My child is constantly being bullied on the bus. His teacher states she cannot do anything. I've emailed the principal and have yet to here from him since last Friday. I've also emailed the Transportation Manager. Clearly the bus driver has no control over the students on his bus. Have you had this problem? What has worked for you? No, there are "No' cameras on the bus. They cannot afford it. What should I do in order to make my son's bus ride smoother?
EDIT: I am emailing because I want that documentation. Having a phone conversation isn't always helpful, because you can't prove that you are trying to resolve a situation, but YES I will and I have before had a conversation with the driver and the transportation manager.
The older kids are throwing water on my son, spitting, calling bad names, my son is 8 years old, and these older students are standing up in the bus while in motion, climbing over the seats, screaming, throwing stuff out of the window of the bus.....and no, the driver has not done a thing. I have witnessed this, and there is another mom that has also witnessed this. Her daughter rides the same bus and is also having problems. So, sorry for the lack of detail here..... :-)
What I'm also going to do is record from my camera when the bus is coming down the street to drop off my son. That way, I can capture it all on my camera's video, and present it when I go speak to them personally.
Thanks so much for such great advice! :-)
Hi Everyone! Thanks again so much for such great advice! You all ROCK! :-) I know some of you may think, "why can't i just drive my kid to school?"....Well, I am a SAHM....but we only have one vehicle, and my husband uses it for his job. It's an hour away, and financially we can't afford the extra gas, or a second car at this time. HOWEVER.....GOOD NEWS!!! The Principal is taking some drastic measures to increase disciplinary actions towards bullies, and also putting a Monitor on the bus that my son is on. They may be putting Monitors on all the buses. If for some reason....these steps do not work for the little tyrants that like to pick on kids....Then yes, I will get the police involved and I will do what I can on my side to help resolve the issue. :-) Having been a victim of bullying when I was young, at school, at home, and on the bus.....I take a personal interest in this and I won't tolerate, not only my child being bullied, but I will certainly step in if I see another child being bullied. :-) YOU MOMS AND DADS are AWESOME, and I so appreciate all of you and your words of wisdom! Thanks again so much for being there for me! TIGHT HUGS TO ALL OF YOU!!!!!
In MO and many other states there are School Violence Hotlines. Typically once the concern is reported to the SVH, they forward it on to Law Enforcement and to the School.
Hi. I also went through this last year with my son. Not sure how old your child is, my son was 8 and in 2nd grade. They has assigned seating on his bus. There was kid, also a 2nd grader who was bulling my son, pushing or name calling, and even hit him once. I talked to bus driver 1st when my son got on bus, realized right away a dead end. I then called his school and bus company. The bus co pulled driver aside that day and told him he needed to move my son away from other kid. I also went to school that same day and talked with principle of school. She called both boys to her office, talked with both. Turns out this boy had been having problems with this sort of behavior since 1st grade. He was made to apologize to my son, and teachers said they would watch for it. His parents were called (not the 1st time) and he got wrote up on bus, and again a few days later for bulling another kid that he was seated by since they moved him away from my son :( sad I think, makes me wonder what this boys home life is like if he is so young and doing this. My son has had no issues since. So, I would walk to school and talk face to face with principle, she can do something like call the parents and such and call bus co and demand something happen. I hope all works out for your child. Best of luck.
I drive a bus and I can tell you that when you have 70+ kids on a bus, it's VERY difficult to know what's happening at all times, as we are watching the road because we're driving. We are not babysitters. And most times bullying is not obvious. Kids are very discreet, so the bus is probably not out of control at all and the bus driver is most likely unaware that there is a problem. That being said, there are steps you can and should take to fix this.
First, find out who runs the bus company and who's in charge. Some school districts own there own buses, but larger districts almost always contract out. That doesn't mean that the schools hands are tied. The principle does have some authority, but the teacher does not. At the very least, the principle should alert the bus driver who your child is and to keep an eye out. If he hasn't gotten back to you by the start of school tomorrow morning, call him, and insist that he speak with you. If the receptionist tells you he is out or in meetings or any other stall tactic, then go to the school and sit in the office and tell them you'll wait. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Also, you may want to have your child sit nearer to the front of the bus. It's easier for the driver to hear conversations that are impossible to hear in the back 2/3's of the bus. The driver does have the authority to assign seats, but not to discipline or remove students from the bus. The school district has to make that determination. All we can do is write up the incident(s) and hope the district does something about it.
If having the driver alerted to the problem and/or having your child sitting toward the front of the bus doesn't solve the problem then call the supervisor at the bus company. If you have to leave a message do so. Give them 24 hours to get back to you. Then call again. If you you get voice mail again, e-mail that person at the bus company and CC that e-mail to: the school principle, the transportation supervisor from the school district, and the superintendent of schools. Detail as much as you can about the specific type of bullying, the steps that you have already taken to try and get it stopped and what exactly you want done. When each of them sees the CC to everyone else that should jump start them into action.
