Get Schooled

By jim d

March 24, 2006 09:03 AM | Link to this

My child rode the bus his very first week in school 11 years ago. Came home with a whole new vocabulary after just one week. Hasn’t ridden a bus to school since then.

By high school teacher

March 24, 2006 09:22 AM | Link to this

Expecting one adult to monitor 20+ kids in a classroom is an apropriate expectation.

Expecting one adult to monitor 40+ kids on a bus, AND negotiatie on the road, is NOT an appropriate expectation. I have a hard enough driving a van with two kids in the back seat (who are strapped in). I don’t see how bus drivers do it, and they only make peanuts!

By tammy

March 24, 2006 09:36 AM | Link to this

I’m terribly in awe of bus drivers and their ability to maintain what order they can. They do not get paid enough and there really needs to be a monitor on some buses as well as a camera.

The truth is, kids who are normally marginally well behaved turn into animals for some reason when they are on a bus. I think that students and their parents seem to forget that riding a bus is a privilege and not a right.

The solution? Do not allow the ones who choose to misbehave to ride the bus. Period. Let their parents take them to school.

By Amazed (Independent Woman)

March 24, 2006 09:40 AM | Link to this

I think cameras are necessary or an adult monitor if the system can afford one. My daughter’s school use children (as monitors) whom the bus driver think is reliable, but most of them are not. My question is how did this child get a weapon on the bus or did he use a pencil? Maybe school buses should have metal detectors.

That is the one place, when I was in school, where fights occurred almost weekly. Back then, kids could only be kicked off the bus and would be driven to school by a parent.

My daughter will be riding more often next year, because of the time Middle school begins in Gwinnett. At this time, she only rides during early release. I am concerned about her safety and the behavior she will pick up from children with no home training. However, I plan to counter those behavior changes very swiftly.

By Leia

March 24, 2006 09:51 AM | Link to this

Tammy, I’m with you! If you would make the parents responsible for their children’s transportation, I’m 100% sure there would be a change in their behavior! Misbehave on the bus - provide your own transportation!

By V for Vendetta

March 24, 2006 09:56 AM | Link to this

Tammy, you are absolutely correct. Why are we so quick to give kids who are animals chance after chance? The result of that stupidity is obvious; kids getting stabbed in the head.

Riding the bus is NOT a right and should not be treated like one. If a student screws up more than once or twice, then it should be on the parent to get them to school. We have the same problem with discipline in the school building (indifference). The only solution to a kid screwing up is more chances. Hmmmm, it’s not working in the building, it’s not working on the bus, maybe (gasp!) it DOESN’T work!!!! Imagine that, a school actually having to put its foot down about something.

By tammy

March 24, 2006 10:05 AM | Link to this

I’m terribly in awe of bus drivers and their ability to maintain what order they can. They do not get paid enough and there really needs to be a monitor on some buses as well as a camera.

The truth is, kids who are normally marginally well behaved turn into animals for some reason when they are on a bus. I think that students and their parents seem to forget that riding a bus is a privilege and not a right.

The solution? Do not allow the ones who choose to misbehave to ride the bus. Period. Let their parents take them to school.

By tammy

March 24, 2006 10:11 AM | Link to this

It would be nice if schools could put their foot down about something. I know my assistant principal would if he were allowed.

The problem with that is that if school administrators, teachers, superintendents attempt to put their foot down about something, some parent shows up (1) to pitch a complete b*** about how their poor little child is being picked on, how he has a problem, and how Hitler-like that administrator/teacher/superintendent is and (2) if they don’t apologize for picking on little Johnny, then that parent will call the media, all their friends, their lawyer, get some tar and feathers and get them fired.

Sad, isn’t it? I’m seriously afraid for how this generation will turn out thanks to some psycho parents in THIS generation.

By Susie

March 24, 2006 10:19 AM | Link to this

When I stayed home, and all three of my kids were in the same elementary school, I drove them to school every day. It meant they could leave the house a little bit later every day, and I didn’t mind it.

