence, our chutzpah, and we worry about hurting ourselves or someone else hurting us. On the other hand, some of us old hens don't have good sense and we are crazy enough to attack a grizzly bear with a switch.

4. But, kids do not need to be criticized or jumped all the time either. Nor should you constantly shower them with praise for every little thing they do (like breathe, say please and thank you, help clean the table, etc.). My personal mantra is to correct a kid in private and praise them in public. But your praise should be meaningful and spot on - instant or quick reinforcement that their classmates can hear and not think the kid is a teacher's pet.


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## Surlysomething (Jul 14, 2012)

happyface83 said:


> Kids are extremely impressionable at that young age. But I stand by my statement that she should have laid down the law on that bus. She is a bus monitor and if one cannot control kids, cannot discipline them, then they do not need to work around children. It's not blaming the victim, it's common sense. What is a bus monitor supposed to do? Maintain order and discipline!



I would have laid down the law if I was the bus monitor, but not everyone is capable of handling that kind of onslaught. I'm sure she was just taken totally off guard and decided to just ignore it for fear it would escalate. I guess we will never really know the extent of what was going on as we weren't there. It's just sad, plain and simple.


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## KittyKitten (Jul 14, 2012)

STOP THE BUS!
Make them sit for ten minutes till they settle down. No one is going any damn where.

Put the fear of JAH in them. She was in over her head. I do wish the best for her. 

And for grown adults to write death threats to children, well, there you have it. Bunch of sickos.


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## Shosh (Jul 15, 2012)

It is interesting to see Australian and American children pull that kind of crap.

That you would NOT see by Asian children in Asian schools. Believe that!

Maybe our kids could take a leaf out of their book by having more discipline and having more expected of them.


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## moore2me (Jul 15, 2012)

happyface83 said:


> STOP THE BUS!
> *Make them sit for ten minutes till they settle down. No one is going any damn where.*
> 
> Put the fear of JAH in them. She was in over her head. I do wish the best for her.
> ...



Dear happyface,

There is a problem with stopping the bus and making them all sit still for ten minutes. Speaking from previous experience, this would be a very hard thing to sucessfully pull off. Having kids spend ten minutes with nothing to do will almost guarantee a mutiny on the bus. If there's anything that will turn the good kids to side with the trouble makers is to punish everyone for the sins of a few. Kids will gripe to high heaven if punished unfairly. 

It would be much easier to remove the trouble makers or my alternative - I would make the whole rat pack sit up front right next to me. Think of your old family trips in the Buick and dad would say, "If you do that one more time I'm going to smack you!" (and you knew he could reach you.)

I know I said previously to throw the trouble makers out and let them walk. But I have rethought that tactic - I could do such a thing when I drove because it was on country roads, little traffic, and it was not a big deal to make a kid walk a few miles. However, on today's routes, many of the miles are city ones with heavy traffic, four lanes or more, not many good sidewalks, and plenty of bad people to mess with a kid walking alone and feeling mad. Since pestering an old lady is not justification for a possible death sentence, I probably couldn't put a kid off without turning them over to their parent's or some other adult's custody.





Shosh said:


> It is interesting to see Australian and American children pull that kind of crap.
> 
> *That you would NOT see by Asian children in Asian schools. Believe that!
> 
> Maybe our kids could take a leaf out of their book by having more discipline and having more expected of them*.



You're absolutely right Shoshie - I admire the Asian culture's practice of honoring their parents and grandparents. For many hundreds of years, the duty of a son was to look after/shelter/provide for his parents in their retirement years. A daughter's duty was to get married, have a son, and to help her husband care for his parents. In fact, their culture for a long time has been based on ancestor worship.

You are also right about about expecting more out of our children. Kids need something to do. If we do not provide quality activities, monitor their play and interactions, sooner or later trouble will start. (An idle mind is the devil's workshop.) We should also expect kids to have good manners, help people in need, be kind to animals, respect authorities (within limits - via Jerry Sandusky), be fair, and be good citizens. Letting the TV be little Johnnie's babysitter for 5 hours a day and then letting him go on-line for the rest of the evening is not an optimum way to raise a kid.


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## KittyKitten (Jul 15, 2012)

Oh please, in middle school I got taunted on the bus, slurs and ugly names thrown at me, I didn't get shit, need to pay of these college loans. Lucky her. It's ridiculous the amount of money that she is receiving from this incident.


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## Surlysomething (Jul 15, 2012)

happyface83 said:


> Oh please, in middle school I got taunted on the bus, slurs and ugly names thrown at me, I didn't get shit, need to pay of these college loans. Lucky her. To give her all this money is ridiculous.




