FARK.com: (7179356) Riding on the school bus has always been a hellish experience, so why did it take a bullied elderly bus monitor before anyone took notice?

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		Riding on the school bus has always been a hellish experience, so why did it take a bullied elderly bus monitor before anyone took notice? (slate.com)		162
		More: Interesting, school bus, National Center for Education Statistics

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enik		2012-06-24 07:18:59 PM

reillan: If a gay teenager gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he deserved it for being gay.

If a wimpy kid gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he needs to learn to grow a pair.

If a fat kid gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he needs to learn to be fat somewhere else.

If an old lady gets made fun of on the bus - RESPECT YOUR ELDERS!

Wow, yeah, you've really got your finger on the pulse of 21st Century America. Derp.

StreetlightInTheGhetto		2012-06-24 07:19:46 PM

My school bus kicked ass. I was in the gifted program, so long ride across whole district meant our driver only had two routes a day and a half full bus.. so ours was competitive and the dispatcher gave us the coolest drivers. Got a full box of chips when we were stuck next to a Frito Lay truck at a train crossing, played euchre, all had a vote on the radio station, we got to use the CB when we broke down at least yearly and the driver put out flares... good times.

fjnorton		2012-06-24 07:23:26 PM

Onkel Buck: I touched boobs for the first time on the bus. I had a good experience

So you were a bus driver?

Bit'O'Gristle		2012-06-24 07:23:29 PM

I drive a school bus, and i have high, middle, and grade school students onboard. I would have to say that the most trouble i have is with the middle school. No respect, constant fighting issues, cursing, throwing things at each other, out the bus windows, etc..you get the picture. No, it's not a great fun time, but I from the start made it clear that if they started their shiat, i would turn the bus right around and drop them right back at the school i picked them up at. If they were violent, i would stop the bus and have the police take them off. I only had to do that a few times and the little heathens learned that i wasn't farking around.

skantea		2012-06-24 07:24:03 PM

I was that nice happy clowny kid with hidden anger issues (horrible home life). I was all fun and games until someone tried to bully me, and then I took it way too far. I pretty much only had problems once at each new school I attended, after that people knew better. Also I told really good jokes.

Alphakronik		2012-06-24 07:24:25 PM

Simply put,

because when I would get picked on or assaulted, I would stand up and break the farkers nose (and cheekbone once).

It stops their behavior very quickly.

AKTurkey		2012-06-24 07:26:17 PM

Was bullied on the bus once in 4th grade by a 6th grader. After taking his insults for about 2 weeks, I decided to hit him in the face. It probably didn't hurt much, but we both got sent to the principal's office. I think the sheer fact that someone fought back and the annoyance of being sent to the principal stopped him from ever bullying anyone on the bus again. I have no idea if this incident got around, but I was not bullied again for years. When it did happen again, I had already learned how to deal with the situation and my fists of lightening were ready. It was then that I realized the power of Kung Fu and began my journey to become King of Fighters

greenlady1		2012-06-24 07:26:48 PM

Fark Me To Tears: When I was riding the bus to school, we didn't have a bus monitor. If things became unruly, the bus driver would just pull off the road, turn the engine off, and just look up into that big rectangular mirror. And we'd just sit there until it got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The driver never had to say anything to get the crap to stop. Sitting there on the side of the road -- not going home or to school -- was incentive enough.

That's what ours did as well. When I was in 6th grade, some kid brought bullets on the bus, and our bus driver pulled over when she caught wind of what was going on, and we sat there until the kid brought the bullets up to her. No bus monitors, no cameras, no police ride-a-longs.

Welfare Xmas		2012-06-24 07:28:19 PM

Alphakronik: I would stand up and break the farkers nose (and cheekbone once).

Dumb ass, soft tissue damage can cause just as much pain and provides much less evidence.

Loren		2012-06-24 07:31:16 PM

KrispyKritter: with all the unemployment there must be a few moms & dads (or grand-parents) with armed services backgrounds that could visit the bus for a week. they'll put the fear of FSM into those kids.

/teachers deserve combat pay
//because your children are animals

No, because things would go back to normal as soon as they left.