Now I have a job, and they are in three different schools. (elementary, middle, high) I let them ride the bus to school every morning. Our district is small enough that they all ride the same bus. First it lets off the elementary kids, my middle schooler changes buses at the elem. school, and my high schooler stays on the same bus to go to the high school. Next month he gets his license, but the parking passes at school are sold out, so he’ll have to wait till next year to drive to school. The little one stays at the after school program at school, and the boys go home on the bus every day.

When they were little, they begged to ride the bus, but I drove them to school. And when they first started riding it, I’m not sure I’d have let my little one ride it were it not for her big brothers being there with her. Call me overprotecive, but she’s my baby.

By Susie

March 24, 2006 10:25 AM | Link to this

I agree with all who think that bus drivers are underpaid. What a job they have! And the kids on our bus are relatively well behaved. I think the only time any kid got into trouble this year on my kids bus was for throwing paper or something out the window.

I also want to point out that bus drivers seem to be “forgotten,” also…every year at the holidays and the end of the year, everyone brings their teachers and other people at school a little gift, but rarely the bus driver. I always include our bus driver, and it tickles her pink. I usually give movie tickets as teacher gifts, so I get a couple more for the bus driver. (I figure they have enough “World’s Greatest Teacher” magnets and ornaments and they love a free movie!)

If your kids ride a bus, don’t forget your bus driver, he or she gets your kids safely where they are going every day!

By Susie

March 24, 2006 10:31 AM | Link to this

Wait a minute…am I reading this correctly? There are places that won’t kick a kid off the bus? My neighbor’s son was booted off the bus, and his mom had to drive him to school for the rest of the school year. Of course, to hear his mother tell it, this precious child NEVER did any wrong, he just stayed in non-stop trouble with teachers, bus drivers, and everyone else, because they were all just picking on him! All 12 years of school, every single adult in school picked on this poor darling. <—-(sarcasm)

By V for Vendetta

March 24, 2006 10:57 AM | Link to this

Susie, you ARE reading that correctly. They NEVER kick kids off of the bus (or out of school for that matter) here. Heaven forbid the actually have to stand up to some uneducated, ignorant parent complaining about how “it isn’t fair”. I have two kids in my classes who have been written up over 16 times EACH and been suspended 8 times so far this year. They’re still here, and my class is still suffering as a result. I only throw that out because some of their offenses happened on the way to school riding the bus.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 11:19 AM | Link to this

I think that buses should have a physical human being present. Cameras don’t mean a thing. You still have people robbing banks and stores with cameras, so the bus is no different.
However it’s funny think that keeping your kids away from the bad kids on the bus will enable you to raise another Bill Gates or Winfrey. You can’t be around your kids 24 hrs a day, so they are going to see and PICK up bad behavior, doesn’t mean it can’t be corrected, but life is life. Sheltered kids are always the ones who are perfect in front of the parents, but rotten when they are not in their sight. “I do this and that for my child…..and I KNOW they are not being bad”….you don’t know what they are doing when you are not around.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 11:25 AM | Link to this

V for Ven

You are on this site EVERY DAY, all day long. What kind of class do you teach?

By Mike

March 24, 2006 11:25 AM | Link to this

Call me old school but when I was in school and riding the big yellow bus we had two strikes and you were out and you walked to school. I had my two strikes and although I didn’t walk to school in the snow uphill both ways, I still had about a 90 minute walk, each way. Was it tough on me, heck yeah it was but I think that was the point. The punishment was for 30 days at a time and it took one time for me to see the light.

