I'd be outraged and probably be pressing charges.

Bus Driver Chokes Child

By Debbie on Thursday, November 13, 2008 - 11:42 am:

How horrible!

I blame the school too. This driver should not have to try and drive, and try and handle this little boy too. There should always be a monitor on board. However, this still doesn't excuse her behavior. This is totally unacceptable.

By Emily7 on Thursday, November 13, 2008 - 11:45 am:

Oh that is so wrong. I can't believe that the mother wasn't informed, but even more frightening is that the driver was allowed to drive again.
I think there are a lot of people that need to be held accountable for this.
And you are right Cat I would press charges.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, November 13, 2008 - 02:21 pm:

That is horrible. All the special ed buses in Sheboygan, have extra people on them. I would see them getting returned to school, when I was there after school with my kids. Some of those kids can go out of control easily and there's no way a bus driver can drive, and pay attention to an out-of-control kid at the same time.

By Crystal915 on Thursday, November 13, 2008 - 04:33 pm:

That's awful, for everyone involved. Some people can't really handle kids, especially special needs children. I, for one, know I could never be a teacher, because I don't really have the temperment. It looks like this lady doesn't have the patience to be driving a school bus. I would have a hard time keeping my patience in that situation (not to say I would have done what she did, but I know my limits) and I don't understand why she didn't pull over and call the police. My grandmom is a bus driver for the county, but when she drove for the school district she had a special needs kid try to climb out the window. In the video, the kid is running around on the bus and pulling on the window (both very dangerous behaviors for him, the driver, and other people on the road!), so without any other assistance, she could have had the police escort them to make sure he got home safely.

That said, the district DEFINITELY screwed up and should have told the parents. They also should have made sure there was an aide with this child, since the reports show he was inclined to be violent.

Sadly, when I showed my grandmom the video, she told me of a local school who apparently tied a boy to a chair. She said she was picking him up, and he was freaking out, and literally climbing up the body of the aide. The aide told her the reason he acted like this was because they kept him tied to the chair all day, so he was hyper with pent-up energy. I don't know how long ago this was (within the last 15 years though) or if the parents knew, but if I found out the school tied my kids up, I would kill someone. There needs to be better options for kids with these issues, for everyone's sake.

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, November 13, 2008 - 05:39 pm:

I saw an out-of-control kid at school today. They had him in an office area and about 3 people were holding him down. I don't even usually look in this office, but I heard the kid screaming. No one was choking him or tying him down though. I couldn't even tell who it was, since his face was facing the other way. The adults looked like they were struggling with him, though.