School bus monitor bullying aftermath … and zero tolerance policies

So how are those zero tolerance policies working for ya? How about the mandatory bullying lectures and campaigns? Not working out too well are they?

A high school student is forbidden from speaking at her 2008 high school graduation because she planned on mentioning her faith, God and Christ in her speech. She refused to eliminate the references.

A prayer ban is instituted in San Antonio and a high school senior is threatened with arrest if she thanks Jesus as her Lord and Savior during her valedictorian speech.

In Vermont, a high school valedictorian is told “he couldn’t include specific information about how God has changed his life in his commencement address.”

Thanks to inflexible zero tolerance policies, kids have been suspended from school for

… possession of Midol, Tylenol, Alka Seltzer, cough drops and Scope mouthwash – contraband that violates zero-tolerance, anti-drug policies. Students have been expelled for Halloween costumes that included paper swords and fake spiked knuckles, as well as for possessing rubber bands, slingshots and toy guns – all violations of anti-weapons policies.

A second-grader from Alexandria, La., was booted for bringing her grandfather’s gold-plated pocket watch to school; the timepiece had a tiny knife attached.

A 14-year-old student is suspended for violation of the no-hugging policy at school.

One student is expelled and the other suspended after one of them used the other’s asthma inhaler during a tough workout.

In the meantime, no official action has happened to the kids who viscously bullied a school bus monitor in New York. School is over … they can’t dish out any punishment yet. These are mean kids – kids will be mean and that’s just how life is – but it’s the parents who set the tone in the household that extends to life and actions outside of the household.

https://youtu.be/l93wAqnPQwk

When speaking with the bus monitor, Matt Lauer mentioned…

I think they’re narrow-minded monsters, to be perfectly honest with you. I think their parents should be ashamed of them.

I would think the parents would be ashamed of their kids to a certain extent, but don’t you think it’s the parents that should be ashamed? Maybe if the parents thought they would be held accountable for their kids actions, the appropriate learning and discipline would be dished out in the household … where the problem starts in the first place.

But we’re told by Democrats, liberals, statists and Hillary Clinton that “it takes a village,” so I guess blame can spread out so much those responsible don’t really feel all that bad about what they do.

Shameful.

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

13 Comments

  1. Dimsdale on June 22, 2012 at 9:37 am

    Since the liberal/progressive/statists have overrun the public school system, performance has tanked, dropouts have increased, kids come out less prepared than turn of the century eighth graders, and the cost to “educate” them has increased exponentially.?
    ?
    Maybe we need some zero tolerance for lousy teachers and the unions that enable them.
    ?
    And that poor Ms. Klein should get personal and public apologies from each of the kids on the bus, whether they actively participated, or sat mutely while the abuse occurred.? And their bus privileges should be revoked for some significant period of time.? Let the parents that raised these punks figure out how to get them to school.? On a happy note, people on the net have donated almost $400K to her so she won’t have to suffer that abuse again.



  2. Common Man on June 22, 2012 at 10:44 am

    If it takes a ‘village’, then anyone in the ‘village’ should be able to smack some common respect into these punks.



    • PatRiot on June 22, 2012 at 4:50 pm

      A citizen who shirks his duty to contribute to the security of his community
      is little better than the criminal who threatens it.”?? Robert Boatman



  3. Shared Sacrifice on June 22, 2012 at 5:18 pm

    This is evidence only that we need more monitors and more diversity in the monitoring teams…? Ms. Klein needs to be paired with a big fat guy named Bubba who isn’t afraid of going to jail.



  4. stinkfoot on June 23, 2012 at 6:34 am

    These types of stories that “go viral” leave me with lingering suspicion as to what new policy or bureaucratic arm that this promoted “crisis” is being used to cultivate support for.? “Free range” children who have not been impressed with the fear of God- as a price for showing disrespect for authority figures are the product of “not my little angel” syndrome in this society that seems to be pumping out an uninterrupted supply of self entitled monsters who will be embodying tomorrow’s need for a police state.