She's not giving the money to herself. Can you not see this? Her bullying isn't about you or anyone else.


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## Shosh (Jul 16, 2012)

I think it is a wonderful gesture by the people who have donated money, and I hope she has a fantastic vacay and really lives it up with the cashola.

Now whose laughing you little turds!


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## CastingPearls (Jul 16, 2012)

Resenting someone elses good fortune is really petty and judgmental and jealous, especially since she didn't ask for the abuse or the money. I think she got so much money both because of the sheer cruelty but also because so many people identify with being bullied.


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## Lovelyone (Jul 16, 2012)

KittyKitten said:


> I watched the video. But at the same time, it's sad that she just sat there and let those _niños_ walk all over her. Kids need structure and for someone to say, 'hey that's wrong' .....keep their asses in line. I'm not saying the insults are right, but she just ignored them. They smell fear and weakness and feed on that. One has to put her foot down and she knew that as a bus monitor. Adults should NEVER let kids walk over them, then they get out of control. I'm surprised at the amount of money (almost a million dollars) she is receiving when so many other helpless children and teenagers are bullied and get nothing.



On the flip side--if she had yelled at the kids, raised her voice, gotten mean and nasty in return to them...what would have happened? She would have lost her job cos those little brats videotaped her. At her age I highly doubt she could have found another job to replace this one (which she obviously needed because she was still working at her age). They were intentionally trying to get a rise out of her and weren't succeeding. This is the reason that they persisted in antagonizing her and it got worse as the video went on. She did the right thing. At her age they could have seriously harmed her had they attacked her physically. Its not uncommon for these piddly teenagers to use group mentality to gang up on someone. It happens on school buses, quite often btw. She was an adult...calm and patient. My best guess is that she was just waiting for them to get off the bus before reporting them.
As for the money...its not like she got on camera and begged people to send her money. It was a kind gesture by hundreds (maybe thousands) of people who saw a wrong, identified with it, recognized that as an elderly person she deserved a lot better than what those children gave her no matter what her financial circumstance in life, and wanted to do something about it. I was teased mercilessly on a daily basis in elementary/middle school. There was a tall kid on the bus who frequently hit me in the face as he walked past me. TO this day I can still feel the sting of his long fingers (and the cuts I got from his fingernails) on my cheeks from where he smacked me in the face for NOTHING more than being a fat girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. Am I upset because someone raised a fund for this lady who suffered through the barbs, humiliation and meanness of children--but no one did the same for me? Heck no. I couldn't be happier for her. I wish more people did things like this. I wish as a nation, city, community, neighborhood... more people would stand up and help put a stop the bullying and help one another out.


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## AuntHen (Jul 16, 2012)

The bus monitor did not deserve to be treated that way, no one does. However, she IS/WAS a bus MONITOR. The school district might want to consider hiring someone with a bit "thicker skin". I have taught middle school children and they can be absolutely brutal but it is also a brutal age for them. If you take their behavior *personally*, you will not survive! I had a 13 year old call me a hippo (he thought I did not hear him when I turned my back) this past school year and I went right up to him and told him "Did you just call me a hippo? Because let me tell you something... yes, I AM fat and I am cool with it but if you are saying it to insult me, then YOU are the one with the problem." I never heard him say it again.

Anyway, does it excuse the behavior? Absolutely not. But I was also actually shocked to see on the video that she turned and hid against the window. If this is her reaction to kids like this as a bus MONITOR, what would she be like had the kids been bullying other children? And you do not have to yell or act nasty in order to be firm and let children understand that you will not tolerate their rotten behavior. After that, had they kept it up, I would have told them "keep it up and we will not only be talking to your parents/guardians but we will also be talking to your principal, the bus driver and the school district". In my opinion, kids who act like this are usually CRYING OUT for *consistent* discipline and boundaries.

They might consider hiring ex boot-camp instructors


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## moore2me (Jul 16, 2012)

fat9276 said:


> The bus monitor did not deserve to be treated that way, no one does. However, she IS/WAS a bus MONITOR. The school district might want to consider hiring someone with a bit "thicker skin". I have taught middle school children and they can be absolutely brutal but it is also a brutal age for them. *If you take their behavior personally, you will not survive! I had a 13 year old call me a hippo (he thought I did not hear him when I turned my back) this past school year and I went right up to him and told him "Did you just call me a hippo? Because let me tell you something... yes, I AM fat and I am cool with it but if you are saying it to insult me, then YOU are the one with the problem." I never heard him say it again.
> *
> Anyway, does it excuse the behavior? Absolutely not. But I was also actually shocked to see on the video that she turned and hid against the window. If this is her reaction to kids like this as a bus MONITOR, what would she be like had the kids been bullying other children? And you do not have to yell or act nasty in order to be firm and let children understand that you will not tolerate their rotten behavior. After that, had they kept it up, I would have told them "keep it up and we will not only be talking to your parents/guardians but we will also be talking to your principal, the bus driver and the school district". In my opinion, kids who act like this are usually CRYING OUT for *consistent* discipline and boundaries.
> 
> They might consider hiring ex boot-camp instructors