Moopy Mac		2012-06-24 07:32:24 PM

Who are these people that are still donating money to this woman? At this point there has to be better uses for that money.

halB		2012-06-24 07:36:17 PM

I remember when I was in middle school and my friend lit up a cigarette at the back of a school bus, and smoked the whole thing. He then put it out on the seat, and used his lighter to continue to melt/burn it.

I learned that day that the school bus driver doesn't look back. If you aren't within the first two seats of that bus, you don't exist.

I used this information to my advantage.

slimfast		2012-06-24 07:36:26 PM

When I was in school - and admittedly I was a bit of a nerdy type then as now - the bullies were brutal to me. On a bus on day they literally shook the seat I was sitting on. Now if I got up and smacked them up a bit which really never was a thought because I knew I'd be pummeled I would have been the one in trouble. A no win situation. I do feel for that old bus monitor. In my time there were no bus monitors.

JonBuck		2012-06-24 07:36:40 PM

I hated, hated, hated the bus. The last time I rode was in 9th grade (middle school was grades 7-9). I was the very last stop, which meant there was often nowhere to sit. I sat in the aisle on more than one occasion.

It was far worse if they assigned one of the smaller buses to the route. One day everyone got so rowdy the driver drove to the bus lot and everyone was shouted down by the supervisor. This was about 1991 or so, long before cameras were viable.

thursdaypostal		2012-06-24 07:37:23 PM

I was lucky, my busses were always fairly empty and I just read every single ride or played with a gameboy or something.reillan: If a gay teenager gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he deserved it for being gay.

If a wimpy kid gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he needs to learn to grow a pair.

If a fat kid gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he needs to learn to be fat somewhere else.

If an old lady gets made fun of on the bus - RESPECT YOUR ELDERS!

I don't even know where to start.

JonBuck		2012-06-24 07:39:29 PM

slimfast: When I was in school - and admittedly I was a bit of a nerdy type then as now - the bullies were brutal to me. On a bus on day they literally shook the seat I was sitting on. Now if I got up and smacked them up a bit which really never was a thought because I knew I'd be pummeled I would have been the one in trouble. A no win situation. I do feel for that old bus monitor. In my time there were no bus monitors.

I was only bullied once, physically. Guy tried to steal my rainjacket and when he couldn't get it, slammed my head against the metal panel between the windows. The driver was outside, because the kids had to cross. She noticed nothing when she came in. I think I had a concussion, and this was just before winter break. The bully was never punished because the normal driver went skiing over the break and broke both arms, so I never got a chance to talk with her.

balki1867		2012-06-24 07:40:15 PM

There was this kid on my middle school bus who used to get the crap kicked out of him on a regular basis. He was smart enough to sit right next to the bus driver on the way to/from school (they don't do much, but the kids causing the problems were sitting in the back), but the walk from the stop to his house had to be pure hell for the kid. I know his parents went to the school about it at one point and the county basically said, "Once he's off the bus its not our problem." His parents started driving him to school and eventually moved him to another school altogether.

Whenever there's a shoot shooting, I'm always surprised how shocked some people act about that those things happen. That kid was in about as hopeless a situation I could imagine, and everyone knew exactly what was going on.

slimfast		2012-06-24 07:40:24 PM

Mrs. Crabtree
southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com

Poor Mr. Crabtree

Kumana Wanalaia		2012-06-24 07:41:57 PM

If bullying is acceptable, then there better not be any complaints when bullies get hurt. Otherwise, bullying is not acceptable, and people targeted by a bully have recourse to authority to end the bullying.

Oh, yeah, one more thing... people who have been abused and are messed up from it, and are susceptible to lashing out with abusive behavior, these people need to be helped. If they can ask for the help then they should get that help.

vodka		2012-06-24 07:42:52 PM

Vidwiz: She's got $649,000 worth of donations so far and it's still climbing....she will never have go thru that hell ever again!

Just wait till she gets the tax bill.

studebaker hoch		2012-06-24 07:43:29 PM

Welfare Xmas

Alphakronik: I would stand up and break the farkers nose (and cheekbone once).

Dumb ass, soft tissue damage can cause just as much pain and provides much less evidence.

Avoid making your target bleed, it looks bad.

