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Please sign in to post or comment. Bus driver charged with batteryPosted by Augusta.com Staff on March 21, 2006 - 2:37 PM Police said today that a Columbia County bus driver was arrested on simple-battery charges after he restrained a child on his bus following an argument between two pupils. Did this driver cross the line? Or is getting physical an acceptable way to handle behavior problems on school buses? Submitted by MargaretWilliams on March 21, 2006 - 2:59 PM.
This is ridiculous. How is this bus driver supposed to maintain order if the student won't follow his orders. Unless the driver harmed the child, which I doubt, this is just another case of parents listening to Little Johnny lie his head off. I believe this driver had to do what he had to do. Very soon there won't be anybody willing to drive children to school or teach them if we don't allow them some authority to discipline. Submitted by MjeHefner on March 21, 2006 - 3:04 PM.
Simple battery my foot. I can not BELIEVE that it has come this far. We arrest an adult for trying to make an unruly child behave? Give me a break. If parents would teach their children to obey, to listen to and respect the adults in authority over them, things like this would not happen. Instead, we give children authority to do whatever they want, and punish the adults that attempt to discipline them. I for one, have a hard time with the fact that we would entrust over 40 children under the age of 12 to the charge of 1 adult who can't even pay attention to them because he's driving. Would you leave your child in a school room or a day care where there were 40-60 children and only one adult to mind all of them? I don't think so. Our society has made teachers, bus drivers, and the people we entrust with the care of our children powerless, and then we want to complain about it. Try again. It starts at home. Submitted by blevinssl on March 21, 2006 - 3:35 PM.
I agree with everyone's comments above. If the parents don't teach the children respect and how to obey when they are told to do something where are we going to be. I have a six year old and some of the children I see her age amaze me with the behaviors that parents let them get away with. Submitted by dreamcatcher on March 21, 2006 - 3:39 PM.
What happen to the good "old days" when children remained in a children place and the adults where "adults". The adults were in charge. This is why we have unruly children. The "Law" is given the wrong individuals. A child is meant to be seen and not heard. The bus driver was trying to get an bad situation under control. Now if he did nothing, he still would be wrong. CATCH 22. What is going to happent to those 9 year-olds, nine years from now? I suggest that the parents start driving their kids to and from school, so we can see how they would handle the situation. If you do not want anybody to correct your child. Submitted by thick51 on March 21, 2006 - 4:25 PM.
Being a law enforcement officer, I can see why the charge was made, it was said that the bus driver used his hands several times to restrain the child when he refused to behave . On the other hand, I think the case should be dismissed. I do not think the bus driver attempted to do the child any harm; he just tried to keep the incident from getting worst. I do not know what the school policy is for the bus drivers and monitors when it comes to incidents like this;but as long as they follow the guidelines pertaining to unruly children, they would not get into trouble. Submitted by drin29832 on March 21, 2006 - 8:01 PM.
And because of people who think that everyone should be charged with a crime and sued every time they try to do what is right I have a position at the schools where I work. If I see two kids fighting, I turn and go the other way. If an administrator is around I will tell them, but I will not risk my self in anyway to help a bunch of disrespectful kids. Submitted by sheilakeels on March 24, 2006 - 6:33 AM.
I am a bus driver and this is all wrong, I had a four yrs old on my RT hit me in the face (yes a four yr old) I wrote her up and the school did nothing gave her a warning that was all. We have a hard job to do these days and it's not getting any better out there. We have as many as 60 to 70 kids on the bus at one time. It's not fair what they are doing to this man. Submitted by TRHENDERSON216 on March 21, 2006 - 4:49 PM.
I AGREE WITH EVERYONE. MOST PARENTS ARE SO QUICK TO JUMP TO THE DEFENSE OF THEIR CHILD(REN) AND THEY ARE SO EAGER TO POINT THE FINGER AT EVERYONE ELSE. I'M PRETTY DARN SURE THAT THE BUS DRIVER HAS A FAMILY TO TAKE CARE OF AND BECAUSE OF AN UNRULEY CHILD WHO'S PARENT(S) HANGS ON HIS EVERY WORD HAS CAUSED MISERY AND STRIFE IN HIS HOME/FINANCES. PARENTS: WEIGH OUT A SITUATION BEFORE CAUSING UNNESSESARY STRESS IN ANOTHERS LIFE BECAUSE YOU CAN'T HANDLE YOUR OWN CHILD AND SOMEONE ELSE IS TRYING TO HANDLE WHAT YOU SHOULD BE TAKING CARE OF AT HOME. I'LL PRAY FOR THE BUS DRIVER AND HIS FAMILY. Submitted by lynxRHot on March 21, 2006 - 5:45 PM.
