Did this school bus driver go too far?

[deanws]

Yes, I wish she had not taken the girl's cell phone either..bad mistake. However, I am with yall on the fact that I do NOT think the driver should be charged either. Gosh...what a freaking mess!

 

[Masterj]

I'm sorry, but the girl looks to be a bossy and self-entitled brat who is performing for her audience.

 

[Floh]

And she will be the same when she's grown up and released to the rest of the world.

 

[close_enough]

She and her mother look like trash to me. :bang:

i was thinking the same thing, when i saw them on TV the other night...trash

 

[close_enough]

....i'd like to turn back time, & be one of those on the bus, with what i know today....i'd have helped the bus driver out, & kicked that girl's azz, right then & there on the bus.....it would have been worth being suspended from school for a few days

IMO...

 

[deanws]

And she will be the same when she's grown up and released to the rest of the world.

Yep! :bang:Sad isn't it?

 

[fundiva]

I'm more in favor of the girl wanting off the bus, because she has guts and stands up for herself. First, she's gotten onto by a security guard for some reason ( perhaps arguing with the driver's daughter already?), then the bus keeps getting pulled over, then she wants off the bus, and tries to call her mother. The driver's daughter had no business getting into a fight, and the bus driver had no right physically handling or touching the girl in my opinion. Call a supervisor, school security, park the bus, and wait if things get out of hand. I'm suspecting that the driver's daughter and maybe a group of friends had some grudge or fight going with this girl and the driver mom got into it. They shouldn't have allowed the bus to roll if some big argument was going on beforehand.

First, there's no evidence she had any contact with the driver's daughter before the daughter jumped to her mother's defense. I would have been in the middle of it too if two (the little brat had a friend with her) b*tches in training were attacking my Mom physically. If the driver's daughter had a grudge going, she would have been arguing with her first, not the driver. You don't see her motion towards or mention the daughter in any way. If there was a grudge, smart mouth would have been calling the daughter every name in the book to get a rise out of Mom and the daughter. As for your solution to what to do, she did park the bus. Now what? All the kids are ticked off and you have to control them and keep them on the bus until someone arrives. Do you think you could keep control of a bunch of teenagers causing trouble by just sitting there? I don't think so. As for wanting off the bus, suppose the driver just stopped and let anyone off whenever they wanted to. How do you explain to the parent that their daughter just got off somewhere along the route and you don't know where she is when they call because she hasn't gotten home yet? What happens if she gets off on her own somewhere along the way and gets picked up and raped or goes missing? Who's responsible then? That's why the schools have rules that do not allow the driver to let you off except for your designated stop. I rode the bus all 12 of my school years. If someone caused a problem, the bus was stopped and it was handled. By the next day, the person was usually kicked off the bus for 30 days or forever, but this solution won't work in the immediate situation when the bus has stopped. No one should have to take the verbal abuse this drama queen was dishing out, let alone her pushing and punching. I applaud the driver for her actions.:clap:

 

[SeriouslySearching]

Good thing that brat wasn't my child! After that video came out she would be looking at life without a cell phone, text messaging, home phone, car, friends, music, and probably placed in some nice remote location with a drill Sargeant as her only target for such BS.

And what do HER parents do?! Hire a freaking lawyer and go on the talk show circuit!! Yes, I would say she is a terrorist already and they are responsible for creating such a mess in the first place. She was literally trying to hijack that bus while making demands.

I would have driven her to the nearest police station.

 

[kgeaux]

kgeaux, you say that the driver should have remained in her seat. Was she supposed to let the girl walk out those doors? I think she was standing there to keep her from pulling the doors open and leaving. Maybe she wasn't, I don't know. Just a thought.

The driver controls the opening and closing of the door from her seat. She doesn't need to stand to control the lever. Samantha could not leave the bus without the door opened----the worse case scenario would have been that Samantha wrested the lever to open the door and left the bus. The driver could then have picked up her radio, reported Samantha's exit, let the school board dial 911 and then SAMANTHA would be in trouble, and the bus driver would be sitting pretty.

I think Samantha is obviously a spoiled brat, has the mouth of a sailor (along with 98% of her age group, including the bus driver's own daughter) and was clearly a child used to getting her way and lost it when her wishes were not instantly granted.

I also think the bus driver acted unprofessionally, laid hands on Samantha, grabbed and threw Samantha's personal property, and did her damndest to escalate the situation----I mean, surely she did not think throwing Samantha's phone was going to calm the girl down?

I also think the bus driver's daughter should be charged with assault. She jumped into a situation and grabbed Samantha's hair and that is clearly illegal.

I am amazed that it's even debatable that there is more than "one wrong" in this situation!

 

[kgeaux]

I'm more in favor of the girl wanting off the bus, because she has guts and stands up for herself. First, she's gotten onto by a security guard for some reason ( perhaps arguing with the driver's daughter already?), then the bus keeps getting pulled over, then she wants off the bus, and tries to call her mother. The driver's daughter had no business getting into a fight, and the bus driver had no right physically handling or touching the girl in my opinion. Call a supervisor, school security, park the bus, and wait if things get out of hand. I'm suspecting that the driver's daughter and maybe a group of friends had some grudge or fight going with this girl and the driver mom got into it. They shouldn't have allowed the bus to roll if some big argument was going on beforehand.

It does sound as though there may have been a vendetta. Clearly more of the students were on Samantha's side than not, but if the driver's daughter and Samantha had earlier problems, that would be significant.

