America's school bus drivers - struggling to provide safe ride
Bus drivers across America are struggling with the trouble some student
riders continually cause
on the bus making it hard for the drivers to concentrate
on the road. When this happens on a daily basis it can put kids, the
bus driver and the public at unnecessary risk. - Safe Schools
By Jennifer Elmore. Original story, "What's happening on the school bus,"
aired on MSNBC, WJHG 7 News, Panama City, Florida. Posted by permission from WJHG.
PANAMA CITY, FLORIDA (MSNBC, WJHG CH. 7 NEWS) -
Almost everyday we tell you about what students are doing in local
classrooms. But what students are doing on the bus these days will shock
you. It starts with elementary age kids and gets worse as they get
older. You’d be surprised at what goes on on your child’s school bus.
One student described what she’d seen on the bus by saying, "I’ve
seen some bad things. There’s people and they start hitting each other
and they start kicking each other. And sometimes the bus driver says if
you don’t stop it I’m going to take you back to school." She went on to
say that if the bus driver yells at the kids, even then they don’t
listen. She added, "They just keep on talking until finally she has to
scream at them, and stop the bus."
And not only are they fighting and screaming, kids as young as
1st graders are cussing at the bus driver. If you want your kids
to learn all the words of the world, you should put them on the
bus. Young kids even harass the bus driver by getting off the
bus and then dancing in front of it so the driver can’t leave.
And in other situations, the kids have even grabbed onto the
side of the bus.
Believe it or not, this happens on almost a daily basis. In
just the past two months, an estimated 189 kids were written
up for cussing, 171 for violence, nearly 300 for violating
safety procedures (for example standing up in the seat or
throwing things out the window). 183 kids were cited for
harassing the driver and 60 students were written up for
assault. There were also 18 cases where students destroyed
something on the bus, like cutting up a seat. Plus, there are
the kids who weren’t written up but just given verbal warnings
instead.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Several weeks ago, two (Panama
City, Florida) Bay High students were caught engaging in sex acts
on the bus. Pete Smith of Transportation said "We have a problem
with students even having sex on the bus. It’s not something that
happens day after day after day, but we have had lately, problems
like this." A Bay County parent who wants her identity concealed
says it’s happening too much. "I’ve heard stories actually of
children being asked to have sex on the bus, trying to have
their clothes taken off of them."
And incidents like these aren’t just stripping the students of their
youth, they’re also driving parents and bus drivers to the limit.
Your comments about this story, Keywords: PC Bus Violence.
Safe Schools Note: Injuries on school buses have escalated over the past decade, from under 7, 000 per
year in 1985 to over 13,000 injuries reported in 1996, by the National Safety Council.
Driver distraction is attributed to over 30 percent of the nation's school
bus accidents. (Facts, Figures & Quotes)
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