I hope the parents of these kids will reconsider the charges against the bus driver. What has happened to discipline? When I was in school, it was a common practice for kids to get spankings from the teacher and/or the principal. As well as I can remember, the kids who got them were deserving of their fair share!!! Leaders were expected to discipline the students in the absence of parents. And guess what...we didn't have kids bringing weapons to school.....and we didn't have children who totally defied authority. Misbehavior in those days consisted of chewing gum in class, saying a four-letter word, bullying. Threatening to physically harm another student was unheard of. It's obvious that the lack of discipline at home and the lack of The bus driver has my support! Submitted by habaz on April 29, 2006 - 12:29 PM.
As a parent of one of the children. I do agree with what you said about bringing discipline (spanking) back into the school. What the news did not report is, my child had been threaten on more than one occasion by the student that was pushed down into the seat. My child was standing up for another student that was being picked on by the child that was restrained. My child asked repeated times to leave them alone. The other student wouldn't stop. This was reported by the witness' on the bus and the bus driver. I do feel that the bus driver was in the right to take action. If it was my child that wouldn't sit down, I expect the bus driver to do what I could to keep order on the bus. Since I am not there to sit with my child and make sure he does what he is suppose to. Also, my argument is, I thought students are suppose to be removed from the bus after there were so many complaints. This other student has had several complaints and he was still on the bus. My child felt threaten and didn't know what else to say. He said he was going to use his BB Gun. The other student ( the one assaulted) said he was going to use a REAL gun. And before it boiled down to this, as a parent I asked the Bus Line if I could be a monitor. They said no. The principle at our school even asked if I could be one. If I could have been there to watch over and protect all the children on this bus. I would be willing to do so. I have taught my children to respect their peers, authority, and elders. Which they do so. And they still do. That is documented by staff, teachers and family and friends. I also believe that for a society to label a child as a terrorist for trying to save face from a bully. Is wrong. Where is the NO BULLYING POLICY here? Does it only stop at the doors of schools? Does it not apply as well on the bus? The bus drivers have our precious cargo in their hands. All the bus drivers are equip. with are cell phones on the bus. What if you are out of range? What are they suppose to do then. They also didn't bother to mention about how the bus has had 5 drivers since Dec. They quit ask for different routes. There are several children on this bus that are out of control. And nothing has been done. So the children, that feel unsafe should be labeled as terrorist for trying to stand up for themselves. My child doesn't even know what a terrorist really is. He had to ask me. I tried my best to explain to him. And he said, " Am I know one." There are so many things that I don't agree with on this case. And I am stressing as much as I can, I am not pressing charges after the bus driver. This is the other family. I will stand in front of the court and say this as well. I grew up with getting spankings. And I think I grew up fine. And I do discipline my children at home. I am the first to judge. I don't put anything past my children. When they come home and tell me so and so hit me on the bus. I ask them, what did you do to get hurt? Or he would say so and so got into trouble on the bus. And I would ask what they did? And its 9 times out of 10 justified why they got into trouble. That would go for my child as well. There are so many things here that the public doesn't know. And my child begged to not ride the bus anymore after this. I said no. I would make arrangements to take to and from school when I have a car available. The bus driver did what he could. And with the training that thought was best. Thank you for your time for listening. And Thank you for believing in bus drivers decision. And I do discipline at home. I don't believe in " TIME OUT". I believe in grounding, taking away all these Playstions, and gameboys. And my children do get spanked. It is to make them think even clearer of what they had done. And to know, that you WILL NOT ever do that again. And is rare if my kids ever repeat what they did again. A line that I strongly believe in. " It takes the village to raise the village idiot." It takes a community to show children whats right and whats wrong. And you respect everyone. Thank you for listening to my rant. And believe, that children are exactly how their parents are. He stood up for another student who was smaller, and stood up for himself. But he is guilty, guilty of not choosing the right words to say to this other student. The other student had to go even more, threating, with choosing his words. Submitted by bcknva on March 21, 2006 - 5:46 PM.
The bus driver "stiff armed" the child? Sounds like the parents should "stiff butt" their children. This is absolutely ridiculous. Those 9 year olds should be banished from riding the bus. The parents should now have to figure out a way to get their unruly children to school. Submitted by wandaebrooks on March 21, 2006 - 5:54 PM.