/watch the way cops club people, they never go for the nose or mouth. Those leak too easily. Instead they go for the back, the gut, the junk, the knees, anywhere else where they can inflict serious damage without you bleeding for the TV cameras.

eaee12		2012-06-24 07:44:07 PM

But think about this another way: if she had kicked them off the bus, they probably wouldn't have posted the video and she would have been fired for making those precious snowflakes walk ALL the way home alone where they could have been enticed by a man in a van with candy and puppies. I don't really see a way this lady could have gotten out of this situation unscathed (ignoring for a second her newfound fortune). I feel terrible she had to deal with those monsters but she was the wrong choice for that job, find someone who can take the abuse and maybe dish it out as well.

frizzantik		2012-06-24 07:44:20 PM

Moopy Mac: Who are these people that are still donating money to this woman? At this point there has to be better uses for that money.

this

also the person running the donation campaign really ought to stop taking donations

Jim_Callahan		2012-06-24 07:53:53 PM

So give the farkers detention, or suspend them if there are repeated incidents. Not on the bus anymore. Problem solved.

Not really something that calls for half a million in monetary aid.

buckler		2012-06-24 07:56:53 PM

SoCalSurfer: frizzantik: Moopy Mac: Who are these people that are still donating money to this woman? At this point there has to be better uses for that money.

this

also the person running the donation campaign really ought to stop taking donations

What if she set it up and it was all an elaborate scheme to milk money from sympathizers?

i296.photobucket.com

Rockstone		2012-06-24 07:57:26 PM

I used to take the bus in high school... no problems for me with bullying, EVER.
(we all used to play games on our laptops the school gave us. Many a COD 4 victor was crowned...)

/I was in HS though, only rode the MS bus once

Gotfire		2012-06-24 07:58:08 PM

I remember a bully in 9th grade wood shop class who would force me into one of the 10x10 chain link cages with him where they stored the power tools after hours. The fun game he liked to play was to see how far up and how many times he could throw me into the caged wall and watch me fall to the ground. His shiatty gangbanger friends would hold the door shut until the oblivious teacher returned to the classroom.

Interestingly, he and one of his banger friends ended up murdering several taco bell workers in a robbery 4 years later. He threw their bodies into the walk in freezer and fled.

He was sentenced to lethal injection and is dead now. lol.

plushpuppy		2012-06-24 08:00:33 PM

I rode the school bus everyday for 8 and a half years and those years were pure utter torcher. Thank god I got to walk home alone.

Enormous-Schwanstucker		2012-06-24 08:01:45 PM

Dumb: Not giving granny the power to actually do something, anything.

Slightly dumber: Granny whining about it. She picked the job, she knew the up and coming terrorists and fry cooks were going to be a problem right? Right?

Weapons grade farking stupid: The morans posting the video to YT.

This is why my daughter is enrolled in Tae Kwan Do and Kumdo (sword fighting, which I learned too). It's not to learn how to carve someone into little pieces but to give her the confidence and discipline to endure any bullies that come her way. Now, if one of them should happen to cross that line so be it. She knows very well fighting is used only when every other alternative has been exhausted.

sendbillmoney		2012-06-24 08:02:00 PM

NeoCortex42: I had to deal with quite a bit of teasing and such during my years on the bus on par with what this lady went through. I got through it by developing a thick skin and just dealing with it. Nobody made it a national news issue, let alone getting nearly half a million dollars in donations and letters of support and apologies.

This squared.

She was paid to be there and she gets half a million in sympathy money because some kids talked to her rudely. If she couldn't handle that, she damned well wasn't providing any deterrent as a "bus monitor."

Maybe if she'd gotten beaten up while the driver was "busy driving the bus and didn't see anything," I'd attempt to feel some sympathy for her. No, maybe I'd feel sympathy if she got suspended for "fighting" as a result of being a key participant (to wit, victim) in said beat-down. Yes, yes I would. I'd feel the exact same sympathy that people did when it was me. That's fair, right?

Welfare Xmas		2012-06-24 08:02:43 PM

plushpuppy: utter torcher

Lit a lot of cow's fun bags on fire did ya?

kim jong-un		2012-06-24 08:04:34 PM

NeoCortex42: reillan: If a gay teenager gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he deserved it for being gay.

If a wimpy kid gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he needs to learn to grow a pair.

If a fat kid gets made fun of on the bus - meh, he needs to learn to be fat somewhere else.

If an old lady gets made fun of on the bus - RESPECT YOUR ELDERS!

This.

