As a parent would this make you mad or would you under stand it????? I am the bus driver

[swift4me]

Go for it. It isn't said often enough, but with almost all these behavioral problems in school or public, the best question is, "... who is not parenting this child?" I doubt it will have much effect, but if it makes you feel better about your work, that's enough for me. There is a very strange casual attitude that the public school system should raise America's children, because mom and dad are sooooo busy/lazy/weak/afraid/etc.

I remember one time in the late 70's, I was on a Greyhound bus going from the Catskills into New York City, and there were some young toughs screwing around in the back of the bus, and after two warnings, in the middle of the Holland tunnel (I think) mid rush hour, the driver slammed on the brakes, stopped the bus and ran back and got in these kid's faces. They were like angels the rest of the way.

Call me a fascist, but I think every couple should have to prove they can raise a well behaved dog before they can have a child. That would weed out alot of problems.

Pete

 

[kimisfishing]

Thanks, I have stopped the bus and had a * Come to Jesus* meeting and stopped and played angry birds for 10 minutes with out saying a word. They really get the angry birds thing LOL. But the more I do that the longer I am in the bus. I just want to know what happened to my GOOD KIDS??? I really love these kids but I would never allow my own children to act this way. They are making the job no fun and not safe. Every day I hear about bus accidents and I do not want it to be me next. I could never live with myself if I ever let one of them get hurt.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

I'd clear it with the school and go for it. I'd also be sure to reward good behavior if it is not already.

 

[WingingIt]

I do use writing apology notes as part of punishment when my kids act up. If they get marked at school or if they were to get marked from on the bus, I make them write an apology note. They don't like to write, so it serves two purposes, apologizing and practice, lol. Plus, then they have to deliver that apology note to the adult and that person always speaks to them to tell them thank you for the note, they're glad they'll work to do better, etc. If you knew who had been misbehaving I think it would certainly fit for them to write notes.

Do you not have cameras on the bus so you can see who was acting up?

I'll be honest, my kids aren't angels, but they behave on the bus (so far, at least, lol) so I don't see myself making them write an apology note for something they didn't do. I understand your reasoning, but they are younger and aren't going to understand why they are having to apologize on behalf of the students who were acting up. This is sort of like when one or two students act up and a substitute makes the whole class stay in from recess (which happened recently). I just don't (personally) agree with the *punish everyone for the deeds of a few* thing. At older ages maybe it works, but at younger ages I can tell you there is no peer pressure to those kids to act right, there are just a whole bunch of kids that are upset that they've been punished when they were following the rules, which seems blatantly unfair to them.

I applaud you for trying to handle it on the bus, but it sounds like you might have to do some write ups and get the school and parents involved if they won't cooperate.
They are all really lucky to have a caring driver.
Good luck!

 

[cassie]

Back in the Dark Ages when I was in high school, one frustrated bus driver delivered the whole bus load of rowdy kids directly to Juvenile Hall rather than taking them to high school. He got in trouble, but I thought then that he was right. Still do. Some schools install video cameras on the buses, and then when the parents say their precious darling would never do such a thing, they can be shown the film that shows that their precious did indeed do that and worse. I think the idea of stopping the bus until the kids shape up is a good one. So is banning troublemakers from the bus, permanently if necessary.

Unfortunately, too many school administrations are far more interested in keeping the peace and not making waves than they are in safety or backing up their staff. A friend of mine, now retired, once received a credible death threat from a student. When the spineless principal refused to to anything about it, she called the cops and had the kid hauled out of class. The principal was furious, but since she was tenured there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it. My friend further told the principal to transfer the student out of her class because she wasn't going to endanger herself or her other students by allowing this kid to stay in her class. The principal then proceeded to tell my friend that he wasn't going to do that and that she was going to just have to continue to teach that student. My friend pointed out that she had a LOT of sick leave built up and that she would just take it immediately and he could hire a substitute for the rest of the term. The principal transferred the kid. My friend's instincts were good. If memory serves that particular student, who is no longer a kid, is now serving a stretch in the big house for attempted murder.

