Posted on 09/21/2010 10:19:26 AM PDT by Gennie
LAKE MARY, Fla. – A Florida father wept as he apologized at a news conference for storming onto a school bus and threatening children onboard because his 13-year-old disabled daughter had been bullied. James Willie Jones' voice cracked during the appearance Tuesday. He said he himself was acting as a bully and no parent should copy his behavior. He says his daughter suffers from cerebral palsy and he "could not stand by and helplessly watch her suffer." Standing by his wife, who also wept, Jones apologized for how he handled the situation. Jones was charged last week with disorderly conduct and disturbing a school function for the Sept. 3 incident. He posted $2,000 bail and was ordered to stay away from the driver and county school buses.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The only mistake he made was telegraphing his intentions—in public.
I saw the early video where some stupid cop was trying to justify their persecution of James Willie Jones. What twisting of logic!
I totally understand why the guy did what he did, and he shouldn’t have apologized imho.
The BUS driver who allowed the behavior ought to be the one apologizing. And the kids who did it and their parents.
Endeavor to be honest. I haven't mentioned the bullies or their actions in any way, let alone stood up for them.
It gives me hope for society that apparently most people still have common sense enough to recognize who the real bad guys are in a situation like this. Since you seem to have difficulty, I will give you a hint. It is the bullies who terrorize a handicapped child, not the child's father who is trying to protect her.
A simplistic view that presumes that if the bullies are bad guys than dad is a good guy. Which is of course a completely false dichotomy. Obviously, there are bullies here who are bad guys, and who need to be dealt with. Obviously, dear old dad crossed the line and became a bad guy who will be dealt with. Doesn't seem to be a shortage of bad guys in this scenario.
Here’s the deal, we are seeing different reports. If you read just the link here on FR, nothing is said about contacting authorities. The local story says the father did not contact the school or anyone else. It does say the mother called the school one time. Link below.
The problem is poor reporting of the facts. I’m inclined to believe if the father could appear in person at the bus, he could appear in person at the school principal’s office. Knowing there was bullying and putting his daughter on the bus to be bullied isn’t a smart plan.
It is now a crime for one child to bully another. He scared a lot of kids on the bus who weren’t involved. And he got himself into trouble with the law. I believe this is one time the guy should have used the P.C. system to protect his daughter. Now his daughter’s been hospitalized, and will be going to a different school.
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/seminole_news/092110-dad-who-stormed-bus-holds-news-conference
Isaiah 5:20 (New International Version)
20 Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
I agree!
The others kids go an earful, thats all. It would not have an impact on me as parent
It would have impacted me as a parent though. Had my child been sitting on that bus and all this happened my initial response would have been to look at him and say “This was going on and you did nothing to help her?”
I have always told my kids that if someone else finds them at fault for doing something wrong that my wife and I will be the final determiner of punishment given. Had my kid been kicked off the bus for fighting a bully that was doing this to a helpless girl I would have driven him to school in pride.
“Oh, and be sure to notice how the kids are laughing out loud at him almost the entire time. They are not at all afraid of his impotent rage...”
EXACTLY as I mentioned right off; only you and I have.
I care little about what this man did, I admit, much because I know what it’s like to be “bullied” day in and day out for years on end. Although it’s still my sense of justice, too.
Drop the charges,the man was unusually provoked to protect his daughter.
Hey, no problem! The media is doing its usual poor job of reporting the facts.
I think the father should have thought out a better plan; but, when your child is threatened, you get emotional. I completely understand wanting to shake the little monsters by the scruff! But you can’t do that anymore.
Maybe it will all work out. Change of schools and drop the charges? Maybe everybody learns something in the process? Perhaps a serious discussion with the brats that caused this and their parents too! One can only hope!
I’m with you, Abathar! Woe be to any child of mine that engaged in this sort of behavior. I’ll even go so far as to say that I would be disappointed and ashamed (and a little angry) if I even heard that my sons stood by and did nothing to protect this girl.
They’ve been raised better than that, I hope.
Regards,
If a kid brings this to his/her parents attention, there is only so much you can do if they fear the bullies too. Makes you wonder who the next victim will be.
Public parental humiliation works for me
That’s different. That was a situation where you don’t know the facts. Your (normal) kid tells you something and you just believe it - not a good thing. Also not a good thing for the FReepers to believe it right off.
Here we have a handicapped girl who is repeatedly subjected to taunting and teasing, undoubtedly observed directly by the father himself - it’s never just 1 incident. I doubt this girl has much ability to lie about such a thing, anyway. It’s pretty much slam-dunk this dad was assailing the correct people for doing something he actually knows about.
They should have had the snot beaten out of them in a fine and private place by sturdy fellows close to their age. Their parents, ditto.
The legal term for this is "Death by Cousin from outa Town."
“He scared a lot of kids on the bus”
They were LAUGHING AT him. They weren’t “scared” (although I bet many were laughing nervously, trying to hide it - and trying to intimidate the dad right back by dismissing him).
I’m betting those same kids will see this as Open Season. I’d love to see their parents being interviewed.
The problem is they are not dealt with. People refuse to discipline children anymore. The reason is adults are frightened of disciplining them because people like you will sue them, or get them fired, or worse. The generations of children raised by the idiotic hippies of the 60,s are the most neurotic, nihilistic, self entitled in history. They have no moral compass, and many grow up having no ordinary human compassion for others. They are monsters and the fault is the permissive child rearing methods of people like you that demand adults like this man be imprisoned for “yelling” at a bunch of brats that deserved it.
If this guy had waited for these bullies to be “dealt with” by school officials, his daughter might have committed suicide or been killed by her tormentors. It happens all too frequently these days.
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