For those that don’t know, I substitute on the buses. I don’t have a regular route that I do, so I end up learning and doing many different routes. Because I am employed as a full time employee, my position is considered a “floater” because I bounce around on many different buses.
It seems though that behavior issues are much larger and more apparent today than they were 15 years ago when I was in elementary school. I seem to have a lot of kids who misbehave on the bus. The children who ride the bus break many of the bus rules. Common rules found on the bus are:
1. Observe same conduct as in the classroom.
2. Be courteous, use no profane language.
3. Do not eat or drink on the bus.
4. Keep the bus clean.
5. Cooperate with the driver.
6. Do not smoke.
7. Do not be destructive.
8. Stay in your seat.
9. Keep head, hands, and feet inside the bus.
10. Bus driver is authorized to assign seats.
All of these rules are posted on a yellow sheet inside most school buses.
1. Safety zones around the outside of the bus.
Every rider who gets on the school bus should take each of these rules seriously. It seems though more and more we get massive behavior problems from the students who ride. Yes, the bus driver takes certain credibility with how their bus behaves, but there are many kids who disregard the rules completely. The most common rules that are broke are the eating and drinking rule, and the stay in your seat rule. These rules are followed by the no profane language rule, and the conduct in the classroom rule.
Everyday I deal with children who will not stay seated, who cuss me out, who get into fights with each other, and who constantly eat and drink on the bus – leaving the trash all over the floor of the bus. In some buses, it’s an everyday occurrence with the SAME students. The buses in my district are equipped with cameras that catch the students every move. Many times the tapes are useful in showing the principal or assistant principal exactly what a student is doing on the bus. It’s also helpful when a parent comes to the bus shop or the school claiming their children “couldn’t have been the one” to misbehave. After all, little Suzy or Johnny is an “angel”.
I believe the increase in the misbehavior on school buses and in schools is largely due to the increase in children who believe they are “entitled”. Discipline isn’t what it used to be over 20 years ago because it is considered to be “abusive” and “negative” on the child’s psyche. This entitlement shift has been the main reason why it is now “someone else’s” fault for the child’s misbehavior. Parents don’t want to take responsibility and discipline their children appropriately for misbehavior due to the thinking that discipline is bad for children. Increasingly, the schools are at a loss as to what to do with the child who misbehaves. Excuses are made for behavior problems. “Alternative” schools are created to “allow” these behavior problems to have an education anyways. It’s like saying to a child, “Its ok you misbehaved, and you won’t be held accountable for your actions because there are other options for you.”
So now instead of taking an adult school bus driver’s word over the child’s, the tape is pulled from the bus and is used to show the behavior problem. Since WHEN is a camera and tape more important than an adult’s word over the children’s word?
Even so, children do not get removed from the riding PRIVILEGE or suffer the same consequences as many of us did when we were younger. We even cater to them by stopping “door to door” thereby wasting fuel and time. All respect is lost for adult authority because everyone makes excuses. Children will misbehave, but the excuses need to stop.
Excused out,
The Bus Driver
11 comments:
It's pretty bad to see how the norms have changed. People around won't understand it either.
Keep writing. I like your blog.
Teachers are treated the same. I've seen many administrators take the word of the student over the word of the teacher. Being a sub makes your life even harder.
PO'd Yes, thats true. I've been a Sub for the school district as well, and have gotten the same treatment. Most of the time now, since my classroom/bus management skills have increased, I can manage most behaviors on the bus/ in the classroom. But its still disheartening when students continue to disobey.
At my school kids are getting "banned from the bus" all the time for bad behavior...I guess it all depends on administrator backbone.
I understand that as an adult it is frustrating when one's word is not believed over a child's word. I would be horrified if the school called me about my child's misbehavior, but I would not automatically believe the school. Here is why:
I KNOW my child may lie to me.
I KNOW the school administration has lied to me about my child.
I THINK I can better determine when my child is lying than than I can determine when the school is lying.
