I JUST RETURNED FROM THE GROCERY STORE. ON THE WAY WE STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT. IN FRONT OF US WAS A SCHOOL BUS. WE WATCHED AS 3 BOYS RAN TO THE BACK OF THE BUS AND STARTED BEATING THE DAYLIGHTS OF A LITTLE BOY. HIS FACE WAS SQUASHED ON THE WINDOW AS THEY HIT HIM REPEATEDLY. I STARTED HONKING MY HORN AND THE BUS DRIVER DID NOTHING. HE DROVE DOWN THE ROAD AS THE BOYS CONTINUED THEIR ASSAULT. HE DID NOT PULL OVER--HE DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I CAME HOME AND CALLED THE SCHOOL BOARD. THEY INFORMED ME THAT A BUS DRIVER IS NOT ALLOWED TO SEPARATE CHILDREN FIGHTING? HELLO, YOU MEAN A CHILD CAN HAVE THE CRAP BEAT OUT OF HIM AND AN ADULT IS SUPPOSED TO SIT BY AND ALLOW IT? HOW RIDICULOUS! I REPORTED EVERYTHING AND -IF- THE BOY REPORTS IT THEY WILL CALL ME BACK FOR A POLICE REPORT. THE LIKELIHOOD OF THE VICTIM CALLING IS PROBABLY PRETTY SMALL. I FEEL SO BAD FOR THAT CHILD. THE LOOK ON HIS FACE WAS OF SHEER TERROR. PUBLIC SCHOOLS HERE ARE THE WORST! JUST LAST WEEK A CHILD WAS HURT BADLY ON A BUS AND IT WAS ON THE NEWS. I FAIL TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE CHILDREN CANNOT BE PROTECTED FROM THESE BULLIES?
I JUST HAD TO VENT. I AM REELING FROM THE RESPONSE TO THIS!
YVONNE

I apologize for the caps! I just finished writing this and realized I wrote in all caps.

By Lauram on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 06:53 pm:

Why don't you just call the police yourself?

By Karen~moderator on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 06:55 pm:

That is unheard of!!!! I cannot believe they won't become involved?!?!? I thought Louisiana had terrible schools/school systems/transportation systems, but that would never be tolerated, in fact, that would, at the least, get the kids a bus suspension or expulsion, and likely a lot more than that.

That poor child! It makes me sick thinking about it.

By Vicki on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 07:21 pm:

I agree...if I contacted the school and got the response you did, my next call would have been to the police.

By Yjja123 on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 07:36 pm:

WELL, AFTER CALLING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRAFFIC AND THREATENING TO CONTACT THE POLICE MYSELF I NOW HAVE A BIT MORE INFORMATION. THE BUS DRIVER IS REQUIRED TO FILE AN INCIDENT REPORT. SHE DID NOT. SHE WAS CALLED INTO THE OFFICE AND HER STORY WAS THE KIDS WERE PLAYING. PLAYING? I THINK NOT! I NOW KNOW THE VICTIMS NAME IS KYLE. THE SUPERVISOR PROMISED ME THEY (THE 3 BOYS) WOULD RECEIVE A REFERRAL (CALL TO PARENT) ABOUT THIS. SHE ALSO PROMISED THAT THE PRINCIPAL WOULD CALL KYLE INTO HIS OFFICE TOMORROW AND MAKE SURE HE IS OK AND LET HIM KNOW IF HE WANTS TO FILE A REPORT HE HAS A WITNESS READY TO SIGN IT. HIS PARENTS WILL ALSO BE CONTACTED. THE SUPERVISOR IS GOING TO CONTACT ME TOMORROW EVENING AND LET ME KNOW WHAT HAPPENED

By Yjja123 on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 07:38 pm:

Argggh! Caps again! Sorry!
I am not sure about contacting the police when I do not know the children? I will wait and see how the school handles it and take it from there.

