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

[kimisfishing]

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.

 

[KBlue]

I'd be fine with it, though I am big on enforcing manners and proper behavior. Other parents may not be so accepting of the fact that their precious angels were acting up.

 

[Kaitie09]

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.

 

[chickened]

If that is your phone # you may want to remove it.

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.

 

[dewey]

Seems nothing changes throughout the years when it comes to kids messin' with substitutes.

Any of ours would usually take names of those acting up. 3 warnings and ya hoofed it or had to find another means of transportation. I never was one that cared for punishing a whole group when only select kids did the misdeeds.

 

[kimisfishing]

Well they are all going to be silent today and maybe tomorrow. I have been working with these guys for a while. Our subs used to fight over who got to drive my route because the kids were so good, but for some reason they have changed. I don't see writing a note is punishment, just a way of making them take ownership of the fact that their friends are acting up. Our sub drivers don't know the kids names especially when I don't call in that much. I was not there so I can't take other kids word as to who was doing it and the ones that I expected to be bad were actually the good ones, go figure LOL. I do not like to write the kids up, I prefer to work with the parents, and I really feel the other driver deserves an appology. They really made them selves and ME look bad. I work with these kids all the time and I try to LOVE them into being good but this is above and beond just being bad, it is making the ride not safe for the other kids. If I could write them up and give them time off the bus I would but my boss is a whimp and he is retiring at the end of the year so he really does nothing to help us drivers. 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 so I was just thinking that maybe if the parents knew how they have been acting they might talk to them. And when I have done this in the past, the *GOOD* kids always seem happy to do it and the kids that act up actually write a letter telling what they really did. LOL I am really mad about this and just want to be sure I am not being rude. Thanks for the input. It helps alot.

 

[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!