Good idea on the hippo thing. Since kids that age are impressed by animals that rule their domain, I would spend a few minutes lecturing him on how dangerous the hippos are in Africa. They kill more people than most other animals (except the mosquito) and run everything else out of their territory. They also feed at night on land and rule there too. Their lethal weapons are their size (can crush or drown victims), their mouths (can open very wide), and their razor sharp long tusks (huge).


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## LoveBHMS (Jul 16, 2012)

fat9276 said:


> The bus monitor did not deserve to be treated that way, no one does. However, she IS/WAS a bus MONITOR. The school district might want to consider hiring someone with a bit "thicker skin". I have taught middle school children and they can be absolutely brutal but it is also a brutal age for them. If you take their behavior *personally*, you will not survive! I had a 13 year old call me a hippo (he thought I did not hear him when I turned my back) this past school year and I went right up to him and told him "Did you just call me a hippo? Because let me tell you something... yes, I AM fat and I am cool with it but if you are saying it to insult me, then YOU are the one with the problem." I never heard him say it again.
> 
> Anyway, does it excuse the behavior? Absolutely not. But I was also actually shocked to see on the video that she turned and hid against the window. If this is her reaction to kids like this as a bus MONITOR, what would she be like had the kids been bullying other children? And you do not have to yell or act nasty in order to be firm and let children understand that you will not tolerate their rotten behavior. After that, had they kept it up, I would have told them "keep it up and we will not only be talking to your parents/guardians but we will also be talking to your principal, the bus driver and the school district". In my opinion, kids who act like this are usually CRYING OUT for *consistent* discipline and boundaries.
> 
> They might consider hiring ex boot-camp instructors



While in theory I agree with you, any talk of how she should have reacted just smacks of blaming the victim. It's not about how she should have reacted but about how horrible the kids were. "Discipline and boundaries" are for parents to teach.

What ticks me off the most is that today's parents want all sorts of gimmes just for breeding. Kids eat free nights at restaurants, kids travel for free and reduced rates, tax breaks, etc. And the very second the "Village" disciplines their kids or gives them a bad grade, they scream bloody murder. I'm guessing if the bus monitor had talked back to them, one of the parents would have bitched to the school board.


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## MrSensible (Jul 16, 2012)

Lovelyone said:


> On the flip side--if she had yelled at the kids, raised her voice, gotten mean and nasty in return to them...what would have happened? She would have lost her job cos those little brats videotaped her. At her age I highly doubt she could have found another job to replace this one (which she obviously needed because she was still working at her age). They were intentionally trying to get a rise out of her and weren't succeeding. This is the reason that they persisted in antagonizing her and it got worse as the video went on. She did the right thing. At her age they could have seriously harmed her had they attacked her physically. Its not uncommon for these piddly teenagers to use group mentality to gang up on someone. It happens on school buses, quite often btw. She was an adult...calm and patient. My best guess is that she was just waiting for them to get off the bus before reporting them.
> As for the money...its not like she got on camera and begged people to send her money. It was a kind gesture by hundreds (maybe thousands) of people who saw a wrong, identified with it, recognized that as an elderly person she deserved a lot better than what those children gave her no matter what her financial circumstance in life, and wanted to do something about it. I was teased mercilessly on a daily basis in elementary/middle school. There was a tall kid on the bus who frequently hit me in the face as he walked past me. TO this day I can still feel the sting of his long fingers (and the cuts I got from his fingernails) on my cheeks from where he smacked me in the face for NOTHING more than being a fat girl in the wrong place at the wrong time. Am I upset because someone raised a fund for this lady who suffered through the barbs, humiliation and meanness of children--but no one did the same for me? Heck no. I couldn't be happier for her. I wish more people did things like this. I wish as a nation, city, community, neighborhood... more people would stand up and help put a stop the bullying and help one another out.



Arrg, I wish I could rep you - anyone mind helping me out? :batting:

Bullying is a terrible thing, through and through, and I'd bet that the majority of us have experienced it before in our lives at on point or another. I also think we all have our own ways for handling and reacting to it - some are more adamant and are quick to defend themselves, while others are more passive and maybe even feel as though they can't react as it's happening. It's easy to say how we *think* she should have handled this situation, but it depends entirely on her state of mind at the time, as well as overall. It's probably not something she dealt with very often (if at all) in her old age, so it most likely took her by complete surprise.