    • JBS on June 23, 2012 at 8:28 am

      This is the result of entitlement extended to “darling children.”
      A video of the “little angels'” churlish behaviors is definitive. These parents are breeding bullies. Make the parents ride the bus as community service.



  5. Tim-in-Alabama on June 23, 2012 at 7:09 am

    It seems to be taking a long time to punish the kids involved. Someone should claim he saw them with an aspirin so they’ll be arrested and expelled.



  6. JBS on June 24, 2012 at 8:50 am

    Agreed! Bad bus behavior is a chronic problem. The rules for riding the bus are set by the bus company, the school administration and somewhat by the parents. Any or all of these can be ineffective. Many times the bus driver is the only enforcer. Often his/her complaints are noted, filed and forgotten. Students will exploit any weakness, especially those who are criminally minded. Mommy’s “darling little angel’s” inner demon emerges; perverse behavior must be punished immediately. Suspension of transportation services more than inconveniences the malefactor. It also has a salutary effect on the cohorts of the miscreants; enabling is a complicit behavior. Swift and decisive intervention is the best answer to deviant behavior.



    Failure of adults to see bullying as deviant behavior is criminal. Bullying is a gateway crime, more serious and violent crimes will ensue. Bullying feeds on itself; a successful bully enjoys feeling empowered and entitled. Early criminal behavior is a cancer that produces felons, union thugs, domestic abusers, community organizers and future politicians, among other things.
    ?
    Installing…



    • JBS on June 24, 2012 at 8:51 am

      . . . multiple video and audio recorders on all school buses and vans must be standard (along with seat belts). Documented and graphic evidence of bullying is indisputable. Bullying is unacceptable.



  7. stinkfoot on June 24, 2012 at 11:00 am

    I think that characterizing this as on par with how young people treat one another assumes a premise that I do not fully accept.? Bullying is wrong- but it’s something kids do to one another… a school bus monitor is SUPPOSED to be an authority figure who is presumably due a measure of respect from anyone who was brought up properly.? This was out and out disrespect and reflects a complete lack of class.? The school promised discipline but was it in response to the video going viral??
    ?
    Had I been involved in that type of behavior my bus riding privileges would have been suspended and you can bet life that the reaction at home would have been swift, decisive, and severe… because the school would have immediately communicated problems to my parents.? I’d most likely have spent an entire term grounded and would have been required to write and hand deliver an apology after the period of restrictions as a condition of having them lifted.
    ?
    Too much entitlement… or perhaps the wrong kind in that a minor who shows such unfounded contempt for authority is entitled to get his butt kicked… HARD.
    ?



    • stinkfoot on June 24, 2012 at 11:01 am

      It shouldn’t take national outrage for the monitor to garner support from parents or the school system.? So much about this story indicates how broken we’ve become as a society.



    • JBS on June 25, 2012 at 11:22 am

      Yes, I agree. BUT, that was then and that was how you were raised. Such is not the case now-a-days.
      Liberal blame the victim is evident here in the comment: ” . . . not doing her job.” (Like there is monitor training?)
      Maybe taxpayers, stakeholders, should visit their local schools — as an observer — that are funded by their tax dollars. Just to see what goes on. Perhaps ride on a bus or few. Just to see how things are.



    • stinkfoot on June 26, 2012 at 5:58 am

      To JBS- yes… involvement should go beyond being taxed if you are a parent.? As for bullying… it is unfortunate but it used to be accepted as part of growing up.? However much effort and energy the establishment wishes to invest in supporting the illusion that life has to be perfectly fair and equal it is NOT- in fact it is the ultimate of uneven playing fields and as unpleasant as bullying was when I was a recipient it was one of the earliest things that conditioned me for life- and made me stronger for having endured it.? Placing a premium on victim status just denies humanity a backbone and creates dependence on an outside arbiter of “fair” when we’ve been conditioned to expect it.



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