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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
 Posted - 07/06/2004 : 12:34:51 AM
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July 5 2004
The Port Clinton News Herald
OHIO - The Fremont City Schools bus driver accused of threatening to kill and hide the body of an 8-year-old boy will continue to drive for the district.
He'll just shuttle a different route.
The driver is accused of telling the boy in early May that, because he was acting up, he would take the bus vomit bag and put it over the boy's head, suffocate him and then hide his body. Based on a News-Messenger check through the man's personnel file, it appears the driver's intention may have been less grave than what the boy's mother, Crystal Souders, feared.
It was meant to be a joke.
"That's what (administrators) told me in the beginning," Souders said of the driver remaining behind the wheel and getting a new route. "The way I said it was exactly the way my son said it. He's 8 years old. How is he supposed to know he's kidding?
"I could understand if they were teen-agers, but most of these kids are in second grade. They don't understand that."
During the Fremont Board of Education's regular meeting June 15, Souders and another pair of Sacred Heart parents told the board they were worried for the safety of any child riding on the driver's bus. Switching his bus route, they said, was not good enough.
Personnel files showed that in 15 years of driving a bus for the district, this is the first such incident on the driver's record. He has also never been arrested.
Click Here for story |
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coski
Active Member
USA
38 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2004 : 10:16:34 AM
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| I don't think i would ride with that bus driver. I think if a driver is gonna say something like that he should hang up the keys. |
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FirstStudentKid
Senior Member
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2004 : 12:58:54 PM
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| The driver should have been fired. If a student makes a threat then most districts would have the student expelled or suspended. Bus drivers are supposed to set a higher standard by using good and fair behavior on the school bus. If the driver can't even behave, then why would the kids follow the rules? Not to mention that an 8-year old might believe the threat and be absoluetely terrified that their bus driver is going to kill them. |
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coolbusdriver
Top Member
Canada
1509 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2004 : 5:37:21 PM
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We all suffer from "foot in mouth disease" from time to time. Yes he could of phrased his frustration better, but a suspension is all that was needed for this. His long, good record speaks well of him as a driver.
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CountGirl
Top Member
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - 07/06/2004 : 8:26:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by coolbusdriver
We all suffer from "foot in mouth disease" from time to time. Yes he could of phrased his frustration better, but a suspension is all that was needed for this. His long, good record speaks well of him as a driver.
I agree with this 'suspension' idea, for the same ideas you mentioned. Also, the different route is probably a good idea too, just to keep everybody in some sort of civilized ideal. If he does it again, though, hanging up the keys should be the only option.
From my side of the nest: While I have never recieved a comment like this in my lifetime, I do have drivers I refuse to ride with for various reasons. Those reasons were well-set at one point and I remember the incidents clearly. In one such incident, I remember remarking to my mother, "I will tell you one thing. He will never find a sleeper on his bus." I would probably take a guess that this kid in the story would agree with that statement.
Echoing everybody's points made,
Count |
Give me a yellow object. Yes. Right now. I need my yellow chocolate, for goodness sake! |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 10:15:51 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by coolbusdriver
We all suffer from "foot in mouth disease" from time to time. Yes he could of phrased his frustration better, but a suspension is all that was needed for this. His long, good record speaks well of him as a driver.
I agree with you. Way too much is made of casual remarks these days, both from kids and adults. How many bus driver's should be let go for saying, "I could just strangle that kid!" How many parents should have their child taken away for saying or thinking the same thing? Special interest controlling agendas have done incredible harm to everyone with their politically correct nonsense that on a whim can send a community into confusion and caous - doors locked and hiding in the closet in fear of the next causal word spoken out the mouth of a child or an adult. We shouldn't be so casual - by God! - we should all be as serious as a funeral director! Rubbish!! Nearly all of what special interests promote, seems for the sake of craziness, advantage and control over others. So much of it amounts to a lie or MYTH, in that so many of the concepts promoted by special interests are false and does NOTHING TO PROMOTE SAFE ENVIRONMENTS ON THE BUSES or anywhere else. Look what happened at Columbine - (Click Here for) WHAT REALLY HAPPENED that made those boys kill. I'm ready to call for a return of spanking - retroactive - to cover every spoiled brat adult out there. Some rational-level of measuring needs to take charge to prevent kids with a tiny plastic knife toy to be charged with carrying a concealed weapon or a kid blowing a spitwad out a straw charged with discharging a weapon. An unreasonable fear for some, and abusing control over others for advantage of some is the agenda. Understand that before siding with any ACLU-type mentality or teachings. (jk)
Click Here to find out The #1 reason some school buses are violent places |
Edited by - JK on 07/07/2004 12:03:19 PM |
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rswboe
Top Member
USA
675 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 11:24:41 AM
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| While I do agree with JK that the PC police (aka ACLU) are completely out of control, I think this particular situation is over the line, way over. Common sense must apply somewhere, when an adult tells an 8-year old he is going to kill him, how is the child SUPPOSED to to react? If that were my child, this driver would be answering to the police, because I'd file charges against him/her. You're not talking about a high-schooler (who could probably beat you within an inch of your life if you tried anything), but an 8-year old, AND, I might add, this is most certainly NOT the same as a CHILD shooting spitballs, or carrying a plastic knife in his lunchbox. |
Live each like it's going to be your last, one day you'll be right! |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 12:02:16 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by rswboe
... AND, I might add, this is most certainly NOT the same as a CHILD shooting spitballs, or carrying a plastic knife in his lunchbox.