So...who would I believe?
Anonymous:
It seems to me that you've had frustration with school administration and honesty in the past. Unfortunately, children & adults DO lie (not all the time, but they do lie.) The problem here is not lying. It is the behavior problems that we see from children. Of course most children are going to deny whenever they've done wrong generally speaking.
You stated that you would be horrified if the school contacted you about your child's misbehavior and that you wouldn't believe the school automatically, but if you're horrified, then wouldn't it stand that the school felt they had a good reason to contact you and felt it necessary to bring something to your attention?
It still stands that there are people who can be vindictive towards others, therefore both sides of an issue (behavior or otherwise) need to be reviewed before it is resolved.
I remember riding a yellow bus around 15 years ago, myself. I guess that's not long enough ago to be the "good old days. In my time, kids were loud and obnoxious and frequently broke most of the rules of the bus.
I remember that some of the bus drivers mostly ignored it, some were attentive and good at maintaining discipline, and a few were lousy at discipline but great at yelling at the entire bus " SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP!!! ".
If you are in the first or second category, and just venting, you have my utmost sympathy. If you are in the third category, for the sake of yourself and the kids, don't do it anymore.
Mrs Bluebird - I'm glad to see that your school takes a proactive approach to discipline issues.
Becca - I am what is considered a "floater". I do not have a regular route, instead I bounce around buses, depending on whomever is absent. I have seen the whole spectrum of how Bus Drivers manage their buses.
I am more lax to let certain things go. (IE: cellphones, ipods, electronic gadgets are prohibited from schools and by proxy school buses, I'm supposed to confiscate, but instead, my philosophy is, if the child is being quiet and not disrupting the environment, then let them keep the item thats keeping them occupied.) I don't tolerate loud obnoxious noises (basically if I cannot hear a train whistle or a police/ emergency siren due to the noise on the bus, then we have problems. I also will not tolerate hitting or physical aggression as that can lead to some serious damage. Most discipline issues I have are the ones that relate to safety. I expect the children will stay seated, those who don't will get a discipline referral.
I've been a floater for about a year and a half, and most of the buses I substitute on, the children know what I expect. It's those few incidences and buses (and there are a few) where the SAFETY of the children are at stake. I do not yell, but I do raise my voice loud enough to be heard in the back (the motor of the bus is quite loud.) If the loudspeaker works on a bus, I utilize it. I also go directly to their regular bus drivers, just as a substitute would leave a note for the regular teachers about behavior and discipline issues. So, long answer short, I'm just venting. :)
I get a lot of conduct referrals from our bus drivers, and my conversations with the students are all pretty much the same: "A bus is a two-ton vehicle, filled with children, going 45 miles per hour down the road. I don't know about you, but I want the driver of that vehicle to pay 100% of his attention to the road. If you're [eating/drinking, moving around, yelling etc.], that's 5% of his attention on you. If a couple of you are doing it, the driver may be paying, say, 80% attention to the road. Are you comfortable with that? The lower that number goes, the more likely you are to die.
And THAT's why I have a problem with your doing that on the bus."
Seems to work. I don't get a lot of repeat offenders.
Q6 - Thank you for taking a pro-active approach in dealing with misbehaving children. It is administrators such as yourself that make it worthwhile to fill out the discipline referrals. You're right, if the right action is taken on the referral in the first place, the child is not likely to misbehave again. Thank you.
I have used a videocamera in my classroom and it has improved behavior for the same reasons you mentioned. Unfortunately, the ones that are usually misbehaving continuously have no consequences at home. I have seen parents complain that they cannot control their high school children. I think they needed to be taught how to behave properly when they are in elementary school so that they can be controlled by the time they are in high school. I wouldn't dare cuss out an adult when I was in high school, not because I was afraid of a physical threat at home (which was a possibility of course) but more because I didn't want to disappoint or embarrass my parents. We need to get back to that mentality with our children.
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