child abuse on school bus

**marysmerrycats** · 05-08-2003, 08:11 PM

...."I think it's horrible and he should never have done something like that.
But, I also am sure there are two sides to every story and the media has only reported the one side. I'd be interested to hear the other side before passing complete judgement".....

yes there are 2 sides to every story. and the kid was acting up, but he is 9 year old, with down symdrome. the driver was an adult, who should have been able to ignore, or distract him. talk to him, make him stop what he is doing by making him think of something else. if that didn't work then there should have been a meeting with the parents alot sooner , this went on for months! so the driver is at fault, and maybe the school and the parents for not wanting to have a meeting to find out what is going on! finally after months they bug the kids backpack and find out this jerk is abusing their son.
so whatever sides there are, the driver was wrong, and maybe not the only one but the child was not wrong

**IttyBittyKitty** · 05-09-2003, 07:05 AM

If the child was a normal 9 year old kid, I would understand why the bus driver would be angry. If I were the parent of the child, I would expect that the bus drive would reprimand my child (without physical violence of course!) ... at the same time, bus drivers who do the school run SHOULD be trained in child care in the same way teachers are - they are, after all, in charge of 30-odd children. Furthermore, those in charge of special needs children should be a) more compassionate and b) the recipient of even more specialised training.

This is just disgusting!!!

**moosmom** · 05-09-2003, 01:41 PM

I saw the news last night. The driver was fired, he's not allowed to drive any school bus and is FORBIDDEN to go near the poor kid he abused.

I hope the parents file a lawsuit against the driver AND the bus company!!

**babolaypo65** · 05-09-2003, 09:52 PM

I agree with you on this, except they aren't educated as educators, nor paid as educators...
We don't pay our teachers very well, in general, and we pay the folks who work with our kids, but aren't teachers, even worse....
Until we do, we will likely continue to see problems. I am in no way condoning what this man did. I saw the interviews etc....
but we dont pay folks who work with our kids well at all....nor do we train them as educators.

In my school district, the average custodian earns more than the average person who works directly with kids. (this is fact). I am not saying we should pay custodians less, but that we should consider paying those who work with our children more.... and train them to complete their assigned duties.

Originally posted by IttyBittyKitty
If the child was a normal 9 year old kid, I would understand why the bus driver would be angry. If I were the parent of the child, I would expect that the bus drive would reprimand my child (without physical violence of course!) ... at the same time, bus drivers who do the school run SHOULD be trained in child care in the same way teachers are - they are, after all, in charge of 30-odd children. Furthermore, those in charge of special needs children should be a) more compassionate and b) the recipient of even more specialised training.

This is just disgusting!!!