Not to you perhaps. Regardless, there seems to be an abundance of over-the-line parents, over-the-line schools and over-the-line school boards that treat such events the same as carrying actual hardware or the same as shooting guns. We've read enough stories in this forum to know that is the case.
OK, so according to the parent the kid came home afraid the bus driver was going to kill him. Well, you say the responsible parent would report it to the police. Based solely on what the child said? No phone call to the bus driver? Just grab that phone and call the cops?
As a parent of six, and granddaddy to 14 kids, my first thought certainly would not be to go nuts on the phone or to beat up the bus driver or anything like that. I would want a calm mental picture of what had happened from the child, measure the seriousness of the event and to let the bus driver know he frightened my kid.
No threats, none of that crap, just a note to let the bus driver know my child thinks you're going to kill him, that your remark frightened my child, to please resolve it with him and to call me if he had any questions.
Everything covered and no 'off the handle' crazy attitude involved.
How hard can it be to treat events with intelligence and a measured amount of decency? It is harder than I think, when considering that even some school bus drivers are ready to hang that bus driver for the humor every state PTS says bus drivers need to survive on the job. PTS's and employers must be talking about the humor of the typical funeral director and should advertise for the same.
I realize we need to strive for a more professional behavior when behind the wheel of the bus. We should also realize that even some of the most experienced bus drivers are managing kids by the seat of their pants, winging it due to a lack of decent violence prevention training.
All and all I would think the driver in this tread is a great bus driver. In a moment and with a slip of the tongue what was said was taken way out of context. The administration made a good decision to keep that bus driver and I would not have any reservations concerning any of my kids transported on his school bus. None. (jk)
Click Here to find out The #1 reason school bus drivers quit |
Edited by - JK on 07/07/2004 12:25:10 PM |
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littlebit
Advanced Member
431 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 5:37:40 PM
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AMEN JK....We all at times, say things that shouldn't be said..this driver has been behind the wheel of the bus too many years with no other complaints. it doesn't seem he is a loose canon just waiting to do harm to a child. as a parent of a 12 yr old and a 7 year old, i know first handed how children can take things out of context and make things larger than they appear.
now if this was his first year of driving and had made several other comments that shouldn't be said to children..ie....cussing, threats..etc, then i would agree with the firing. i know i have personal told my bus kids, that i was gonna break their legs if they didn't sit down, superglue them to the seat, etc..but i always make sure they know i am joking and if i see a parent i also lrt them know i was teasing..
littlebit who hopes to have her right hand back soon.... |
 Bus 34 |
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CountGirl
Top Member
USA
823 Posts |
Posted - 07/07/2004 : 6:07:30 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by littlebit
littlebit who hopes to have her right hand back soon....
Sorry that this is off topic, but what in the world did you do to yourself? Didn't I ever tell you to be careful?!
(And leave the student counts up to me?)
Count |
Give me a yellow object. Yes. Right now. I need my yellow chocolate, for goodness sake! |
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Thomas Ford 85-16
Top Member
USA
4177 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2004 : 07:29:45 AM
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| Maybe this isn't the issue at hand, but I have to wonder, what was the kid doing at the time that made the driver say such a "terrible" thing? Perhaps that's an issue to be addressed as well. I don't see the mother complaining about her child's behavior that may have prompted that... hmmm |
Mike's Bus Yard - http://buses.zwebpages.com - Since 1999
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busdrver4jesus
Top Member
USA
802 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2004 : 10:04:52 AM
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I have been away from the office and computer for a few weeks, and now I had to drag my lazy behind back in........ Anyway - hope everyone's summer is going well.
When are parents going to realize that kids will say the darndest things? Children DO lie from time to time, especially if they are mad at someone. Not saying this child in the particular story is lying - but like JK said - the parent flew off the handle a bit.
Sure, as a parent, I would be nerved if my child said his bus driver or teacher had threatened to kill him. However, I would hope I would be logical enough to dig into the situation before I go blistic!
We all say things we don't mean. How many times have bus drivers made the comments, "I would like to strangle that child!" or "I wish I could sit him out on the side of the road" or "If that were my child I would beat him senseless." How many parents have made the same comments - but not really meaning it.
We all say things in the wrong context. However, as school bus drivers or educators we must realize we live in a corrupt world where everything is blown out of the water. We live in a sue crazy world where everything ends up in a law suit. Its pretty bad when you watch some of these TV court shows and someone is suing their neighbor because the neighbors dog crapped on his lawn - and YES I have seen that particular case along with several other ones.
Lets face it - as bus drivers and educators - we must filter our mouths if we dont want our rear's in a sling! |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 07/08/2004 : 2:48:41 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by busdrver4jesus
Lets face it - as bus drivers and educators - we must filter our mouths if we don't want our rear's in a sling!
