You may have seen this video by now. It’s the viral clip of middle school kids in New York state abusing a bus monitor. The language used by the young kids and the cruelty they display are equally disturbing. It’s like Lord of the Flies takes a ride home. Language warning, obviously.
All I can say is, if any kid of mine turned out to be involved in anything like this, there would be weeping and privilege revocations and chores and prized possessions hitting ebay. The parents of these middle school kids are not doing their jobs. Not to go all “when I was a kid,” but when I was a kid no one dared do anything this aggressive, profane or stupid to someone in a position of authority. Bus rides home from school, and mine was 10 miles, were nearly always awful, but they were nothing like this. I’m afraid that my generation has thrown away any semblance of parenting and any values along with it.
Karen Huff Klein, the abused bus monitor, appeared on Fox today and says the apologies haven’t been coming very fast.
Well, the $300K that’s been raised on her behalf should help salve the wound. ( http://ace.mu.nu/archives/330324.php )
True. But these kids have been raised terribly.
They had one of the kids’ fathers on FNC this evening. He said that he could not believe that his son had done that or that anyone would do what they did.
But he also said he thought it had all been blown out of proportion.
The first thing that should be done is to kick them off the school bus, forever.
The second thing would be to deny them a driver’s license until they are at least 25 years old. It does not take much imagination to realize what would would result if they ever got behind of the wheel of a car with kind of attitude they display. Maybe 7 adult years of walking everywhere and catching the city bus would give them time to develop some character.
No, it won’t. And I think you know that.
What was the bus driver doing through all this?
I would have made the offending kids get off in the middle of nowhere.
Alos, who took the phone video?
Respect has to be learned, your not born with it. It’s also sorely lacking in the last 2 generations. Parents can not teach this to their children if they have none themselves. The “feel good” or “Me” attitudes of prior years have ravaged society to the point of almost no return. Personally I wish Ms. Klein would file a lawsuit against each parent of the children involved. I also believe the school should take a pro active stance and attach this abusive action on their permanent records. No one appears to want to make those at fault liable for their actions.
Until the abused stand up and start defending themselves nothing will change.
Sheesh!
My father enlisted in the Marines two years before Pearl Harbor. Old Corps.
I wouldn’t have dreamt of doing anything like this in a nightmare brought on by the vilest case of indigestion.
Obviously, times have changed.
What’s the possibility that the kids learned this cr*p from watching their parents?
100%. I used to live with someone who was dating a woman with a 9-year-old-or-so daughter, who would curse out anybody and everybody. When someone asked the mother if she thought it was appropriate, she said “F*** yes, I love it! My daughter doesn’t take shit from anyone!”
“My daughter doesn’t take shit from anyone!”
————-
There are many sayings circling around the same truth, that the greatest strength is also gentle.
(To see it in literary fashion, study the Musashi Miyamoto [aka "Samurai"] Trilogy of films, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki, staring Toshiro Mifune. Watch the closing set of scenes, where Miyamoto finally commits to marrying Otsu, then goes off to fight … and win.)
The proud mother might find out someday that what she loves, is willing to smack her in the face.
The tragedy is that the daughter might never outgrow it.
(As a holy man tells Musashi at the opening of the second film, either you learn compassion, or you’ll remain merely a tough guy.)
It’s worse: at least one of the kids said something to the effect that they bet her kids committed killed themselves – and her son had, 10 years ago.
Grounded all summer sounds right. Plenty of time to think.
Any chance of naming & shaming the “children” involved?
As a former school bus driver and still a substitute driver I can’t fathom why or how this conduct was allowed to continue for so long.
We didn’t have monitors but I thought the purpose of monitors was to see that this kind of behavior didn’t happen.
What would have happened in the small school district where I drive?
I would have stopped the bus and moved the offending kids to the front. The bus would not move again until the transportation director had been called and notified of the incident. Upon arrival at school, the administration would make arrangements to have the parents watch the video with them (virtually all school buses have video cameras for this reason). For an offense this egregious they would be kicked off the bus for at least one week, “asked” to write letters of apology and informed that if it happened again they would be kicked off the bus permanently.
This system works pretty well. Even if disrespectful kids don’t clean up their act, at least they aren’t on the bus any more causing distraction and endangering everyone else.
Evidently, sweet little old ladies are no longer sufficient. Maybe they should use off-duty cops or unemployed Afghanistan veterans. Ex-Marines, preferably. With a license to use harsh language if necessary.
This is what happens when no distinction is made between men and women. Does anyone seriously believe those boys would have done this to a man? That said, the offenders should be banned from riding the school bus. The resulting inconvenience experienced by the parents would be well deserved. Furthermore, the students’ continued enrollment in school should be dependent on their offering a serious apology to the woman in an open assembly of students.
