Punch that @&%$# kid in the &^%$^ face!

In Proctor, parents are up in arms over a move to bus children of all ages on the same routes. Concerns include safety and inappropriate language by older kids.

As a rural kid, I spent two hours a day on the bus. And yes, I got hit on the head with a skateboard once and learned most of my swear words and virtually all I know about sex from surly teenagers in the back of the bus. But isn’t that how it’s supposed to work?

Anyway, I’m sure those older kids stop swearing and beating up little kids once they get to school. Hooligans are highly focused on their education.

Comments

  1. Yep, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Schools should find the least expensive way to bus kids to school. Toughen up folks.
    –AnnMarie

  2. Anonymous says

    If schools are supposed to be about the “least expensive way” to educate children, then:

    1) Fire all the teachers.
    2) Auction off the former teacher positions to convicted sex offenders.

    Ta da! in two steps you turn one of the biggest expenditures into a profit center.

    If you were being ironic, so am I. If you were serious, I’m still being ironic, but with a more irate tone.

  3. Lots and lots of the rural school systems bus all the kids together and the kids turn out just fine. Lots and lots of school districts have the big and little kids in the same building and they turn out just fine. The quality of supervision or lack of it is what makes the difference.

    At one time the PTO in our school got a complaint about older kids necking in the hallway during the time that the little kids were walking in that hall to go to lunch. I don’t know if the complainer went to the principal first, but the PTO determined that the principal had often walked past the neckers without saying a word. There’s your problem! Don’t blame THE SPACE if the principal and teachers don’t work together to keep the atmosphere that they want to present to the students and public.

  4. I cringe when I hear the argument “lots of kids grew up under X conditions and they turn out just fine”. Just think of what could be justified by the “they turned out ok” argument (picture the worst social situation you can imagine… say interracial gay Wiccan parents if you’re on one end of the political spectrum; or a racist, gun-toting, homophobic, O’Reilly Factor fan if you’re on a different part of the spectrum).

    Also, don’t forget that typically a big part of what the staff will do to maintain a healthy atmosphere is to separate students of different grade levels.

    That being said, I fully agree that the school staff has a huge role to play in keeping a safe and respectful environment. If the staff is motivated, caring, and able, they can make the most of a less than ideal situation. If they’re not, even an otherwise ideal environment isn’t enough.

    Now back to the environment of a school bus: you have around 50 kids confined in a very small area. You have exactly one responsible adult on board (the driver) whose primary training and responsibility is in the safe operation of the vehicle (including the normal tasks of driving, the operation of safety lights, recalling the route and stops, watching for children outside the vehicle at stops, watching for drivers violating the stop arm, etc.). In that situation, I know that I would not be able to ensure that someone in the back seat was behaving appropriately.

  5. When I wrote “Lots and lots of the rural school systems bus all the kids together and the kids turn out just fine. Lots and lots of school districts have the big and little kids in the same building and they turn out just fine.” I wasn’t thinking of bad situations that the kids had to get through, but neutral or good situations that weren’t detrimental.

    There are plenty of bus drivers who do keep control over the kids. There are schools with all the ages of kids together who do have a healthy atmosphere. We shouldn’t assume the worst just because there are bad examples out there. In the main, there is nothing that needs any cringing.

    But the whole staff, bus drivers, lunch ladies, custodians, coaches, etc. have to work together in promoting a positive atmosphere.

    My friend recently retired from a long time position as bus driver. He was invited to many graduation parties. The kids feel close to him.

    Maybe what makes a difference is if the bus drivers work for the school district so that there is some longevity as well as decent pay, as opposed to pulling in just anybody to drive the bus because the work is contracted out. I’m not saying that all contracted bus companies don’t have good bus drivers, but the districts don’t have as much control over people who don’t work for them.

    We had a couple of bus drivers for our school that got bounce out because of parent complaints. We don’t have to allow bad situations to continue. My 3 kids rode the bus and also were on sports teams. They seldom had complaints, but if the complaints were serious, I went to the proper person and registered the complaint.

  6. I’m not really sure what firing all the teachers and auction off the former teacher positions to convicted sex offenders has to do with bus routes. And my comment was in all seriousness.

    As a teacher, I have often found that mixed ages of students creates a better situation. The older ones tend to look out for the young ones and the young ones are in awe of the older ones. This calms everyone down and creates a safe and controlled environment. When doing whole school events, this is how we structure our groups. It’s never failed us.

    Back to bus routes . . . it just doesn’t make sense for two buses to drive the same route in one day just to keep young and old children apart. It’s a waste of money, time and energy. Schools primary responsibility is educating children. As much money as possible should be focused on this goal, not on excess bus routes.

    –AnnMarie

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