By Susie

March 24, 2006 11:26 AM | Link to this

Wow, V, that’s unreal. I don’t think that kind of thing goes on in my kids schools, or if it does, I haven’t heard about it from anyone. The schools are probably smaller than other metro atlanta schools, and I know the average class size in the elementary school was about 17 kids. Not sure about the middle and high, though. I need to drill my oldest to find out if there are any situations like that that he knows of. he ususally tells me stuff that goes on, though. Like the day the kid got in trouble for throwing something out the bus window? My kids thought that was a big deal. :O

By Nel

March 24, 2006 11:31 AM | Link to this

I love to garden and during the season when my flowers were in bloom, every week my first child would insist on taking a rose for the female driver, something small but much appreciated coming from a child. This continued with the younger child. Mothers/Fathers Day and Christmas they always got something. Since these people were bringing our precious cargo home safely each day, would not leave the stop unless they knew that the child was NOT going to school, that is the least we could do. This is something of a thankless job and I’ve heard drivers beign cursed by parents who consistently came late to teh stop or wanted the bus at their door. These people need the support of all of us to stop the madness that is happening with out of control kids on the buses. But as in the schools, nobody wants to be responsible.

Back on topic, did this kid have the knife in school with him?

By Susie

March 24, 2006 11:33 AM | Link to this

I know that my kids schools aren’t perfect by far, but sometimes reading this blog makes me feel positively spoiled. When I look back on the schools I myself went to, I feel like my kids are spoiled!

We moved 11 years ago when my oldest was about to start kindergarten, just to get into this county, but I think we did even better, because in my oh-so-humble opinion, we got the best schools within the county, too. I have had only ONE problem with ONE teacher in all the years I’ve had kids in school, and that was rectified swiftly…other than that, we’ve had nothing but teachers my kids like and who won’t hesitate to call me if they sense one of them is having a problem grasping something. (usually my middle one, with math!) But even my daughter’s first grade teacher called me to tell me that she was having trouble with counting coins, so we could give her extra practice at home. NEVER did one of MY teachers ever once call my parents to tell them if I had a problem with anything, and I barely passed math from 7th grade through 12th.

I’m realizing what it means to have that, and how much I appreciate my kids schools. If I lived in some of these other districts, from what I read here, I’d be working another job to put my kids in private schools!

By Linda

March 24, 2006 11:36 AM | Link to this

I agree with Tammy.

I totally agree with any kid misbehaving should be kicked off the school bus for a certain period of time. If they assault another student, it should be the remainder of the school year. After mom or dad drives them to school every day, MAYBE THEN, they(mom or dad) will learn to get control over their little darlings.

It is too bad cameras have to be installed….just to prove which kids are responsible. But for some parents, seeing is believing.

School bus drivers have to put up with too much crap from kids. They do not make the money they should for putting up with what they do.

By Nel

March 24, 2006 11:42 AM | Link to this

Linda, even with the cameras, many parents still don’t believe what their eyes see. It’s still someone else’s fault. Society has gone so far from personal responsibility that these kids don’t know the meaning of the term.

By a high school mom

March 24, 2006 11:42 AM | Link to this

Amen to Tammy! Kick the kids off who misbehave, and inconvenience the parents. I truly believe that that is the only way these parents are going to wake up…even if they don’t see the wrong their kids have done. Driving in school traffic each morning is a headache. If the parents are inconvenienced, the kids will at least think twice about doing it again, or will be forever driven to school by an angry parent. If you incovnenience the parent enough, hopefully, the behavior will change. Kids are being raised without consciences because they are not held accountable for their actions. I truly believe by keeping the “good” kids from riding the bus, the bad kids will continue to misbehave. Get those kids off.

My son rides the bus every morning, but I do pick him up in the evening after practice. He has taken the bus since kindergarten. During the middle school years, he had a lot of extracurricular morning activities where I had to drive him in early. That was probably for the best, anyway. Those middle school years on the bus are a nightmare. The high school bus ride is pretty uneventful, but we’re still seeing problems at the bus stop where the middle school bus is concerned, like fires.