Good luck. And let us know what happens. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's interested in the outcome.
Forget the e-mail, go to the school and have a face-to-face with the principal. Is the school responsible for them from the time they get on the bus? If not, who is?
Talk to whomever that responsibility lies with. But before doing that, go to your local police department and see if they have any literature about bullying. I bet they do. I did that when my grandchildren were being bullied. Then I took the literature to a meeting with the principal so that when he suggested that my grandchildren walk a different way or stay later at school so the bully could leave first, etc., I could point out to him in the literature that that doesn't work. You don't ask the victim to do something different; you get a handle on the bully!
I would also ride the bus with my child. If they aren't able to protect him, then it's your job to do so.
Great responses below as far as to what constitutes bullying. What EXACTLY is happening?
And even though our bus service was contracted out to a private transportation company our principal absolutely got involved when the situation called for it, sometimes even catching the kids by surprise by riding on the bus with them.
But again, the situation needs to be more serious than your typical teasing and horseplay.
So what exactly is going on and how long has it been happening?
Bullied how? It is very hard to answer the question as you have stated it.
What has been tried?
Did you speak directly to the bus driver at pick up?
I have never seen bus control until I got to this school this year. Every kid has an assigned seat, and the bus driver insists they sit there. that way she knows if there is trouble, which kid is causing it. If the kid causes trouble, they let you know right off the bat that you no longer can ride the bus. And the other day the kids got up to get off before the driver had fully stopped. She stopped that bus, turned around and all the kids had to go back and sit in their seats until she told them they could get up.
I would call the principal at your school. They can and need to do something. If he doesn't respond to your email or phone call, then show up. If he doesn't satisfy your concern, take it another level higher. There should be a bully form for you to fill out to report this.
I would write the school board a letter, and send it by certified mail. I would threaten to have my attorney get involved and threaten to alert the media of what is going on so that they will have cameras and reporters show up at the district headquarters for live interviews. I'd pull out all the stops.
Make sure you detail every single phone call you've made about this issue, date and time and what was said. Include copies of the emails. I'll bet that once they see that you are going to call the media and a lawyer, they'll get their heads out of their butts on this.
Good luck,
Dawn
Have you talked to the driver? What is his/her point of view? What is going on? Where is your child sitting while this happens? Can your child move to the front of the bus closer to the driver?
If emailing the depot isn't working, then call them. Speak to a supervisor.
I am so sorry that your son have to go through this. I am getting angry reading this because I have been in your shoes before, I know it makes you very angry when he come home and tell you these things. And then youre trying to handle it the right way but noone is doing anything about it. My daughter would complain about someone hitting, punching or calling her names nearly everyday! I was at the end of my rope when she said that a 5th grader kicked her. I went on the bus with her, walked pass the bus driver and had her to point out all of the bullies. There were too many so I went into gangsta mama mode and told the entire bus to leave her alone or less they are gonna have a problem with me. I then went up to the school and made a huge scene in the office about the kids bullying my child on the bus. Guess what, I never had problems again because the kids and the school think I am crazy.
Thats just my story, Im not suggesting you do this. This is your son! Dont stand by and let him be bullied. Cameras and emails are not neccessary. Talk with the bus driver and tell her what is happening. Have your son point out the bullies so that the driver can be aware. Ask can your son be seated near the front of the bus for the remainder of the school year. If the driver will not allow your son to sit in the front of the bus...I would then go up to the school and make a big scene. Your son will be guaranteed to sit in the front of the bus. youve been doing it the nice way and noone is doing anything about it. Take action TODAY! Hopefully you have already.
i agree bullied how? my daughter says shes bullied because the kids tell her not to look at them or havent connected with her. i dont agree she';s being bullied and think she J. needs to make a friend. is he truly being bullied (as in picked on to the extent of harm) or J. isnt well liked?
In my state, bullying, especially ongoing and continuous, would most likely result in being expelled from school. Are you able to install a camera on the bus? Can you drive your child to school? Here's what you can do-file a law suit against the board of ed to compel them to remove the children from the bus that are responsible for bullying your child. Your child is being hurt-do not tolerate this-take action.
No more emails go to the school.
I see you are a SAHM. Why go through all of this when you can just drive him to & from school? Or is the bus a necessity?
I work & DD's school doesn't have bus service, but there is no way in hell I would put my kid on a bus in this day & age.
I agree we need more info. Bus services are contracted out usually - it's out of the principal/teacher's hands but not out of the district/superintendent's hands. You also need plenty of facts, not just the word of your child. Details please. And don't just email - make an appointment. See if they can put a bus monitor on the bus once or twice, even an off duty driver. Stand up for your child but you have to have facts.