By Mrsheidi on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 08:18 pm:

That is just about the saddest thing I ever heard!!! Being an ex-teacher, I am shocked that the bus driver cannot pull them apart? How old were they? I can understand if they're 18 and HUGE but please!!! That's sad that they have that rule probably to avoid lawsuits against the bus driver in case he/she accidentally hurts one of them. SO SAD!!! The bullies parents usually are the ones that would do such a thing and then it ruins it for the general population.
Just make sure everything is documented. Write down everything you saw. Don't expect the school to do much...I would still file a police report just to have it in the record.

By Children03 on Thursday, December 16, 2004 - 11:51 pm:

I am glad my daughter will not be riding a school bus, ever. I just have just heard too many stories of what happens on school buses, attacks, verbal abuse, and even rape.

By My2cuties on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 12:07 am:

Just another reason why Dh and I have decided to *take* our children to school, if not homeschool them. This kind of thing is so horrible. I am glad that this is being taken care of though, just think if someone who didn't really care would have been behind the bus, noone would have ever known about it. Thanks to you, I wish more people would do what is right.

By Feona on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 05:25 am:

The bus drivers used to pull over and not move if we made to much noise. I guess hitting is different.

No respect hitting with a grown up in sight. I wonder if the bus drivers have walkie talkies.

Shouldn't he have called the police on the walkie talkie?

By Dawnk777 on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 07:27 am:

My children took a bus in elementary school. They never had a bad experience. Now, we take them to school, though, since it's too expensive to take the city bus everyday. We are less than 4 miles from the high school and the middle school, so don't get bused anymore.

By Kathym on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 08:28 am:

My kids (12,9 and 6) love the school bus and have never had a bad experience. We do have a great bus driver though who does not put up with any guff! These folks have a tough job...no excuse for the driver in this situation just wanted folks to know there are good ones out there!

By Janet on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 09:31 am:

Man, our bus drivers rule with an iron fist at our school..the kids get reprimanded for yelling too loud! What an insane policy you've described...I think this is something that needs to be changed, and fast!
I'm not for child abuse, but I sure do miss the days when the teachers and administrators could apply real discipline to problem students, rather than letting them run the school. (But that's another soap box)

By Sue3 on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 09:45 am:

That is horrible.My kids go to public school.All of their bus drivers are very strict.
If anyone display`s violence on the bus they get suspended from school for three day`s and they can`t ride the bus the rest of the year.
All state`s must be different.
I would call the police and at least let them know what you witnessed.
May be then the school will enforce stricter rule`s ?

By Cat on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 09:52 am:

Robin's bus driver this year is a retired homicide detective/police officer. That, combined with the fact there are only 6 or 7 kids on his bus has made this a great year for bus riding for Robin. We've had some terrible years, also, and in 2nd and 3rd grades (different schools) I ended up driving him every day to avoid the problems. Some of the drivers aren't trained on how to handle situations they may encounter. Having a special needs child (who thankfully is on a special needs bus right now), I know there are kids out there that don't respond to 'normal' dicipline on busses. I do think, however, the bus driver should have been aware of what was going on on his/her bus and at least pulled over and verbally reprimanded these kids, and the assulters should be suspended from riding the bus for a few days. My sil in Michigan drives an elementary bus (older kids for field trips and such). Next time I talk to her I'll ask what their policies are. It's awful that poor kid had to go through that.

By Sue3 on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 11:20 am:

I am curious now.Maybe I should have posted this on a different thread.
What are the rules in everyone else`s school district`s?
Here in Michigan , the rule`s have gotten much more strict ever since the killing`s in the Colorado school.
When kids are on the bus the same rule`s apply as if they are in school.
Though it is not the bus driver that decides the punishment.
He or she just has to report it to the principal then he or she decide`s the punishment.
With violence the parents are called and it is an automatic in school suspention for three day`s and losing bus transportation.
I am glad that our bus drivers are strict (so far) that is.
I hope justice is served in this situation.
I would have been VERY upset also witnessing
what you had.

By Missmudd on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 11:52 am:

In our school the kids and parents are required to sign a document yearly about what is and is not acceptable on the buses. If you dont sign you dont ride. If you cause trouble on the bus you relinquish your right to bus, I think the scale goes, 1rst counceling, then no bus for a week, then total suspension from bussing for the year. We really have no problems on our busses. Also we have very dedicated drivers who really like the kids.

