Bullied Bus Monitor

[adriano46]

Agree, Epigonos, although I disagree with the blame. It's two-part:

 

* The school district, although they DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY to provide armed guards and, more important:

* THE PARENTS who probably spent more time and money socializing their damn dog than their kids.

 

I also agree here with this assessment -- the PARENTS, who raised these bad-mouthed children who feel entitled to address someone old enough to be their grandparent in this way DESERVE to be punished as THEY are the ones lacking skills (and we see examples of this so uch more each day on the streets). I too often have to address school children, some from rough backgrounds and neighborhoods. I find that the economic background has little to do with manners -- it is always the family/home background that counts, and here the blame falls with the parents.

 

On one last point brought up at the top of this, I too felt uneasy with the throwing of money at the poor woman. This might ease her shame and pain at the moment, but it does nothing to actually address the problem, which is the children.

[jjkrkwood]

Not defending the oppressors here, but this was clearly a case of "gang mentality" . One bad apple causes chaos and recruits minions to assist him. This kind of behavior occurs all the time, but to Different degrees. Lets not act as if WE have never been apart of such a thing, albeit probably not as horrendous. I can think of several cases on this site where a similar mentality has existed and perpetrated itself. "People in Glass Houses"....... Again, I am NOT defending the accused actions, and feel the punsihment was much too lenient.

[BostonPhil]

The one good thing that may come of this is awareness on parents' part, but I suspect many will continue to live in denial. For too long parents have had the "my child is perfect and can do no wrong" attitude. They effectively neuter any attempt at discipline with the threat of a lawsuit.

[maxwellissmart]

Is it wrong that this turned me on?

 

Yeah, I was like: "whoa..."

[Phil_musc]

"There he had all of us, who were still at school, take a telephone and call each students parent(s) and inform them that they would have to personally pick their student up at the school. Some parents objected because they were at work. His responded that he would remain with their students AT SCHOOL until they were able to pick them up. A group of us remained with him until the last parent picked up his student at 7:00 p.m. The school district administration backed him up 100% and that was the last time that type of harassment occurred. Damn he was one hell of a great principal and working for him was pure pleasure because we always knew where he stood."

 

Epigonos, this is exactly what I advocated in my post above. Get the parents involved and make them ultimately have some responsibility for their children's actions. If mom and dad are involved and inconvenienced, you can damn well bet that this kind of nonsensical behavior would be less likely to occur.

 

 

 

 

Many of you people really don't get it. Bus monitors like crossing guards are most often minimum wage senior citizens needing to make a few extra bucks on which to live. In the majority of cases they receive NO training what so ever. Schools districts hope that their presence alone on the bus will prevent problems. In the vast majority of cases it works in a few, like this one, it doesn't. If you must hold someone or somebody responsible, other than the students involved, place the blame where it properly belongs with the school district or the school. As far as I’m concerned the students should have been suspended from school for a week, sent to a weekend bullying class (that’s the in thing right now), and then permanently barred from riding the school buses.

 

Once again, Epigonos is right on the money here. Some of you raise the specter of "professional" conduct with a school bus monitor. What in god's name are you talking about? There is no such thing as a professional bus monitor and to use professional as an adjective with bus driver is beyond ludicrous. These are people who need to make a little (operative word there: "Little") money on the side to get by. Most likely there is no "training," whatever that means. What are you guys suggesting - that the school (which probably doesn't have enough money anyway) is now going to offer training sessions for bus monitors? Listen to this and hear it is your head - doesn't that concept begin to sound like it's heading towards an SNL skit?

[maxwellissmart]

Once again, Epigonos is right on the money here. Some of you raise the specter of "professional" conduct with a school bus monitor. What in god's name are you talking about? There is no such thing as a professional bus monitor and to use professional as an adjective with bus driver is beyond ludicrous. These are people who need to make a little (operative word there: "Little") money on the side to get by. Most likely there is no "training," whatever that means. What are you guys suggesting - that the school (which probably doesn't have enough money anyway) is now going to offer training sessions for bus monitors? Listen to this and hear it is your head - doesn't that concept begin to sound like it's heading towards an SNL skit?

 

Fair enough. I just called the Board of Education to get information on becoming a volunteer bus monitor. Here's what I was told.

 

1) I have to pass a criminal background check.

2) I must submit a resume with three work references

3) I must come in for a 2-part orientation seminar—part 1 is for a general orientation of policies and procedures for school rules, and part 2 is for emergency procedures

4) It is not required, but helps if I have BLS training (CPR, etc)

5) It helps if I have dealt with the public, or if I've been in a customer service position

 

I asked specifically about training. The person on the phone said that they consider the orientation sessions to be "training," and that I would be assigned where needed (without specific training for any particular age-group). I asked if I would be briefed on how to handle difficult or emergency situations—she also said that would be covered in the second part, and that most "situations" are minor encounters between students. She said all school policies would be covered in full before I ever stepped foot on a bus.

[orbital sander]

Fair enough. I just called the Board of Education to get information on becoming a volunteer bus monitor. Here's what I was told.

 

1) I have to pass a criminal background check.

2) I must submit a resume with three work references

3) I must come in for a 2-part orientation seminar—part 1 is for a general orientation of policies and procedures for school rules, and part 2 is for emergency procedures

4) It is not required, but helps if I have BLS training (CPR, etc)

5) It helps if I have dealt with the public, or if I've been in a customer service position

 

I asked specifically about training. The person on the phone said that they consider the orientation sessions to be "training," and that I would be assigned where needed (without specific training for any particular age-group). I asked if I would be briefed on how to handle difficult or emergency situations—she also said that would be covered in the second part, and that most "situations" are minor encounters between students. She said all school policies would be covered in full before I ever stepped foot on a bus.

 

And I would add that no school district is going to risk a massive lawsuit by putting someone untrained (and un-investigated) on a bus with children.

[Boner]

And just to add, again, this woman was a paid employee, not a volunteer, earning 15,647.00 annually. I know, that works out to roughly $7.50 and hour, but still.

[Phil_musc]

I stand by what I wrote: the criminal background check is something that the applicant him/herself pays for (I think it's $10); yes, a resume with 3 work references (maybe these are actually verified); a 2 part orientation with the first part being devoted to school policies and other such administrative info with the second part covering everything else (in depth, no doubt. How long is this orientation thing?). Exactly what kind of "training" goes on here?

 

Actually for the amount of time on task, that's pretty good money, isn't it? Monitoring on the bus in the morning and then again in the afternoon.