The outrageous behavior on the bus is beyond comprehension. I’m not talking about only foul mouths, just complete and total offensive behavior including vandalism. One kid in our n’hood was kicked off the bus for the final week of 8th grade. He wrote a nasty word in indelible ink on a brand new bus seat. Since he was given out of school suspension for the week, he was ineligible to partake in any of the moving up ceremonies. Before you start to feel too sorry for this kid, he had a history of getting kicked off the bus for things like fighting, throwing objects, pushing, yelling, etc. If only once he had been held accountable for his behavior, perhaps he may have not missed that week of school. Furthermore, he was kicked off again in the beginning of ninth grade for bullying and racial slurs. He was given out of school suspension again. Yet, he is still participating in school athletics.

His mother always defends him, he’s always in the wrong place at the wrong time…always someone else’s fault…he was guilty only by association. Hey, then think about making some new friends.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 11:42 AM | Link to this

Susie, what county is this?

By Susie

March 24, 2006 11:46 AM | Link to this

Linda, I also agree with you and Tammy…a kid who is simply misbehaving is a danger to all the kids on the bus, if he/she’s distracting the driver. (again, I don’t know how they do it!)

The ones who exhibit violent behavior should be banned for the year, if not forEVER.

By SET

March 24, 2006 11:47 AM | Link to this

I have never ridden a school bus.

The Catholic grade schools in CA have no bus service - getting Sonny and Cher to school is the parent’s job.

My Public High School had no bus service. On occasion I walked a mile or tow home from school. My Parents always took me to High school in the morning until I got a learner’s permit which allows use of a motorcycle, then a driver’s license. At 16 I was expected to drive myself and siblings to school.

Where is it written that any public school has the slightest obligation to go get their students and return them at the end of the school day? It is in Federal Law? or is the obligation somewhere in state law?

Why should the school incur responsibilities and costs with hauling these kids around at all? Isn’t that the parent’s problem??

By meme

March 24, 2006 11:55 AM | Link to this

SET, Finally, something that you and I agree on.

By Trixie

March 24, 2006 11:55 AM | Link to this

I have seen the whole range of busing options: K-12 on one bus making stops at all 3 schools (this worked amazingly well actually), assigned seats on the bus, cameras, etc. I taught middle school and we were pretty tight in our county on behavior issues. Since many of the kids were coming from far away (busing for racial balance), if they were kicked off the bus their parents were livid. Truancy was high because Mom and Dad didn’t always bring the kids to school or know that they had missed the bus/been kicked off the bus. It was a Catch-22. Kick ‘em off and they might not show up at all. Keep ‘em on and make everyone else’s life a living nightmare but they were in class. For us it was funny how a kid who is fine in the bigger fishpond and turn into a dictator and terrorist on the little ole school bus. Suddenly he or she is a big fish in a small pond and this is their one chance to rule the roost. I remember being terrified on the bus in high school and middle school and my Dad actually had to speak to the bus driver who had refused to deal with the problem. It was embarassing as a teenager to have my dad defend me but now I love him for it. I wonder how many other teens fail to speak up about their discomfort on the bus simply because it could cause more embarassment?? I also remember feeling so safe on the bus that I would fall asleep in the heat of the day as the bus lumbered along. Deep sleep. It changed every year. When I was old enough to ride with my friends, I did so. After all that was way cooler than the bus :)

By Susie

March 24, 2006 11:57 AM | Link to this

Tiff, we are in Coweta.

High School Mom, I am reading this in horror. FIRES?? Ok, I’m thinkin’ I’ve been seriously sheltered. But then we don’t have bus stops, our buses stop at our houses. But still…FIRES??

I remember once on an elementary field trip, some kids wrote on the back of a bus seat with a sharpie marker…they had to scrub and scrub, and I think their parents ended up having to pay to have the seat reupholstered. That was The Big Vandalism Story for the longest time. I don’t know what would happen to someone who set fires.