I had to deal with quite a bit of teasing and such during my years on the bus on par with what this lady went through. I got through it by developing a thick skin and just dealing with it. Nobody made it a national news issue, let alone getting nearly half a million dollars in donations and letters of support and apologies.

That's because nobody likes you.

ArcadianRefugee		2012-06-24 08:05:28 PM

sendbillmoney: If she couldn't handle that, she damned well wasn't providing any deterrent as a "bus monitor."

Hence the title "bus monitor" and not "bus police" or the like.

LoneWolf343		2012-06-24 08:08:54 PM

Enormous-Schwanstucker: Dumb: Not giving granny the power to actually do something, anything.

Slightly dumber: Granny whining about it. She picked the job, she knew the up and coming terrorists and fry cooks were going to be a problem right? Right?

Weapons grade farking stupid: The morans posting the video to YT.

This is why my daughter is enrolled in Tae Kwan Do and Kumdo (sword fighting, which I learned too). It's not to learn how to carve someone into little pieces but to give her the confidence and discipline to endure any bullies that come her way. Now, if one of them should happen to cross that line so be it. She knows very well fighting is used only when every other alternative has been exhausted.

Do you think anyone really expected this level of harassment for that job? It's not just simple disrespect here, but really evil taunting.

Fark Me To Tears		2012-06-24 08:09:55 PM

vodka: Vidwiz: She's got $649,000 worth of donations so far and it's still climbing....she will never have go thru that hell ever again!

Just wait till she gets the tax bill.

O-oooo-kay... You do understand that she'll just pay any taxes due out of the money she has received... right? I don't think that quite makes it to the level of going through hell. I wouldn't mind having to go through the hell of paying the tax bill for the $650K in cash donations I've just received. I think I'd be okay with that.

Clemkadidlefark		2012-06-24 08:12:14 PM

Correction

A lot of us noticed a lot of years ago. It took this long for kids on the bus to be able to produce video evidence the GD Government-Mouthpiece MSM could no longer sweep under the rug. Thank you, cell-phone manufacturers.

Correct question is - why did it take this long for the godforsaken MSM to notice?

Gyrfalcon		2012-06-24 08:15:16 PM

NeoCortex42: pedrop357: Lorelle: Because the little bastards were bullying a grandma.

Probably. I can see some kid thinking to himself "yeah, join the club grandma. That happens to me once a week and no one gives a shiat. I don't get 5 dollars, much less 500,000,"

I'm assuming that this is far from isolated and that the target of many, many other sessions were other kids. How many times was the "fat kid", "the retard", the girl with 'big boobs', "dork", etc. relentlessly tormented like this?

What's the point of having her on the bus in the first place if she had absolutely zero authority? She should have been able to take down names, report them to the school, and have them kicked off the bus for a period of time. That should be the end of it. If the kids keep misbehaving, kick them off the bus permanently.

I remember once on my bus, some of the kids started giving the substitute driver a hard time and wouldn't stop. Her reaction? Skip dropping us off at home and drive us to the police station. Having a cop ride along the rest of the route sure worked well to shut up all the trouble makers for many bus rides to follow.

See, this is the problem. Back when I was in school in the Olden Days, there was very little misbehavior on the bus. Our drivers had the authority and the ability to either kick kids off the bus, or to report it to the principal in the secure knowledge something would be done immediately. Being kicked off the bus when you live 15 miles from school and have no other means of transport except your extremely pissed-off parents was guaranteed to make kids behave.

Now, if the driver says "Please be quiet, please stop picking on Johnny," she's guaranteed of nothing but snotty kids telling her "You're not the boss of me!" and if she complains to the principal she'll get a lot of waffling from an administrator who is scared of hearing the parents threaten him with a lawsuit if little Billy isn't treated like royalty.

Gaseous Anomaly		2012-06-24 08:20:56 PM

cig-mkr: Bullied on a bus wouldn't happen if the drivers, monitors had some authority, like kick the little ass wipe off the bus and make them walk the rest of the way.

They did a cool (I thought) punishment for my nephew a couple years at his school for bus misbehavior.

Made him calculate how many laps around the track it would be to walk home, and walk it.

Wookie_Jesus		2012-06-24 08:32:32 PM

Lobster_of_Hate: This is "Tipping Point" stuff. Hence, the outrage.

