Kids who bullied bus monitor suspended for a year, assigned to reform school

Hot Air.com ^ | June 29, 2012 | ALLAHPUNDIT

[Kaslin]

You need closure.

Following individual meetings this week with school and district administrators, each family waived their right to a hearing and agreed to one-year suspensions from school and regular bus transportation. The Greece Central School District is legally required to provide all students ages 5 to 16 with an education, therefore, during the 2012-13 school year, the students who have been suspended will be transferred to the district Reengagement Center, located in a non-school facility. This alternative education program keeps middle school students on track academically while providing a structured opportunity for students to take responsibility for their actions by completing community service hours and receiving formal instruction related to conduct and behavior that prepares them for a productive future. The program includes a strong parent involvement component.

Each student will be required to complete 50 hours of community service with senior citizens and will complete a formal program in bullying prevention, respect and responsibility. In accordance with district policy, if at 30 weeks into the school year the students have completed the conditions of their discipline and are in good standing at the Reengagement Center, they can apply for early readmission to Athena Middle School.

Too much, too little, or just enough? A year’s a stiff sentence for 10 or so minutes of verbal harassment, as nasty as it was, but the school district’s under immense pressure to be strict with the little cretins. And this incident’s playing out, of course, amid growing awareness culturally of how bad the effects of bullying can be. Crack down on this bunch and you send a national message given the spotlight on this case.

Because I know you’re wondering, the donations for Klein now stand north of $668,000. Per the Times, more than 30,000 people have contributed from all 50 states and 82 countries. Two days ago, she finally met the man who came up with the idea. Here’s the vid from WGRZ.

[Thank You Rush]

“”He has 3 pages of posts repeating himself incorrectly in the face of evidence to the contrary””

I would be willing to bet he was a bully himself, if not still. I couldn’t help but notice that nowhere in all that effort did he ever once say just how Karen SHOULD have done her job. The fact that no school district would ever have allowed her to do what needed to be done is irrelevant to him. Maybe he’s a politician! One thing for sure, he’s a liberal. What on earth difference does it make to him that people wanted to help her out? Thank the good Lord such people still exist in our country and others!

[b9]

Thank the good Lord such people still exist in our country and others!

Amen.

[Uncle Slayton]

“I couldn’t help but notice that nowhere in all that effort did he ever once say just how Karen SHOULD have done her job.”

I would not have advocated that she slap one of the kids, but perhaps she could have rearranged the seating or sent some kind of notice to the parents or school administrators.

I’m sure that one of the hundreds of thousands of other school bus monitors in the country could have provided her with a clue and they seem to fulfill their tasks each day without drawing international attention.

[Norm Lenhart]

People like him think stupidity is it’s own reward and wake up daily with a desire to reward themselves. And then they do! ;)

If I had a dollar for every idiot like him I’ve argued with here, (and most use his type of ‘logic’) I could fund my own presidential campaign.

[dennisw]

the donations for Klein now stand north of $668,000

She can retire twice with that kind of money. She no longer has to work (not enough SS dollars?) as school bus monitor for those little hell raisers

[raccoonnookkeeper]

And in your tiny slice of pubskewled Ewe Essay you doubtless have parents that care. Not super-liberal ornamental-kids parents, or absentee mothers and deadbeat fathers all over the place.

Not smart to generalize from that. I firmly and confidently say the woman got assigned an impossible task due to the local constraints and conditions. It has every appearance thereof. Sanely raised children would, if anything, respect elders MORE, not LESS.

[BLOC77]

Don’t worry, I’ve been to these programs, that’s pretty much where they’re going. They won’t come out productive members of society. They are being placed with violent teens, whether through drug or pychosis. All for mouthing off. I’m not aware that they killed or abused animals in the past, if so, completely different story.

[Thank You Rush]

“”perhaps she could have rearranged the seating or sent some kind of notice to the parents or school administrators.””

Rearranged the seating? And they would have said, “Yes, maam.” “Thank you, maam.” “That’s a good idea, maam.” “Right away, maam.”

OR perhaps a STRONGLY WORDED LETTER to parents or school administrators such as our government officials write to weasley world leaders would have done the job??

I don’t think either of your ideas would have produced any solution to the problem those out of control brats were causing. They couldn’t have just sat in their seats and behaved themselves?

[ridesthemiles]

The idea that this was 10 or so minutes of harassment doesn’t fly with me.

I think these kids have been out of bounds for many months, perhaps years.

This time, they made the mistake of putting their little ‘party’ up on the internet & they got caught red-handed.

