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news
Top Member
Canada
2951 Posts |
 Posted - 05/24/2007 : 05:16:49 AM
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Editorial
May 24, 2007 - Frederick News Post, MD -
The resignation of two Frederick County Public Schools bus drivers over a safety incident caused some distress among their fellow drivers and the public. From what was reported regarding this incident, it appears that concern is warranted.
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usedtobe
Active Member
United States
48 Posts |
Posted - 05/24/2007 : 07:11:24 AM
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| This is another case of Administration NOT backing the bus driver. What if the child had caused an accident by his behavior? I have always contended that kids that have been on in-school suspenion all day should not be put on a bus in the afternoon. It's a problem in most cases from the moment they set foot on the bus. I have taken kids back to school for discipline when in fact I was closer to their stop then to the school. The next day dealing with the problem would have resulted in sweeping it under the rug. I also have radioed my Supervisor and he met me and removed a student that was an on-going problem. One of the reasons Supervisors should not drive. If your authority as a bus driver means nothing to the kids and your administration will not back you then you have a real problem. When I started driving it took 3 yrs to get a handle on my bus kids because of a previous driver who just drove. I had alot of BD and ADHD kids and ended up with a camera installed. But at the end my kids respected me and knew I would do anything for them as long as they followed the rules. I also gained the respect of the parents. It's too bad you have Administration that doesn't give that same respect. |
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Lena
Senior Member
United States
120 Posts |
Posted - 05/25/2007 : 7:27:17 PM
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Good for HER!! Only the driver knows the situation on his/her bus....We definitely deal with some issues that really no one would ever understand unless they were on the bus every day. And, you know, a lot of these kids on the bus are never ever together except on the bus, which makes for a situation even the administrators and teachers are unaware of...and "usedtobe" is exactly correct...we have to be firm because most of the time we really are not backed up by the transportation office or the school...
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Most smiles are started by another smile...  |
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drivin4safety
Advanced Member
United States
259 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2007 : 1:19:07 PM
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I agree with both Lena and usedtobe on this topic. I thought it was a good sign that the principal agreed to, and removed the student in question. The "supervisor" should be the one on the hot-seat. While supervisors shouldn't drive as a rule I think the admin or at least the TD and dispatch staff should have some driving experience. If they have a common frame of reference with the drivers then they may better understand what is going on.
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 05/26/2007 : 2:32:42 PM
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My school bus environment is the product of nearly two decades of studying 'old-timer' concepts molded into modern processes.
Literally, the videos of my bus environment appear to be students from the fifties, what you can still watch in old school bus driver training videos - out of the aisles, calm and following directions.
Have walked a treacherous path to that result - plenty have attempted to terminate me over one thing or another that they did not like about what I was doing or me. Mollycoddlers and politicians that can destroy a child's ability to act out decent and respectful behavior.
Where children have been repeatedly denied the opportunity to think and act out responsible conduct, betrayed by adult indifference, mollycoddled to near destruction of their brains, too many of these kids do seek out violence, the gangs, drugs and the friendships of perverts in an attempt to bring some balance to their life, in my opinion.
It is not my place to change kids or adults behaviors - not possible anyway. My effort to success was learning to control the school bus environment, not the kids. I do not try to change what a child thinks or does - that is their decision. My concern in the role of a school bus driver is finding the environment most suited to each child on my bus.
Bring a weapon on the bus and I'll help find an environment suitable that for that, such as a jail.
Bully a kid on my bus and the environment I then provide that child is in the school office whilst the rest of us go home.
A parent slandering me risks an environment provided by the court to help deal with such unseemly acts.
When the power of the controlled environment is understood it becomes possible to control that environment to suit certain purposes. The school bus driver no longer need dwell on how to change a child or adult to what he or she thinks is better. Probably wrong anyway. Most often we have no clue to what is better for someone else, only a criticism.
My first wife was like that, constantly trying to change me. A baker's dozen years together she was still trying to do that, with apparently some success. In our fourteenth year together she wanted a divorce, because I was not the man she married.
My second wife accepts me for who I am, demonstrates expert compassion and faithfulness that gives me cause to learn from her. I am whom I was fifteen years ago when we married, with perhaps one exception. I have learned from her how to accept others for who they are.
I know why I remain with my employer and remain involved in helping keep kids safe. I owe a debt to my parents and my community. When a child they loved and protected me - and held me accountable for my decisions.
I've chosen to carry that decency forward to our community's children and parents these days. That is my decision and sometimes my burden. (jk)
Note: Free brochure for parents - "The seven highly effective steps to keeping your child safe" - Click Here for Link
FREE School Bus Safety Ads & Photo Library
Post Check, Hostage Takeover, Bus Fire and special effects photos now available Free to use at websites, in newsletters, memos, the local press, letters to parents and more. This is a very popular Website. If you can't get in bookmark the page and try again later.
There is no school bus driver shortage!
Properly train, effective support and pay that retains.
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Bus driver's dilemma
