Middle schoolers torment an elderly bus monitor and post it to the internet

[LisaR]

I'm not blaming the parents. I am saying that the parents should be responsible for their own child's behavior. Even if this means inconveniencing the parent. Because I'm sure if the parent was inconvenienced (such as in taking time off from work) they would be inclined to promote behavior that was a little less shocking.

As for the "herd mentality". How about children being taught to respect others, whether they are alone or in a group? Or is that asking too much?

It isn't that it is asking too much but we can only teach and preach to our kids so much. Once they walk out that door, it is out of our hands. I would be shocked beyond belief if my kids acted the way these little hellions acted because that isn't how they were raised. But once they are out of my grasp, it is up to them to apply what they have been taught. We'd all like to believe that that would never be our kids but life throws us for loops that we didn't expect all the time.

 

[Sabrefan]

I'm not blaming the parents. I am saying that the parents should be responsible for their own child's behavior. Even if this means inconveniencing the parent. Because I'm sure if the parent was inconvenienced (such as in taking time off from work) they would be inclined to promote behavior that was a little less shocking.

As for the "herd mentality". How about children being taught to respect others, whether they are alone or in a group? Or is that asking too much?[/QUOTE]

Your first paragraph says you dont blame the parents, your second paragraph, - you are blaming the parents!

My point is you dont know they weren't taught to respect people. Their parents may have been very actively teaching their children to respect others, and did everything right - and sometimes people still end up being jerks regardless of what kind of parenting they received. We've all seen examples of this!

 

[FergieTCat]

I'm not blaming the parents. I am saying that the parents should be responsible for their own child's behavior. Even if this means inconveniencing the parent. Because I'm sure if the parent was inconvenienced (such as in taking time off from work) they would be inclined to promote behavior that was a little less shocking.

As for the "herd mentality". How about children being taught to respect others, whether they are alone or in a group? Or is that asking too much?[/QUOTE]

Your first paragraph says you dont blame the parents, your second paragraph, - you are blaming the parents!

My point is you dont know they weren't taught to respect people. Their parents may have been very actively teaching their children to respect others, and did everything right - and sometimes people still end up being jerks regardless of what kind of parenting they received. We've all seen examples of this!

OK, so then the parents are responsible for their kid's behavior, be it good or bad. So ... if the kid is caught bullying another person, then it should be the parents responsibility to correct that behavior.

And, as I said, if the parent was inconvenienced (by going to school or even the police station during business hours), they might be more inclined to discipline the kid appropriately. And possibily the kid would think twice before disrespecting another person again.

 

[spacemountainmom]

OK, so then the parents are responsible for their kid's behavior, be it good or bad. So ... if the kid is caught bullying another person, then it should be the parents responsibility to correct that behavior.

And, as I said, if the parent was inconvenienced (by going to school or even the police station during business hours), they might be more inclined to discipline the kid appropriately. And possibily the kid would think twice before disrespecting another person again.

Speaking as one who works in the schools, it doesn't seem to do much at all to improve behavior.

One middle school student told me at the end of the 10/11 school year that he would be attending a private school because his parents thought that our school was bad. He lasted 6 weeks at the private school before they threw him out. He was immediately in troube all the time back at our school. It even got to the point that his dad had to come to school and "shadow" him for a day. Even that had absolutely no impact on the kid's behavior.

The sad thing is that he was not all that unusual.

 

[Sabrefan]

UPDATE

http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/17...tor-they-Bullied?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

 

[topolino]

UPDATE

http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/17...tor-they-Bullied?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

I could be wrong, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the only thing these kids are sorry about is that they got caught.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Yeah, and I love how "three of the four" teens have apologized to her.

Three of the four teens accused of taunting an elderly bus monitor in the Town of Greece have apologized to her.

Curious about the holdout...

 

[LisaR]

I could be wrong, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the only thing these kids are sorry about is that they got caught.

I know it is going to sound like I am defending the little demons but I feel like we need to let them start making amends. Nobody is happy with them at the moment but they do need to start working towards resolving this and it looks like three of them have started that process.

Let them apologize, write letters, do work around her house like one of the moms involved suggested, and continue to suffer the repercussions of their actions. A few of these kids may have genuinely learned from this. And it has probably been a huge eye opener to some of their parents. We will see what these young men turn out like. A few may go on to do some good in this world because of their behavior as a teenager. Or, they may end up like Charles Manson. You never know.

 

[lustergirl]

There could have been a lot more noise on the bus than we realize and we don't know how far back they were sitting either. On our buses the whole point of having a monitor is so that the bus driver doesn't have to take their focus off the road. Of course the monitors we have wouldn't have put up with one word of this mess before action was taken.



You would be surprised. I have seen very small ladies put the fear of God in some seemingly "tough" kids. I just don't think this lady was right for this job. Not blaming her in any way AT ALL.



That's what we need in this world! A few more Madeas!! I love Madea!!!!

You said "put the fear of god" in them. Boy I thought only a few people used that term, including myself.

 

[Sabrefan]

You said "put the fear of god" in them. Boy I thought only a few people used that term, including myself.

I use it all the time too

 

[Sabrefan]

In regards to what a PP said about small women putting the fear of God into tough kids reminds me of my "little" cousins. They are about 12 years younger than me, I'm 5'2, they are 6'4+ - I use to baby sit them when they were babies. They grew up to BIG "tough" boys. Very disrespectful to their mother, and our one aunt. Just horrible mouthy little things, they tried it with me, I put them in their place and now they are as nice as can be to me, but still disrespectful to their mom and our other aunt. I dont know why - and I dont think I intimidated them into respecting me, I simply told them I was not their mother or Aunt so and so and wouldn't tolerate it. Maybe they stopped because my husband is shockingly taller than them... but for whatever reason me standing up to them changed the way they talked to me but for the most treat all women like that (yes their father does too)