I am beyond delighted that Mrs klein now has contributions in excess of $660,000 and more still coming in.

She can retire & never have to face such snotty kids ever again.

It is beyond time when these little protected ‘darlings’ are put back into their places.

Now, perhaps those hoodlums who do the mob robberies in small stores can get caught & see some serious consequences.

[DouglasKC]

Well...it’s a good start...

[ridesthemiles]

This punishment is definitely too severe. Two or three weeks suspension and 40 hours of community service would have been more than sufficient. How many cases of equally bad or worse behavior could we find where almost no punishment was given?”””

I disagree.

Perhaps this will make some kids & their PARENTS think twice about letting their little darlings behave so badly.

[Will88]

...I’m glad you aren’t raising my grandkids.

Lol, so what's your punishment for failing to take out the trash? Grounded for three months?

[DouglasKC]

Just another example of cowardly officials who are incapable ofT exercising good judgment, and who overreact to any public pressure. Exactly. They ignored the school bus abuse and now they over react in a cruel and stupid way. 3 months is enough for a child to get the message and for his parents to have to make time to drive him/her to school

Are you both serious??? Those kids casually talked about her raping them and them stabbing her as easily as we talk about the weather. To an adult. To an elderly adult. They had no shame or guilt about it. They were PROUD of what they did and posted it on the internet to show off their bullying. Those kids, left on their own, were well on their way to be sociopaths and criminals.

The punishment is basically to go to a different school that is more strict and involves the parents more. They might not like it but there is no way it's overreacting.

[ridesthemiles]

Since not one single person in the school system is allowed to touch a mis-behaving kid, tell us, please just EXACTLY what you would have done if you had been the bus monitor?

The driver’s get in trouble if they stop & make the kids sit down until he starts up again.

Do YOU wish to hire these punks when they are out of high school?

Do YOU wish to work with them in the future?

GOOD LUCK.

The kids have been given a free pass with no discipline, IMO.

I rode a bus back & forth to school when I was a kid. We NEVER would have been able to behave like this. We would have still been serving detention-—& I graduated HS over 50 years ago!

[fatima]

Amen.

[prairiebreeze]

Look up what constitutes the definition of emotional elder abuse in the state of NY and I think what they did to her fits.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

You hit the nail on the head.Thank you.

[Will88]

Those kids, left on their own, were well on their way to be sociopaths and criminals.

And how do you know that? Do you have several years of history about how each of these kids have behaved in school and on the bus, and toward authority figures in general?

If these kids had a history of disruptive and disrespectful behavior toward authority figures or other students associated with the school system, them this punishment might have been justified. But I've seen no mention of any pattern of bad behavior.

For this one incident, no matter how emotional some are over the video and other circumstances, the school officials still used bad judgment and the punishment is too severe.

I said two or three weeks suspension and 40 hours of community service. That's pretty severe punishment for one incident of verbal abuse.

And since all the kids received the same punishment, it seems likely it was for only this one incident.

[DouglasKC]

And how do you know that? Do you have several years of history about how each of these kids have behaved in school and on the bus, and toward authority figures in general?

Nope. But I do have video evidence of kids talking about an elderly person raping them. I do have evidence of a child graphically describing what it would be like to stab this elderly person in the stomach. I do have video evidence of these kids treating an elderly person like a dog...no I take that back...worse then I've ever seen any dog treated.

I don't need any more evidence. These kids were well acquainted with this behavior. They clearly had lots of practice.

said two or three weeks suspension and 40 hours of community service. That's pretty severe punishment for one incident of verbal abuse.

Number one they were NOT suspended from school. The article clearly says that the law requires they have an education. They are going to a different school with perhaps, perhaps, more accountability. And if they really want to go back to their old school they reapply after 30 weeks. They have to do 50 hours of community service with senior citizens. That's not too severe. It's NOT severe enough.

What you propose is a three week vacation from school. Wow. I'll bet that will teach them. And forty hours of community service instead of 50. Yeah, that extra 10 hours of serving old people will just kill them.

[Will88]

I don't need any more evidence.

And yes you do, or at least a clearheaded, rational person would need more evidence.

One incident of bad behavior by a group of kids does not make them kids who must be put in a special school. If these kids have been general troublemakers and have other serious incidents of bad behavior, then the punishment probably fits. But if this is the only incident, the punishment is definitely too severe.

And a suspension from school is not a vacation for any kid who plans to make passing grades and eventually graduate from high school. They have to stay caught up with their class. And, do you know what sort of students these kids are? Do you know anything about them other than this one incident? Oh, yeah, that's all you need to know about a group of middle school kids.