It has been a week since Karen Klein, the 68-year-old upstate New York school bus monitor, endured more than 10 minutes of disturbing, disgusting, and ruthless verbal abuse.
I am outraged every time I hear the four 7th graders’ repulsive and sickening taunts. The redeeming consequence is that the video that captured this brutal and horrific experience instantly went viral on the Internet!
The media frenzy that followed has resulted in countless family, school, and national conversations about bullying. What a meaningful and significant event in the ongoing process of heightening bullying awareness!
How have you turned Karen Klein's 10 minutes of abuse into “10 teachable moments” with your children? What did you say? How did they react? Did your kids comment on how they would have handled that situation on the bus?
About the blogger: Judy S. Freedman is a licensed clinical social worker and bullying prevention specialist. She recently spoke at the National PTA Convention in San Jose, California.
Learn more about Judy and her book 'Easing the Teasing: Helping Your Child Cope with Name-Calling, Ridicule, and Verbal Bullying' at www.easingtheteasing.com
Yes the kids behaved poorly, that is why there was a "bus monitor".
You really raise some very interesting questions! I have been speculating why these boys viciously and cruelly verbally abused Karen Klein. I have concluded that there is really no one answer. It is difficult to connect the dots because we don’t know if these kids have a history of bullying others. We don’t know the nature of the relationships of these 4 boys with each other, nor the status of their general social-emotional functioning. There is uncertainty about their prior relationship with Ms. Klein. Many kids bully for the power, while others bully because they are imitating what they are living with at home. Some kids bully others because of peer pressure and believe that these actions will result in acceptance by peers. Others bully because of the attention they receive. In some situations they enjoy the laughter, admiration, and cheers from the bystanders. I have worked with so many children and tweens who do not realize or understand the power of their words! Sadly, many kids engage is these behaviors “for the fun of it,” and do not believe these behaviors are wrong. I wonder if the boys taunting Karen Klein escalated the outrageousness of their accusations to out do each other. Another key issue is the seemingly active display of disrespect in our society! We may never know their motivations or reasons for their ruthless acts, but we can hope they will receive effective consequences and therapy.
Very sadly, Karen Klein’s experience is not the first time a bus driver or monitor has endured abuse on a school bus, but it is the first time this issue has been raised to this peak level of awareness. What we can learn from this? School bus personnel’s initial safety orientation and training should include bullying awareness! What do bullying behaviors sound like and look like? What are the school-wide expectations and policies regarding bullying? The same expectations and policies regarding bullying within the school should also apply to behaviors on the school bus. (Hopefully, there are effective policies in place in schools). Consistency in these expectations and policies is crucial. This essential training should include instructions, support, and procedures for bullying among students that occurs on the bus, in addition to guidance in the event a driver or monitor becomes a victim. Successful intervention depends on the drivers and monitors consistently reporting to school administrators the specifics of these incidents. The next crucial step is school administrators following through!
The school bus is a very common arena for teasing and bullying. Limited supervision, multi-aged students, and an unstructured environment can easily result in teasing, taunting, and bullying. The driver is almost always the only adult on the bus, and he or she has the ultimate responsibility of transporting the students safely to and from school. Bus drivers must have their eyes on the road and cannot effectively deal with disruptive behaviors occurring in the rearview mirror. In a perfect world, every bus would have an additional adult whose responsibilities include supervising students and intervening in disruptive interactions. I have advocated for this additional adult for many years. In most cases, a bus monitor can make a significant difference in ensuring physical and emotional safety. Unfortunately, most financially strapped school districts cannot fit this additional supervisor into the budget.
I disagree. Being a parent is about responsibility and if you can display a sense of power and authority over your kids then they know who is boss. I have never hit my kids once and if they act up all I have to do is give them "the look" or just say in a deep loud voice "HEY" and they know I mean business and they behave. Their mother is the same way and we always are on the same page with our kids.
Does anyone really believe that most of the people who are jailed in this country for antisocial actions have been under punished by their parents, the school or the judicial system prior to their incarceration. "Morality play" shows like Leave it to Beaver or The Andy Griffith show focused on adult characters helping kids to tame their impulses, learn empathy and, perhaps most importantly earn their trust in the process. It is true that these shows did not have single parents, teen parents, same sex parents, poverty -- but it is also true that while the country is a much different place, the manner in which people become empathic and civilized remains the same. We with great powers have great responsibility - lets not let it go to waste becasue of apathy (doing nothing) or outrage (I'll teach you not to do that again punishment) -- niether of which does a lick to foster caring people.
It is my understanding that a student on the bus took the video and then posted it on Facebook, which instantly exploded on the Internet. Your question of "Why?" is wonderful. Many bystanders automatically photo or video what is happening and post it for the "sensationalism." Unfortunately, insensitivity and the apparent lack of empathy result in passive and ineffective bystanders. We need to continue to encourage bystanders to "stand up and speak out" rather than stand by and take videos!
And a comparison to Hitler, a delusional sociopath, doesn't really work. Beating someone predisposed to that kind of behavior never works and generally leads to more outlandish outbursts.
What wonderful ideas!