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What is the matter with the administration at this school? My daughter's school won't even let the bus leave until every child who's supposed to be on it is accounted for. Who the hell lets a 5 year old start walking off on his own?
This appears to be a situation where peole on multiple levels weren't doing their jobs:
The administration at the school wasn't aware that the situation involving this child was out of hand?
The bus driver wasn't aware that the situation involving this child was out of hand or at least didn't report it to supervisors?
The parents were so oiut of touch with their child and his or her mood that they weren't aware that the situation involving this child was out of hand? Or didn't care?
I'd like to hear the sequel to this. What is the mom going to do about it? What is the school doing to do about bullying on the bus? Maybe all the kids who suffer bullying on the bus should boycott the schoolbus, to force the school to do something. How hard could it be to pay a couple of older teen boys to ride the bus and get tough with the bullies?
You don't think maybe the school might face some serious legal and liability issues hiring some neighborhood tough kids to "get tough with" younger students? From a liability management standpoint they're probably better off negligently letting a 5-year-old skip the bus and walk home by himself.
Hiring older boys is a great idea, as long as their charge is not to get violent with any person.
It's not about legal authority. It's about maintaining order. Some schools tried having retired elders ride the buses as monitors, but the kids bully them, too.
In your scenario, it is ALL about legal authority. Children have no legal status of being in charge of other children.
That's your school. Not all schools operate the same; that much is clear from the posts on this thread. We're not discussing your school, but a broader concern about schools nation-wide.
You responded to a comment specifically about how my daughter's school operates, so yes we were discussing my school (or my daughter's school to be more accurate). The line of discussion originated as a counterpoint to your claim that "[t]he driver can't possibly be held responsible for knowing what kids are supposed to be on the bus." Yes they can, and the driver who left without accounting for this 5-year-old's whereabouts should be held accountable for his negligence. If he's not, then there's a flaw in that school's system of accounting for their charges as they leave for the day. These are lessons and examples that we can examine and learn from and apply to "a broader concern about schools nation-wide."
This is why they need to have an aide on the bus at all times. The bus driver shouldn't have to be monitoring for bullying - he should be DRIVING, with all his attention on the road.
I agree. I want an aide watching the kids and the driver watching the road and other drivers.
First, none of the buses have anywhere near 71 kids on them. Second, I already explained the procedure to be followed by the substitute bus driver, or any other bus driver who isn't already familiar with his/her route complement.
"Some take care the kids some don't" is not acceptable around here. They either follow procedure to make sure their charges are all accounted for before leaving, or they find work elsewhere.
You don't have to be a bus driver to know that you don't leave a 5-year-old behind unless you're good and sure that child is in someone else's authorized care or custody. Maybe people are more casual in your neck of the woods about the authority and responsibility they have assumed for other's children but I can assure you that if my kids ever don't get off at their assigned stop end of the day, there's going to be hell to pay unless the administrators have a damned good explanation.
It appears the maximum capacity for a school bus is 72 for elementary. 12 rows, 2 seats per row, 3 elementary school children per seat. I know that in my district, there are buses that are full because I have been at stops where the bus had to leave people at the stop and come back because there were no more seats left.
There's no indication in the article that the school was aware of the bullying (if spitballs is bullying; was the kid targeted with spitballs or was it a spitball war?). You're kinda jumping to conclusions.
That is a good question. Is being hit with a spitball considered bullying? Was the 5yr old just collateral damage in a broader fight or was he the target?
As a parent who has had their 5 year old's bus arrive at the stop and no child got out, I feel the parent's pain.
I once was in a similar situation to the child in the article. I usually rode the bus to Kindergarten, but one day was dropped off at school. I guess the pattern was different enough and I didn't see anyone I knew because the bus hadn't arrived yet, so I didnt feel comfortable going into the school. So I started walking home. I crossed a relatively major 4 lane highway and was 1/2 way home when the school bus came driving up the hill, saw me, and picked me up and took me to school. Not sure if my parents ever found out about that.
In a perfect world, the supervisor who let the kid walk home alone, the bullies who tormented him and the lazy, lowlife parents of said bullies would all receive a solid punch in the throat.
In a perfect world, the supervisor who let the kid walk home alone, the bullies who tormented him and the lazy, lowlife parents of said bullies would all receive a solid punch in the throat.
And do you accept that same punishment every time you make a mistake?
Since you are aghast at people who were being irresponsible, it seems ironic you want irresponsible acts of revenge as a solution. A responsible person would want to determine how to correct a bad situation, not inflict revenge.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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I was tormented in middle and high school and I'm still effected by it 20 years later. It got so bad that I was pulled out of public school and home schooled. You will always have some level of bullying, the key is keeping it from getting out of hand. My schools felt like a juvenile detention center, teachers had no control. I think the teachers were too afraid to do anything. In one class a drug dealer would roll his marijuana joints at his desk each day right in front of the teacher. Our schools were way too large, hs had 2,000 students.
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