After posting about the bullying incident where the bus monitor got bullied by a bunch of middle school students, it got me thinking. What punishment would they face for bullying. Is it enough? Would it be too strict, or not enough to make an impression.
One thing that I kept coming across in reading the articles that progressed was that instead of some of these KIDS apologizing to the bus monitor for what they did, their PARENTS are apologizing for them instead. What is that teaching your child when you apologize for them, or make excuses for their behavior? One father was even quoted as saying that his son was sufficiently embarrassed by the publicity of the event and that he felt that was "enough" of a consequence for his son.
Where did the responsibility go? The father certainly did not make his son own up and apologize directly. Instead the "embarrassment" was enough. I was glad to read that the school district is taking this incident into consideration and has delivered an "appropriate" punishment. However, this punishment, in my opinion, has nothing to do with WHERE the incident took place. The punishment in question is suspending the boys from school for one year, allowing them to attend an "alternative" school, and then eventually, if they show good behavior, they can re-integrate into "regular" school earlier than the one year suspension.
What about a bus suspension? Losing their bus riding privilege? Or what about having the boys write apology notes to the bus monitor? One father even went so far as to apologize to the bus monitor FOR his son. What ever happened to the responsibility falling on the shoulders of the student? Heaven forbid any of the responsibility falls directly on the child for the wrong doing. Instead lets all make excuses and give them what they want anyways.
Frustrated,
The Bus Driver
11 comments:
Yup, I am with you. WHEN do kids take personal responsibility for their OWN actions? This is a bigger problem than people realize. This problem is definitely what I would call "an elephant in the room". Kids should NOT be sheltered from real consequences. Kids need to understand that the world DOES NOT: love them, think they should be first or believe that they are all geniuses.
I think the best thing for the kids is to get them to sit down one-on-one with the bus monitor. That way, they will have to see that this is a real person with feelings and they will not have their friends behind them to support the abuse they were so willing to dole out when they were part of a group. The main thing for the kids to understand is that it is never too late to do the right thing. Facing the bus monitor would be a painful but meaningful lesson.
This is terrible. The documentary 'Bully' recently came out in Australia, I watched it and I was just absolutley shocked to see what was going on in the American public education system. Of course I can not say that all this horrible bullying is allowed to take place in American schools but it seems pretty dam bad. Teachers, principals and parents all denying that there was a problem. Even when a boy had committed suicide, the superintendant still refused the school had a problem. When will school authorities take ownership and enforce punishment upon these students. Many children will experience some type of bullying or teasing and when it happens there needs to be appropriate measures in place by the school to show students this is unacceptable. A one year suspension is simply a cop out. They will move to another school and most likely bully again, they have simply gotten away with it. I feel like in Australia our schools are more responsibly in providing safe learning environments for their students. BTW I am a pre-service primary school teahcer. Students do slip under the radar and there are schools who do neglect their responsibility, however, overall, a majority of public school have a very good, sound bullying policy. This makes me really sad.
They should ALL go on Jerry Springer and endure public notoriety of being low class A$$holes
I hear you. Each of those students should have been made to personally apologize to the school bus monitor. And the punishment should have fit the crime--bus suspension for a year.
Like Meg, the Australian commenter, I also saw the heartbreaking documentary, "Bully," which showed many bullying incidents on the school bus. The parents of one bullied teen asked the obvious question: Why are bullies allowed to ride the bus? Why? Wouldn't suspension of bus privileges for repeated misbehavior empower the bus driver? Bullying and fighting on the bus are both moral and safety issues.
Hey, there, just checking in on you. Haven't heard from you in quite some time, and just wanted to make sure you were ok.
xoxox
I have long sympathized with teachers who are not terminators by nature faced with a student that has the ability to terrorize them and they have no help. This sick business in Connecticut brought it back to mind and I do not understand in today’s huge technological world that each teacher does not have a panic button on their person that will summon help right from police dispatch and any police car within a quarter mile of the school. Long over due.
I have long sympathized with teachers who are not terminators by nature faced with a student that has the ability to terrorize them and they have no help. This sick business in Connecticut brought it back to mind and I do not understand in today’s huge technological world that each teacher does not have a panic button on their person that will summon help right from police dispatch and any police car within a quarter mile of the school. Long over due.
Why didn't the bus monitor do her job and stop the students with cleverness? The kids kept bullying her but she should have stood up and let them know she wasn't going to put up with it. Obviously this wasn't the job for her. She looked more like a passenger. This is how bullying stops, when people let these kids know it won't be tolerated by anyone. She must have been bullied in school herself.
I sympathize with the bus monitor. However, she was not being the monitor, she was allowing these kids to bully her. She should have taken control, which is her job, and told these kids to "stop". This job was obviously not for her. She looked like one of the passengers or one of the students. Not at all the adult you have to be to make these kids "knock it off". Poor lady she must have been bullied as a child. I agree the parents were sheltering the bad behavior. There again she should have told them she didn't want their apology, but one from the bullies.
Bullying is one of lifes facts that people hava had to deal with forever. It only stops when the bully becaomes fearful of what the bullys actions may bring to him/her and reasoning has nothing to do with it.
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