If I had been the driver I would have verbally tried to stop the fight, then called for assistance. Honestly I dont know about elsewhere but our bus drivers dont get paid squat. If you touch little darling who is beating the snot out of a little kid you could be sued. And my experience is that if a bully is beating up another kid on the bus he is likely to have parents who allow or even condone that sort of behavior. They are also the ones likely to file charges against the school dist and the driver.I honestly would not expect the driver to try to physically break up a fight because they are not trained to do so and are not paid to do so, and it is super risky to do so.

And yes it makes me mad, I would be furious if it was my child that was taking a beating. School should be a refuge against violence, they need that safety to learn properly. You cant concentrate if you are afraid of getting pummeled on the bus. And honestly I just dont know what the world is comming to if we have to make plans to deal w/ this sort of stuff. Only 20 years ago when I was in school it would have been a MAJOR suspension if not expulsion the first time that anything like this occured. And it probably never would have happened in the first place because we never would have even thought of doing it. GRR

By Tink on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 12:12 pm:

Our policy sounds just like yours. Great drivers without enough authority to do much if there was a problem. I can't believe that the driver didn't pull over and call for help or something that wouldn't get him or her sued. I just talked to my dd and she said that no one ever gets hurt on the bus but "Guess what, the big kids say bad words and Amber wrote on the seats!" LOL

Really, she has been riding for 3 years with the same driver and he keeps those kids on a tight leash. All the younger kids love him and the older ones know that he won't put up with any rough-housing or teasing the younger kids. I didn't realize how thankful I am for him until reading this.

By Dawnk777 on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 12:23 pm:

I don't know what the bus rules actually are. I'm sure the same as school rules. My kids never had trouble or caused trouble on the bus, so I don't know. They don't ride the bus anymore, though.

By Amy~moderator on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 02:24 pm:

Any news??

By Bea on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 03:36 pm:

Please let us know of the results of your reporting.

By Yjja123 on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 04:09 pm:

What happened:
The principal called and said: The 3 boys received in school suspension. The victim & parents do not wish to report to police but the school promises to keep a better eye on him and be more protective. The bus driver received a write up for not following proper procedure (using walkie talkie to call dispatcher and police).

I hope they keep their word and truly protect that child. This hits close to home for us as our son was bullied for a year of the school system looking the other way. We now homeschool. Our area does not seem to have good schools. It seems every week a school has a knifing, a beating, or even worse a rape---and these are elementary schools! It is very scarey!
Yvonne

By Sue3 on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 04:33 pm:

That`s all ? I am surprised they didn`t get more of a punishment.
My sister lives in Fla. also and she didn`t care for the schools in her area either
and either did her son ,so he moved back to Mi.to finish school.
Well you did your part Yvonne.If you hadn`t reported it to the school , those boy`s probally would have gotten no punishment at all.
At least they will be keeping and eye out for the victim also.
What an ordeal !

By Annie2 on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 06:27 pm:

That's TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!

By Kaye on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 06:47 pm:

The victim's parents didn't choose to file a police report??? Geesh, we wonder why there are bullies, we are so afraid to stand up to people when they hurt us, because it might make things hard. We are way too passive in my opinion!

By Amy~moderator on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 07:17 pm:

I agree, Kaye. I would have filed a report with the police if I were that poor boy's parents. What a shame.

By My2cuties on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 08:45 pm:

That is a shame they didn't file a report. Poor Kid!

By Amecmom on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 10:01 pm:

Yvonne,
I have to say I am so impressed by how you fought for that little boy. You were not there on the bus, but you were his guardian angel. Just think how many other people may have seen what you saw, and just let it go.
Ame

By Yjja123 on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 10:24 pm:

Thank you Ame!
It is important to me to lead by example. My children were with me when we witnessed the incident. I want them to know that everyone has a voice and we choose whether to look the other way or help. There was no way I would look the other way when a child is being hurt. Thank you everyone for your support!
Yvonne

By Missymelissy on Friday, December 17, 2004 - 11:21 pm:

There was a boy not far from the City I live who committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in his back yard because he was being bullied. This happened almost a month ago. It's very sad.