When my husband and I were stationed in Germany and kids acted up on the bus, the base commander had a novel idea for dealing with it. The parent(s) of the child that misbehaved had to ride the bus in the morning and afternoon for a week. They had to use their leave time to do it. Initiate something like this. If a parent uses all of his vacation time riding the school bus because they haven't taught their kids how to behave in public, both are going to learn a valuable lesson real quick. Submitted by drin29832 on March 21, 2006 - 8:04 PM.
Great idea. I think it should be a state law, your kid is a problem on the school but, you have to come in and deal with it. Same thing for the classroom. If we did this for once parents would see the real things that go on in the schools Submitted by jackieavoss on March 23, 2006 - 2:07 PM.
I think having the parents ride the bus as a monitor for a week is the BEST way to handle this. They need to see what really happens on a bus. I have 4 children and they always knew that the trouble they would get in with the driver was nothing compared to the trouble they would get in at home once I found out! Submitted by blaqbird07 on March 21, 2006 - 5:54 PM.
Ok. I bet you any amount of money that if that bus driver had not responded and let those kids fight and one of those kids would have got hurt then the parents would want to press charges for that too.I was a School Public Safety Officer, these kids are out of control and the parents make it worse. What has this world come to.I would have stiff armed that little brat too. Submitted by debdudjoe on March 21, 2006 - 6:08 PM.
How ridiculous! What was the bus driver supposed to do, let the situation esculate out of control to the point where the unruly children became a danger to everyone else on the bus? Give me a break! I can't believe that this case has gotten this far ... give the man a break for trying to control someone else's ill-mannered children! Submitted by sallyfern on March 21, 2006 - 6:32 PM.
Maybe the day of school provided transportation is coming to an end- it's expensive - it's hazardous for drivers and children alike - a bus stopped in my neighborhood just a few weeks ago and all the teens piled out - as a precautionary measure - because someone had struck a match or lit a lighter - and I would never want to find myself between two youngun's hell bent for slaughter of one another - someone's going to wind up with hurt feelings at the very least. Submitted by debbolynt on March 24, 2006 - 10:52 PM.
What makes Columbia County School System better than Richmond County, the cost of the houses and land? Well, there are unruly kids everywhere and it doesn't have anything to do with economic status or the side of town you live on. Submitted by BOMBQUISHADAVIS on March 21, 2006 - 7:07 PM.
The Law should make the parents ride the bus for a month with the children...no opting out....I guarantee after a month..those parents that didn't teach their children better would do so in a hurry...The bus driver put himself in danger--he should have called the police. Submitted by sanderc6 on March 26, 2006 - 6:10 PM.
I also agree with the other replies that the parents with these unruly children that they can't seem to do anything with or just look the other way until their child is disciplined by another parent, teacher, bus driver or whoever. I sure wish they had my parents, because if that was me or one of my siblings, my dad would listen to what happen and if we did anything but come home and let him or my mother know what happen first you better believe it would be show down at the "James" coral. Parents need to teach their children that grown people deal with grown people not with children. Submitted by sanderc6 on March 26, 2006 - 6:11 PM.
I also agree with the other replies that the parents with these unruly children that they can't seem to do anything with or just look the other way until their child is disciplined by another parent, teacher, bus driver or whoever. I sure wish they had my parents, because if that was me or one of my siblings, my dad would listen to what happen and if we did anything but come home and let him or my mother know what happen first you better believe it would be show down at the "James" coral. Parents need to teach their children that grown people deal with grown people not with children. Submitted by mlk428 on March 21, 2006 - 8:29 PM.
This is the exact reason I left the RCBE. Adults have no rights and the kids are all out of control. The parents are the reason kids turn out the way they do. Submitted by jiheha on March 21, 2006 - 9:24 PM.
YOU SHOULD ONLY LOOK BACK TOO LAST WEEK WHEN ALL THE NEWS MEDIA WERE OUT IN FRONT OF THE CORRECTION OFFICERS HOUSE BECAUSE AN INMATE DIDN'T WANT TO DO WHAT HE WAS DIRECTED TO DO, THE OFFICER LOST HIS JOB AND HIS FAMILY BENEFITS, HAD TO RETAIN A LAWYER. I HOPE THE COLUMBIA COUNTY,THE BUS DEPARTMENT AND THE COUNTY JAIL GET SUED FOR A BUNDLE..... Submitted by erinmarie on March 21, 2006 - 10:48 PM.
