Middle schoolers torment an elderly bus monitor and post it to the internet

[luvsJack]

I agree.


You know, the "fat" and "twinkie" comments were bad enough. But about halfway through the video they talk about going to her house ("she probably lives in a trailer") and that's where the sophomoric trash talk crosses the line into fairly disturbing sexual territory. (As in, middle schoolers both knowing these things and saying they're going to do them to someone else. Wowsa!) Again, not truly surprised because sexual innuendo seems is a very common theme in middle school. I have told people some of the things that have gone on in the classroom and they've been shocked. (Such as the boy showing off and stroking his erection through his pants for the girls. Or the next day simulating pleasuring himself with a rolled up piece of paper. Uggh.) These are the types of things our middle schoolers have to deal with at school every day so I'm glad some of it is coming to light.

I'm mentioning it here because I had no idea MS was going to be like this. Nobody prepared me whatsoever, so it's been a learning process for me. (My own experience was different.) Hopefully others reading this with younger kids can be forewarned and teach their kids how to react accordingly.

Middle school/jr. high can be shocking can't it? Its like they go from being little kids to these OVERLY sexual beings that don't have sense God gave a goat.

It seems like dd and I are having a conversation weekly about something I have heard some kid did or says he did and why she needs to stay away from that or how to respond to it or whatever.

In some ways, I will be glad for her to get around some kids with at least a little maturity on them in high school. Or have at least gained some sense into what is or isn't appropriate behavior!

 

[FergieTCat]

How about pressing harrassment charges against the little darlings and make them AND THEIR PARENTS appear in court? I think if parents were inconvenienced by the actions of their offspring, the actions would stop. Make the parents take time off from work to appear in court and maybe even pay out of their pocket if they need to retain legal counsel.

No, I don't think "boys will be boys" or "kids will be kids". This nonsense needs to stop.

 

[snapppyd]

Where is the respect for age and authority that *we* were brought up with? I'm in my '50's and I can guarantee that I would never have done something like this, and neither would my two sisters. There would have been heck to pay when we got home!

They are not being taught properly at home. Just look around the internet at the groups of women who are in the age group to be the parents of these kids. I can't believe the rudeness, snarkiness and sarcasm I witness on a daily basis. They think it's funny to make fun of people, I guess to boost their own poor self esteem.

I blame the parents, but don't hold out much hope that things will change. The internet is breeding a whole new crop of bullies and their offspring.

 

[ilovejack02]

I heard this on the radio driving home this morning. I have no proof or link, and I have not verified it so take it for what it is.

The DJ said she was not on the bus to monitor it but she was an aide for one of the students on the bus.

Again, this may not be accurate but I thought I would pass this along in case anyone can track down a reliable source.

If this is true, it would make total sense why she didn't do anything or report. Honestly in the district next to us, a student has to be VIOLENT with a teacher before anything will be done and sometimes it isn't taken care of on first offense. Cussing , racial slurs etc is what my teacher friend's deal with daily , even from the youngest of kids. Not one thing is usually done when problems are reported as they don't want to deal with the crazy parents .

My district on the other hand, which is literally 5 mins away from said above area , takes NO CRAP from kids or whiny parents who try to say not my kid . It is amazing how differently our districts handle the children . My area is always laughed about .. called Livingston Parish trash etc, funny though, our kids have some of the highest test scores in the state . While East Baton Rouge Parish cant keep their kids under control and can barely get many of them to pass .

 

[Pea-n-Me]

OMG

As the intimidation unfolded, she said, she tried her best to disregard the harassment and didn't hear everything that was uttered. But she said the hazing hurt deeply.

One comment from a boy aboard the bus was especially painful. He told her that she does not have family because "they all killed themselves because they didn't want to be near you." Klein's oldest son took his own life 10 years ago, according to CNN affiliate WHAM.

Looks like there's going to be a press conference at 1pm and she will be Anderson Cooper's guest on CNN tonight.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/us/new-york-bullied-bus-monitor/index.html

This stands out as well:

The incident occurred in Greece, New York, near Rochester. Klein is a bus monitor for the Greece Central School District and the harassers hail from the Greece Athena Middle School, media reports said.

Klein described her tormenters "regular, normal kids" and "one on one, they're OK."

"Just don't get a bunch of them together. That's when the trouble starts," she said.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Middle school/jr. high can be shocking can't it? Its like they go from being little kids to these OVERLY sexual beings that don't have sense God gave a goat.

It seems like dd and I are having a conversation weekly about something I have heard some kid did or says he did and why she needs to stay away from that or how to respond to it or whatever.

In some ways, I will be glad for her to get around some kids with at least a little maturity on them in high school. Or have at least gained some sense into what is or isn't appropriate behavior!

Yes!

I'm hoping that some experts on behavior in this age group will chime in and make some information widely available (like they do with criminalists, for example). Pick apart this age group to understand what drives them and how to effect change on a large scale. I've tried to find information myself and wasn't very successful. Maybe I was looking in the wrong places, I don' know; or maybe it's just not there. Maybe this is the time and impetus for change.

 

[4nana]

They were hoping to get donations of $5,000. so this sweet lady, Karen, could take a nice vacation.

Thankfully, though many kindhearted and sympathetic donators, it is almost up to $200,000 and growing!!

I'm praying she get enough to happily retire and never looks back!