 

[Stacykins]

Dear Route 7 Parents,
For the last few weeks I have been working with our students about their behavior on the bus. We have had many days that I have had to remind them of the regular rules and that they are for safty, not to take away the fun.
Yesterday afternoon I was ill and we had a substatute driver. Ms. Kathy drove our bus and some of the students were very loud, disrespectful, and would not follow the rules even after being asked to.
I was not there so I can not say which students were doing these things, so I feel that all the students should write Ms. Kathy a note of appology. It may say anything they feel they need to say, even if it is just, "I am sorry the bus was so loud".
Thank you
Ms. Kimberlee

I have included and copy of some of the safty rules incase you would like to refresh the students on how they should be acting on the bus.

Just a bit of editing, here is a a version with some of the spelling errors corrected, commas n stuff, and a bit of wording changes for clearer understanding and adding some active voice, rather than passive (saying "I ran" is active, where "I was running" is passive). I'd also suggest adding a good point, added in with green, if you feel that works and is true (I dunno the situation and if the kids have improved). Kind of like flattery, then getting to the actual issue, you know?


Dear Route 7 Parents:
For the last few weeks I have been working with our students about their behavior on the bus. While bus behavior has been getting better, we have many days that I needed to remind them of the regular rules, and that the rules are for safety, not to take away the fun.
Yesterday afternoon, I was ill and we had a substitute driver. While Ms. Kathy drove our bus, some of the students were very loud and disrespectful, and would not follow the rules despite being asked to.
I was not there, so I can not say which students misbehaved, so I feel that all the students should write Ms. Kathy a note of apology. It may say anything they feel they need to say, even if it is just, "I am sorry the bus was so loud". I have also included and copy of some of the safety rules in case you would like to refresh the students on how they should be acting on the bus.
Thank you
Ms. Kimberlee


Does this look OK to you? I am not an expert at editing, but just did what I could to help a bit.

 

[Melinda35]

I would clear it with the school first as well. I would not want this to backfire on you. Parents just don't care and that is why these kids act like this. Sadly it is everywhere. I would never allow my children to behave like that and they know it. When I go to parent conferences I hear all the time how well behaved my children are. I care and I don't put up with this kind of behavior from other children at my home or in public. I was in Wal-Mart one day and there were two high school boys probably 16 or 17 wrestling in the aisle where I could not get my basket threw. I immediately spoke up to them to "Stop. There are other people in this store and you need to show some respect." Their mother came flying from the grocery department and was mad! Not at me but at them. She was not paying attention so they took advantage of that but they were definitely old enough to know better. One small child (under 10) threw a football in Academy and hit my child in the head with it. My child was only about 5 at the time. I was livid. I could only give dirty looks because the parents did not speak English but I think they got the hint.

Sorry about the ramblings...I would definitely tell the parents. Sometimes there needs to be embarrassment to get any results.

 

[dewey]

I have tried candy, games, prizes and everything I can think of to get them to be better for me even. Nothing seems to work

Your concern for the kids and your efforts are commendable.

Unfortunately, and this always amazes me, some parents won't hear it or step up to correct their kids until their own lives are effected by their kids' bad behavior...such as, now the parents have to go out of their way to find a means of getting their misbehaving kids to school...but that does seem to suddenly develop excellent hearing in the parents.

 

[dainerra]

That sounds much nicer than what when on when I rode a bus. If we were loud, the bus driver would pull over in the park and make us sit for 5 minutes without any talking. If someone even spoke a word, it was another 5 minutes. I remember we were close to an hour late one time. He was eventually fired, but not after many 6th graders would hop off the bus and just walk home if they were close enough. This was in 1996 though.

my bus driver would just slam the brakes and throw us into the floor. And then, when he got home, he'd call our parents and then we'd all get in trouble again.

Now, my girls' school will suspend students for misbehaving on the bus. They use the same point system as the classroom teachers.

 

[KristyHall]

Thanks, I have stopped the bus and had a * Come to Jesus* meeting and stopped and played angry birds for 10 minutes with out saying a word. They really get the angry birds thing LOL. But the more I do that the longer I am in the bus. I just want to know what happened to my GOOD KIDS??? I really love these kids but I would never allow my own children to act this way. They are making the job no fun and not safe. Every day I hear about bus accidents and I do not want it to be me next. I could never live with myself if I ever let one of them get hurt.

"Come to Jesus meeting"? I don't understand. Is that a saying or reference to something?