You should know what you are talking about first before commenting. The bus driver cussed the student, stiff armed the student, then left without reporting to anyone in authority like the school principal or transportation dept what had taken place. A school bus driver is trained in all three of these areas and more and Mr. Wallace ignored his training. You don't verbally fight with a student. You don't initiate touching a student except in life threatening situations or if the student initiates the touch (i.e. a hug or handing them something). He brought this on himself. Yes dealing with students on a bus can be difficult I know because I have driven a school bus for 6 years and have handled issues like gun threats, students smoking marijuana, student fights, drinking alcohol and the list could go on, but I have never needed to cuss at or stiff arm a student and I have always reported problems. The bus driver was way out of line and out of control. Submitted by AshleyKuharik on March 22, 2006 - 2:39 PM.
Do you know for a fact that the bus driver did that? How do you know that the child was just saying that b/c he didn't want to get in trouble? Some kids do do that sort of thing. Butback to what everyone is saying the child did not have the proper punishment at home or he would not have done what he did. The kids do have all the rights which is not how it should be. Parents should take more control over their children . Submitted by jan13163 on March 23, 2006 - 8:22 PM.
You are very right we are trained to handle these kind of problems in a different way! I can see how a new driver in that kind of situation could get caught up in the moment but there was the phone right there beside him! See you in the morning! Submitted by tappat on March 22, 2006 - 7:34 AM.
I don't think a parent should be critized for the behavior of their child if they have done everything possible in trying to teach and instill what's right and wrong. Children are smarter than we give them credit for. They knows how and when to make an adult react to their situation, It's called controlled. I don't think the bus driver was out to get this kids, he was just trying to resolve a situation before it got worse. In doing so, he went about it the wrong way. It's against the law to touch a student, so he should have called the police to come and get things under controlled. When the officer arrives and the child resists him, then he can take him down to the station and call his parent. Either his parent will thank the officer or plan to sue based upon the lies the child will tell. I think, the detention is a joke and suspension is a vacation. Send them to bootcamp for a week! Submitted by cricketflea on March 22, 2006 - 8:34 AM.
Well this just shows me what the bleeding-heart liberals have done to our country. Whatever happened to the old adage "It takes the entire village to raise a child"?? When I was a child in the 1960's...and riding a school bus, my driver, "Mr. Bo", carried a razor strop. Never in all the years on his bus do I remember him doing more that making the threat of using it, but that threat sure worked wonders. All us children also knew there was an invisible line that you just did NOT cross, for if you did, not only would that adult totally embarrass you in public (whether it be your daily bus driver, teacher, or stranger on the street). Then, by the time you got home, your parents would already know what you had done or said that you knew better than to and then you had to face them. I know there are many, many readers out there who remember these times. Submitted by TRHENDERSON216 on March 22, 2006 - 9:58 AM.
This comment is for erinmarie: You must be the parent of one of those unruley BRATS! The media never spoke of the bus driver cursing the children, but if he did, so what? I bet your children are out of control because you tried to make every excuse in the book for the rights of the child, but what it really boils down to is that, the child was disrespectful and rude and YOU are obviously not doing YOUR part at home as a parent. And because you know a little more than everyone else does about the details of the case, further assures me that you are directly involved. TAKE YOUR CHILD OUT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL AND HOME SCHOOL HIM!!! Save the taxpayers some money! Submitted by lucky99mp on March 22, 2006 - 11:25 AM.
I agree with all the parents need to teach their children how to act. But I think these blogs need to be forard to Columbia Co. Transportion. Department of Transportation Submitted by AshleyKuharik on March 22, 2006 - 2:47 PM.
I grew up in Coluimbia county and know for a fact that parents these days have a Not my child attitued toward everything their child does. My husband work for the Juvenille prison in Savannah and had that same problem. He told me of a woman whose daughter killed her self while there. That mother cried up until the judger awarded her 7.1million dollars them she smiled and said THANKYOU. What a loving mother. That bus driver did the right thing in my opinon. Submitted by austnrds on March 22, 2006 - 1:51 PM.
This entire mess was discussed in detail Tuesday on my radio show. The kid involved is a little punk...BUT...the bus driver COMPLETELY mishandled the problem...and failed to follow procedure. I have no problem with "manhandling" a trouble making brat...but the bus driver violated MAJOR rules putting the kids on his bus at risk and NOT reporting the trouble making punk to the principal. Austin Rhodes Submitted by advisor101 on March 22, 2006 - 2:09 PM.
Thanks Austin, you beat me to it. The incident was mishandled in more ways than one. Touching the student(s) may be ok in certain circumstances, but use only that force which is reasonable and necessary! Make a call to the police, call the transportation dept, notify the principal, call SOMEBODY!!! |
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