The driver did call school security. (It appears she calls after students begin using their cells to dial 911, but it's not clear, so I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt.) After she radios, she did not wait for security to arrive: after that initial radio call, she grabs the phone and throws it.

Maybe a solution to this would be one that our parish has undertaken. Every school bus is equipped with a phone that dials 911. (Trying to say it can't be used for any other purpose: you pick up the phone and emergency officials are dialed automatically.) Those old two way radios are old technology and while they are helpful to contact the school board if the bus has a flat or something, they create a window of time in which the school board official must decide whether to send school security or dial 911----and in the case of a TRUE emergency, kids could DIE in that window of time.

 

[Taximom]

If she wasn't trying to block the door, which I still think she was, she would not have been in a position of "power" if she sat back down in her chair. Even if she was able to turn sideways and watch the rest of the kids, she didn't have a clue if Samantha was going to get physically violent and wouldn't have been able to protect herself very well if she was sitting.

I'm not going to argue over small points like this. I still think the teenage girl is in the wrong here. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it! lol

 

[deanws]

If she wasn't trying to block the door, which I still think she was, she would not have been in a position of "power" if she sat back down in her chair. Even if she was able to turn sideways and watch the rest of the kids, she didn't have a clue if Samantha was going to get physically violent and wouldn't have been able to protect herself very well if she was sitting.

I'm not going to argue over small points like this. I still think the teenage girl is in the wrong here. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it! lol

And I am sticking with you on this one too Taximom.

 

[Taximom]

kgeaux, I forgot to mention that I agree with you about the 911-direct phone. They shouldn't have had to sit there for 10 minutes while parents were probably frightened out of their minds too!

 

[philamena]

If she wasn't trying to block the door, which I still think she was, she would not have been in a position of "power" if she sat back down in her chair. ...

You got that right Taximom.
In certain situations, and imo this certainly qualifies as one of them, the adult needs to stand up and be at least eye level with the teen, not to bully the student but to let her know who's in control and who has the upper hand.

 

[kgeaux]

You got that right Taximom.
In certain situations, and imo this certainly qualifies as one of them, the adult needs to stand up and be at least eye level with the teen, not to bully the student but to let her know who's in control and who has the upper hand.

But do you cross the line into bullying when you grab the teen's phone and throw it? When you grab the teen's arm and try to prevent her from retrieving her phone?

 

[philamena]

But do you cross the line into bullying when you grab the teen's phone and throw it? When you grab the teen's arm and try to prevent her from retrieving her phone?

Yes, definately.
IMO, the line was crossed both times--when the driver grabbed the student's arm and when she threw the phone.

 

[BeeBee]

When I was in Middle School and Senior High you knew not to disrespect teachers or bus drivers. If you did, you got your paddled. And, parents didn't have much to say about it except if you had it coming, then so be it. Nowadays kids are so spoiled that you can't raise your voice to a kid without them calling 911. Same with situations at home. This is a generation of kids so spoiled, a grownup in any position of authority doesn't stand a chance.

 

[philamena]

When I was in Middle School and Senior High you knew not to disrespect teachers or bus drivers. If you did, you got your paddled. And, parents didn't have much to say about it except if you had it coming, then so be it. Nowadays kids are so spoiled that you can't raise your voice to a kid without them calling 911. Same with situations at home. This is a generation of kids so spoiled, a grownup in any position of authority doesn't stand a chance.

You got that right BeeBee.
Man, if I'd been disrespectful to an adult when I was growing up, disrespectful to any adult, my butt would have been spanked.
Many of today's kids are simply spoiled brats.

 

[kgeaux]

Yes, definately.
IMO, the line was crossed both times--when the driver grabbed the student's arm and when she threw the phone.

Thank you! I was getting lonely!

When I was in Middle School and Senior High you knew not to disrespect teachers or bus drivers. If you did, you got your paddled. And, parents didn't have much to say about it except if you had it coming, then so be it. Nowadays kids are so spoiled that you can't raise your voice to a kid without them calling 911. Same with situations at home. This is a generation of kids so spoiled, a grownup in any position of authority doesn't stand a chance.

Kinda makes you afraid for the future, doesn't it? We will have a generation of "me first, me second, me third, me and only me" people running our nation. We got paddled in school, too. And we were well behaved. Nowdays, teachers aren't supposed to touch children at all. My good friend has spoken of how uncomfortable she feels when her third-graders hug her; she is NOT supposed to hug back. The teachers are instructed that the only appropriate touch is to lay their hand lightly upon the shoulder or top of the head of a seated child.......the sort of touch that can't be interpreted as sexual or abusive in anyway.......well, the kids know that rule, too! So they pretty much do whatever they want to do and control the classroom until school security gets there.

I wish the paddle could make a comeback. It might do some of these kids good to realize they aren't the big boss.

 

[Taximom]

Bus driver defends record - w/pics
2/27/08
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/110086

More importantly (IMO anyway!):
Girl charged in fight:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/112661
The teenage girl involved in a fight with a Higley Unified School District bus driver was charged with one count of disorderly conduct on Monday and faces a maximum of six months in juvenile detention.

and

The Higley Unified School District has backed Sullivan’s actions, saying she did what she was supposed to do. The 54-year-old driver was placed on paid administrative leave but was recently put back to work in another capacity.
Sullivan will be reinstated as a bus driver Wednesday, said Sara Bresnahan, spokeswoman for the Higley Unified School District. The only reason she was not back to work driving buses today is because the routes had already been assigned, she said.

(much more at links about this story)