I agree with everything you said, except the quote above. The blasted ACLU, their teachings and those nut cases that follow their teachings ARE NOT IN CHARGE OF ME, MY BUS, MY KIDS, MY PARENTS, MY SCHOOL, MY COMMUNITY OR ANYTHING ELSE!!!
My mom made it clear to me: "If the devil lies to you, don't believe him. And if the devil tells you the truth, don't believe him."
A way must be found to subvert the onslaught of the crazies that are corrupting our minds and our schools. I stand strong with the demand that no one of decent character ever cater to that bunch, even when it seems they might be right.
As mentioned in an earlier post, we do need to strive for a more professional behavior when behind the wheel of the bus. Let's do that out of decency, not out of some need to cater to sick or otherwise nutty people that have no place among the decent and their efforts. Give me the honorable to follow and I'll remain loyal my entire life. (jk)
Click Here to find out The #1 reason school bus drivers quit
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Edited by - JK on 07/08/2004 2:50:34 PM |
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busdrver4jesus
Top Member
USA
802 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2004 : 10:14:42 AM
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quote:
As mentioned in an earlier post, we do need to strive for a more professional behavior when behind the wheel of the bus. Let's do that out of decency, not out of some need to cater to sick or otherwise nutty people that have no place among the decent and their efforts. Give me the honorable to follow and I'll remain loyal my entire life. (jk)
I agree with you JK - we should want to act professional because WE want to. I do agree the ACLU has gotten way out of hand. Maybe that was what I was trying to say - but it just didn't come out right.
We should not ask how high just because some agency or organization asks us to jump.
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rswboe
Top Member
USA
675 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2004 : 10:17:32 AM
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I should clarify: My statements are based on what my reaction WOULD be if this event had, in fact, happened.My first call would NOT be to administration or police. I would, of course, speak to the driver first, if possible. I am a parent myself (2 boys, 17 & 14) and have been through the mill with over-reactive parents, administrators & teachers. We had a problem some years ago with an out of control driver. This one had a habit of screaming & cursing at the kids (elementary school). She also had a penchant for slamming brakes to "get their attention". She also through a six year old off her bus a mile from home. Just fot the record, this is the NYC area, we are not rural. My wife approached her about her cursing at our youngest, who was 7 at the time, she went ballistc and nearly assaulted my wife. Dispatch refused to talk to us. The Transportation Supervisor refused to address the situation. Only after we threatened to get the police involved was any action taken. I have seen the side of bus drivers that many here refuse to. These things happen, there are a good number of people doing this who shouldn't be.
A much as I hate to say it, this is NOT the same world we grew up in. If you think it is, just check the back of any milk carton. That aint fiction sweetheart.
I wouldn't take what an 8 year old said as gospel truth, but I wouldn't discount it out of hand either. Getting the facts before spouting off is so ingrained, I neglected to mention it, sorry.
I am in complete agreement with almost everything you stated regarding the crazies, left wing lunatic fringe (ACLU)& such. When kids get suspended from school for defending themselves and the schools spend more time on teaching filtered doctrine as opposed to basic learning skills and facts, we are in trouble. One of mine got suspended for hitting back. The school had no problem with the ones that hit in the first place, they didn't want them to feel like criminals, I don't know, maybe it's me.
However, I still fail to see the "humor" in telling an 8-year old you're going to kill him (IF it happened). A little common sense, please. I have sense of humor, a little warped perhapse, I grew up on a diet of George Carlin & Monty Python, I appreciate a good laugh, and preffer people who do.
I don't know what it's like in Oregon, but we deal with a lot of "crazy off the handle attitudes" here. We're used to it. The stories I could tell, but I'll wager you have a few as well.
But in this case I'll stand by my original statements (as clarified). |
Live each like it's going to be your last, one day you'll be right! |
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rswboe
Top Member
USA
675 Posts |
Posted - 07/09/2004 : 10:24:16 AM
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| Correction; I should run spell check, before I post; "She also through a six year old" oops, try "threw" "fot should be "for", cheap fingers.... |
Live each like it's going to be your last, one day you'll be right! |
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80-RE4
Top Member
USA
5700 Posts |
Posted - 07/31/2004 : 08:15:17 AM
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One day, while driving, on a very hot day, for some odd reason, I slipped and said "Sit down you little brats". I didn't intend for it to come out but it did. The kids in the front heard me and were shocked because I said a swear "Brats". They thought it was funny afterwards as I explained that it slipped out, and that It was meant for the older kids in the back!
We all make remarks that we wish we didn't. |
Edited by - 80-RE4 on 07/31/2004 08:20:48 AM |
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tess
Senior Member
USA
85 Posts |
Posted - 08/15/2004 : 09:54:57 AM
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| You need a place to vent. Our bus garage is just that. Ten minutes together talking about certain students (and we all know who that one is)is a big help. I still ask our coordinator if we're allowed to have duck tape for certain mouths? It's still a no. Just talking about the frustration of some students relieves a lot of stress |
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Threat to kill student a joke,bus driver keeps job