 

[pigletgirl]

OMG





Looks like there's going to be a press conference at 1pm and she will be Anderson Cooper's guest on CNN tonight.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/21/us/new-york-bullied-bus-monitor/index.html

This stands out as well:

Is the press conference on CNN?

I still cannot believe this.

 

[bettymae1121]

I was in MS in the late 80's and honestly, the behavior I saw/experianced then (over 20 years ago) does not leave me shocked at the behavior now. What I saw as a teenager wasn't quite as bad as this, but not too far off the mark really. We've been heading down this road as a society for a while now.

It's because of my own experiances (and threads like this which tell me things certainly haven't improvedd) that if my child winds up in public school (we may put her into private) that I plan on pulling her out and home schooling her for MS (grades 7-8 in my area) and putting her back in for high school, where - at least in my experiance - things seem to settle down again.

 

[Jennasis]

All those little punks need a round house kick to the head by Chuck Norris followed by an entire summer volunteering 40 hours a week in a nursing home.

Make it so.

 

[pigletgirl]

Homeschooling for MS is not a bad idea AT ALL. It is such a brutal place to be, regardless of age as we've seen. I just don't understand why those kids have to be sooooo nasty! I really dont!

 

[NY Disney fan]

I remembered being bullied by a group of high schoolers on a bus going home. They taunted me and poured soda all over me. I wore a school uniform. Thankfully a stranger got involved and stepped in. When those kids in the video get older they are going to feel terrible and this memory will last them forever.

 

[Jennasis]

I remembered being bullied by a group of high schoolers on a bus going home. They taunted me and poured soda all over me. I wore a school uniform. Thankfully a stranger got involved and stepped in. When those kids in the video get older they are going to feel terrible and this memory will last them forever.

Generally speaking, bullies tend to (conveniently) NOT remember the torment they caused, or at least not understand the damage they've done. Very often when confronted as adults they don't recall ever being a bully, or the instances of actual bullying and they never "realized how upset you were"...or at least that's the claim.

THESE boys however now have international NOTORIETY thanks to the web and will definitely remember their bullying.

 

[LuLuO]

I just saw this story on TV. I am so sorry for her. If one of my kids did this, I don't know what the punishment would be, but they'd be sorry forever that they did this.

 

[wvjules]

I can't even bring myself to watch the video.

 

[zoemurr]

not sure if they'll replay it.. but it might be here
http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S2663944.shtml?cat=566

I'll try to remember some key stuff..
She was in the back of the bus, so the driver had no idea. He has apologized.
All kids/families came to the school willingly after they were contacted.
One child came to school on their own and turned in the other kids.
One of them is the step-child of an officer. The officer brought the child in before he was identified in other manners. He is on vacation and not involved in the case. All families have cooperated and have not denied anything.

Verbal harassment is not a criminal offense and they can't be tried at this time, although they are still looking for ways to make it a criminal offense. A lot of it depends on the victim. She said she never felt physically threatened and wants the punishment to be through the school. They are all 13yrs old.

School said they will be punished to the "maximum" but there is a system that must be followed and punishment will not be publicly released.

The children (and their families) are receiving thousands of threats. They are having their homes monitored. Police chief said that this is also bullying and it needs to stop.

Over $200,000 has been raised.

This is a school district about 30min from me. A few years ago the HS achieved world wide recognition for JMac, the autistic student who helped win a basketball game and the way the whole school supported them. (There are great youtube videos of this if you haven't seen it.) May restore your faith in humanity a bit.

 

[*MomTo2Princesses*]

This video absolutely breaks my heart.

One of the boys' family members will be on Fox News within the next few minutes.

 

[LisaR]

not sure if they'll replay it.. but it might be here
http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S2663944.shtml?cat=566

I'll try to remember some key stuff..
She was in the back of the bus, so the driver had no idea. He has apologized.
All kids/families came to the school willingly after they were contacted.
One child came to school on their own and turned in the other kids.
One of them is the step-child of an officer. The officer brought the child in before he was identified in other manners. He is on vacation and not involved in the case. All families have cooperated and have not denied anything.

Verbal harassment is not a criminal offense and they can't be tried at this time, although they are still looking for ways to make it a criminal offense. A lot of it depends on the victim. She said she never felt physically threatened and wants the punishment to be through the school. They are all 13yrs old.

School said they will be punished to the "maximum" but there is a system that must be followed and punishment will not be publicly released.

The children (and their families) are receiving thousands of threats. They are having their homes monitored. Police chief said that this is also bullying and it needs to stop.

Over $200,000 has been raised.

This is a school district about 30min from me. A few years ago the HS achieved world wide recognition for JMac, the autistic student who helped win a basketball game and the way the whole school supported them. (There are great youtube videos of this if you haven't seen it.) May restore your faith in humanity a bit.

This ALWAYS happens. People scream about X,Y, or Z and in their fits of rage, they end up doing the exact same thing. While I want those kids punished just as much as everyone else, threatening them or their families is not the way to go about it. There just seems to be stupid around every corner nowadays.

 

[*MomTo2Princesses*]

The boy's father thinks he has suffered enough since his face was made public in the video.

 

[Donaldswife]

The boy's father thinks he has suffered enough since his face was made public in the video.

The boy's father is wrong. I don't condone people bullying the bullies, but they should all be punished by the maximum allowed within the school code.