And like Lovely said, if she had reacted to them with any kind of force or even name-calling, she would have likely dealt with disciplinary punishment of her own, which could have even included job termination. For better or worse, we live in a different time now, and it seems parents these days are much quicker to take legal action against anyone and everyone, even more so when they feel their kids have been violated in some way.

Personally, I think the way she handled it was understandable considering the situation. I know from experience that bullying can cause some of us to "freeze up", like a defensive shutdown reaction, especially when our vulnerabilities are attacked directly. It's not always easy to regain your composure and deal with the situation, right after a collective onslaught like that. I will agree that maybe the bus monitor position wasn't the best for her, but then, she probably never imagined something like that would ever happen. I rode the bus for many, many years as a kid and I never once witnessed anything even close to that kind of behavior by a single kid, let alone a group. Even if I had, I damn sure wouldn't have contributed.

As for the donations, I think it's a heart-warming sentiment, as well as a powerful statement by those who have dealt with bullying themselves and understand how 'soul shattering' it can be. There's no denying that bullying exists all throughout the world of course (and it will probably never cease entirely, unfortunately), but if we can make even one person's life better after dealing with it, I fail to see a negative side. Incidents like this can also act as catalysts for more anti-bullying activism in the future. Not to mention, it might act as a societal reminder that most of what makes us who we are, comes from what we are exposed to, especially during those early developmental stages in life. I'd say parents spending more time with their kids is paramount in itself when it comes to how behaviors are shaped and who knows, maybe publicized incidents like this, as terrible as they are, can potentially help in reinforcing a few child/guardian relationships in the long run. Every little bit helps.

Anyway, just my long-winded, two cents


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## KHayes666 (Jul 16, 2012)

I had to ride the bus in elementary school and one year we had this guy who looked like Mo Vaughn who would stop the bus when it got loud, look back with a mean looking scowl, wait a minute, then continue.

Now if that happened today the kids would complain to the parents and since today's parents suck so bad....rather than say "Well what did you do to make him do that?" they'd say "Oh how DARE that mean old driver do that to my little prince/princess!"

Hopefully the lady gets a much needed vacation but more importantly (but not likely) the kids who did the taunting gets a much needed ass whooping by the parents.


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## AuntHen (Jul 17, 2012)

LoveBHMS said:


> While in theory I agree with you, any talk of how she should have reacted just smacks of blaming the victim. It's not about how she should have reacted but about how horrible the kids were. *"Discipline and boundaries" are for parents to teach.*
> 
> What ticks me off the most is that today's parents want all sorts of gimmes just for breeding. Kids eat free nights at restaurants, kids travel for free and reduced rates, tax breaks, etc. And the very second the "Village" disciplines their kids or gives them a bad grade, they scream bloody murder. I'm guessing if the bus monitor had talked back to them, one of the parents would have bitched to the school board.



I agree with you but obviously it is *not *being done (and will probably get worse, especially in this "me me me", technological age), so now we need to find an *alternative *solution. Plus these kids (for the most part)usually spend more time with their teachers, friends, etc. than they do their parents.

Don't get me wrong... I am *glad *the monitor was monitarily compensated, she has my utmost sympathy and again I state NO ONE SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE THIS but these boys are still CHILDREN and if the parents aren't doing the job, SOMEONE has to. Someone needs to step up and actually at that moment, to their faces say "Hey!! Knock it off! That's wrong!" not just wait until it goes to the media and the kids have no choice (due to a public outcry) but to apologize/face repercussions. Are they truly sorry? Or just sorry that someone sent in the video?


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## KHayes666 (Jul 24, 2012)

fat9276 said:


> I agree with you but obviously it is *not *being done (and will probably get worse, especially in this "me me me", technological age), so now we need to find an *alternative *solution. Plus these kids (for the most part)usually spend more time with their teachers, friends, etc. than they do their parents.
> 
> Don't get me wrong... I am *glad *the monitor was monitarily compensated, she has my utmost sympathy and again I state NO ONE SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE THIS but these boys are still CHILDREN and if the parents aren't doing the job, SOMEONE has to. Someone needs to step up and actually at that moment, to their faces say "Hey!! Knock it off! That's wrong!" not just wait until it goes to the media and the kids have no choice (due to a public outcry) but to apologize/face repercussions. *Are they truly sorry? Or just sorry that someone sent in the video?*



I knew a lot of sorry ass wannabe bullies growing up and most likely if they had to apologize it would just be for formality. Chances are they aren't sorry one bit.


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