These little hellions have “potential” and they’re “outgoing”… for years, I’ve heard those terms casting this behavior as “leadership” and strength of personality in the selfish, impulsive idiots we refuse to raise with character any more.
Back in the day, there was no need for school buses because everybody walked to neighborhood schools. That meant accountability for everyone concerned, especially the kids.
School buses are mechanisms for ghetto thugs to attend, and destroy, schools that they would not otherwise be able to get to. Instead of making the ghetto thugs educated and enlightened, school desegregation served only to make law-abiding citizens into victims.
Acceptance into the mainstream of society is not a right, but rather, a privilege that must be earned. No law can ever change that, without destroying society itself.
Back in the day, stuff like this didn’t happen in the suburbs. Today, the high school I graduated from five years ago is full of gang activity.
I have to admit, I am puzzled and amazed on how long Ms. Klein sat there and took it as long as she did. I’d give her a big hug if I could.
If bus troublemakers were germs and viruses, her tormentors would be AIDS.
And a warning to those kids and their parents: the next person they abuse might not be as patient, as long-suffering… or above hitting a kid.
Not an endorsement or encouragement of that; just that it could happen.
All the same, these kids might have proven there’s a satan, but the outreach and sympathy to her proves there’s a God. In my book, anyway.
And how are these little sh!ts treating their fellow students? Were my child in the same school I would raise Holy Ned to get these brats banned from the school bus. Let their parents enjoy their own spawn’s behavior every morning and evening after school; then, perhaps, these lazy permissive parents would know the sadism they brought into this world, and might correct it before the kids become adults, and before society through the police teaches these brats what their parents failed to do: your behavior does have consequences.
13 years old, or not. If this were my mother or grandmother, there’s four punks that would be nursing broken jaws and worse tonight, no matter what it took, no matter what my punishment.
This was beyond senseless and beyond excuse.
There’s only one way to put a stop to soulless maggots like this, and it is way overdue to admit it.
Physical punishment – severe in this case. And until society quits lying to itself, expect this crap to continue. This wouldn’t have happened 40 years ago. And the reason it wouldn’t have happened is because the punishment would have been immediate.
Put aside the cruelty and crudity for a second. Why is this elderly lady serving as a bus monitor for middle schoolers?
Likely because the job is low pay, with few hours at the beginning and end of the day which makes working any other job difficult. For a senior dependent upon social security, however, it’s a way to make a few extra dollars for what should be little effort.
But to your real point — if the situation on buses is so unruly that a monitor is needed, a much stronger authority figure is needed.
How ironic. Karen Klein ended up her size and weight post a lifetime of work and, well, life. That’s respectable.
Those kids will likely also end up fat, lazy, and living in squalor, but all due to their own efforts.
Whose laughing now, kids?
Is this video real or were children used to do the dirty work again? Paid protestors can’t get skinny before the election, and fasting could result in unwanted religious experiences.
Good to know of I need to raise some quick cash all I need is a video of my friends hazing me while I cry, or just shoot a black kid in a gated community. Pardon my cynicism.
Seeing this video tells me a few things.
First, it tells me these spawn have what my grandparents would have described as “no raising”. Manners are obviously missing from their upbringing.
Second, regardless of her age – why didn’t one of the males step forward to defend the woman? Chivalry, the idea that those who are stronger are obligated to defend the weaker, is obviously a foreign concept to this offspring.
Third, they had no feelings of guilt regarding their actions – namely, they seem to not have a functioning conscience.
Fourth, they recorded their actions and went so far as to post it on the internet for all to see. This tells me they not only had no guilt over their actions, they were in fact proud they ganged up on a defenseless elderly woman.
Fifth, the fact they posted the video online tells me they were not concerned about the repercussions. There is no fear of consequences.
Sixth, when I was a kid I once saw someone try to pick on a kid who’d suffered a stroke and was physically disabled. Every young man in that High School shop class was immediately standing up for the kid and such behavior was not tolerated. This included kids who were really not even friends of the kid who was the object of the bullying.
Where were such kids in this situation?
All in all, precious little self absorbed spoiled rotten darlings darlings those parents managed to raise. I’m sure the parents are just SO proud!
Is it too late to suggest that tthe proper punishment for their actions, something that was sure to get their undivided attention, is something my Dad would have referred to as a good old fashioned A$$ whuppin’???
Hey congratulations everyone! By piling on and helping to keep the hysteria alive, one of the kids and his family was SWATed. You all must be very proud and satisfied. Well done.
http://m.tmz.com/article_head.ftl?id=http://www.tmz.com/2012/06/22/karen-klein-cops-hostage-hoax-student/
Exactly how is expressing a negative opinion of these lil jerks making those who post here responsible for someone elses actions?
We do still have freedom of speech!
Go try to guilt trip someone who cares.
What’s up it’s me, I am also visiting this web page daily, this web page is really fastidious and the users are in fact sharing fastidious thoughts.