Also, I had really hot Thai soup last night and now I'm having epic burning hot ass trouble.

I'm watching Epic Hot Burning Ass Trouble II right now so I'm getting a kick....oh....

jjorsett		2012-06-24 08:34:58 PM

Her job was to act as a bus monitor and presumably protect kids. She shouldn't be attacked by these little monsters, but she should be replaced by someone who'll perform the function for which they're being paid. And before you say that she is given no authority: if the monitor has no power to exercise control, then what the hell is s/he there for? Is the monitor supposed to be like a UN "peacekeeping" force, i.e. a powerless punching bag placed between warring parties?

cig-mkr		2012-06-24 08:36:28 PM

Gaseous Anomaly: cig-mkr: Bullied on a bus wouldn't happen if the drivers, monitors had some authority, like kick the little ass wipe off the bus and make them walk the rest of the way.

They did a cool (I thought) punishment for my nephew a couple years at his school for bus misbehavior.

Made him calculate how many laps around the track it would be to walk home, and walk it.

We used to get sent to the gym after school and the coach would give us "boxing lessons".
Only received one lesson, didn't want to go back.
Graduated in'64.

Pfft!		2012-06-24 08:40:34 PM

the_chief: You know what's worse than bullying? Getting killed.

You know what's worse than being killed? Being tortured. Huuuurrrrrrrr!

kg2095		2012-06-24 08:41:38 PM

cig-mkr: Bullied on a bus wouldn't happen if the drivers, monitors had some authority, like kick the little ass wipe off the bus and make them walk the rest of the way. Was a time when you would be in deep shiat if mom, or worse yet, dad found out you were being a jerk.
I'm old and had my share of "dope slaps" for farking up.

Many hard core bullies have parents who are also bullies. Or in some cases dad is a bully and mom just does what she's told.

89 Stick-Up Kid		2012-06-24 08:44:37 PM

Subby must not be aware of the pussification of America. We'be reached peak pu&&y.

kg2095		2012-06-24 08:46:57 PM

the_chief: You know what's worse than bullying? Getting killed.

Every now and then there's a news item about a bullied teen committing suicide.

louiedog		2012-06-24 08:48:30 PM

My mom was an elementary school teacher so I only occasionally rode the bus. I never had an issue, but I definitely witnessed kids having problems. I think people were fairly safe on my bus because the bullies were all from two families that happened to be feuding. Each family was dumb and rolled deep when it came to numbers. The balance of power shifted as kids were suspended, dropped out, ran away, had their children come of age (more than one had a few enter Kindergarten before they graduated/dropped out). It was a small, rural school so K-12 rode the same buses.

Of course my drive also was arrested for molesting kids when I was in college, so I apparently dodged all sorts of bullets. Also, a kid in my school was arrested for shooting a gun into a school bus, so by not riding I avoided real bullets.

Mr Talbot		2012-06-24 08:54:43 PM

mike4688: Since when has it been a hellish experience? You meet some interesting people on the bus.
Guess it depends on where you live & if you think you're too good to mingle with the mentally challenged.
But you are on Fark sooooo...

SCHOOL buses not city buses

fireclown		2012-06-24 09:12:25 PM

Gaseous Anomaly: Made him calculate how many laps around the track it would be to walk home, and walk it.

I kinda like it. It calls attention to him, inconvieniences him, might make the kid sweat a little and doesn't mess with the bus schedule. You could make him walk it off over days or weeks.

FriarReb98		2012-06-24 09:12:52 PM

Either way, we can all agree: We now live in an age where if you do something dumb, or bad, or embarrassing, you will end up on YouTube and it will make the news if it's even remotely illegal or newsworthy. How the people who have grown up with YouTube being part of their daily lives haven't figured this out is inexplicable.

puckrock2000		2012-06-24 09:14:07 PM

Jon iz teh kewl: kid_icarus: I think this situation goes a little further than typical bullying in another respect, too. Teasing a fat kid is one thing, screaming at a grandma that you hope her kid commits suicide? (and as near as we can tell, doing this completely unprovoked and seemingly just for the pleasure of it)...that crosses a line into farking sadism.

maybe she should get her kid some help if he has problems?

Too late - her son actually did kill himself 10 years ago, which is why they were teasing her about it,

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