I do know that some seniors got into big trouble at our high school a year or two ago for vandalizing (or attempting to? can’t remember) the football field as their Senior Prank. I think they ended up having to pay for that too. It wasn’t cheap. Senior Pranks are one thing, but they need to ask themselves, “is this going to do actual property damage?”

By Zap

March 24, 2006 12:00 PM | Link to this

I agree with you Tiff…. It’s the same boring point of views from the same boring people everyday…it’s like a boring cult.

By SET

March 24, 2006 12:00 PM | Link to this

Something I forgot to add. In the early 1960’s my grade school was downhill over a mile away (don’t know exact distance, it seemed longer than that now - very steep hills, the Berkeley CA Hills). Although my parents and their friends with kids in the same school took us all to class, By the time we were 10 year olds we were expected to walk home or take the public bus (our choice). The bus required transferring and took at least as long as the walk because it was an out of the way route (an hour).

Nowadays no responsible parent would allow young kids alone on the public buses here in CA. The urban buses are filled with drug addicts, mental patients and parolees.

I used to really enjoy the bus ride. I would stop at shopping areas on the way home and get candy and comics when I had the money. Maybe get Ice cream in the warm days. Then get back on the bus with the free transfer and get home before I got in trouble for being late. Fare was maybe 15 cents.

All these days are gone here.

Brave New World.

By Susie

March 24, 2006 12:01 PM | Link to this

SET, you have to wonder if it is some sort of requirement…I’m honestly not sure. But if for any reason, the buses can’t travel, (snow, ice, whatever)schools are closed. So they can’t just say “too bad, we are having school today, you’ll just have to get yourself here!” That’s the only reason I think they are required, because if they can’t run, neither can school! Once all of our schools were closed,(the whole county!!) because we’d had a tornado the night before, and one highway was blocked by downed trees and two or three buses couldn’t get through to pick up the kids that lived past them.

By Amazed (Independent Woman)

March 24, 2006 12:03 PM | Link to this

I wish it were as easy to kick teachers, administrators, etc…. out of schools - because the only answer for some of you is to kick children out of school. I will stand for more discipline and harsher punishments (inside school), but I will never want to see a child not attending school.

What is so bad, is that you don’t or wouldn’t support an alternative school - that had more rigorous curriculum for kids with behavior problems.

As long as transportation is included as a part of the education “BUDGET”, then it is a “Right” for each and every child who attends school in that system to ride the bus. I would be more supportive, if you decided to put all the behavior problems on the same bus.

Short Story: How would you like to hire an attorney, who hates to go to court? He complains about every aspect of the law and doesn’t understand why he should have to come into court to face a judge and jury. His biggest complaint about court is that the judge and the jury never agree with his side of a case. He believes the judge and the jury should be thrown out and only attorneys should be allowed to hold court.

One day, he goes to court and his wish has come true. The entire judicial system is in the hands of attorneys. There are no judge, jury or court reporters. The attorneys go to court, get together and make the decisions. The clients are not happy at all; they feel the decisions are not impartial. Most are in prison or have lost the case, due to side deals.

End of story:

The Clients in my story are our children and the Attorneys are our Teachers.
The point I’m trying to make with my story is that if you hate your job, you can’t decide to send your clients up the river. If you have a case – make it and learn to live with the verdict of the Judge or Jury.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 12:06 PM | Link to this

I knew there were some good public schools out there! You just have to find them.

By a high school mom

March 24, 2006 12:08 PM | Link to this

Things have changed since we went to school. If you were not eligible to get a bus, you walked. Okay, maybe we got rides during inclement weather like rain and snow, but every other day we walked…even in freezing temps! Driving to school was a senior privilege, underclassmen were not allowed to bring cars due to limited parking. Some did get exceptions for after school jobs.

We always lived just inside the mile limit or whatever it was. The kids on the next block got the bus, we did not. Not only did we walk to high school, we had to walk over railroad tracks, across a major six lane highway, then cut across a shopping center. During the last three years of high school, we had to walk thru the construction of the elevation of the railroad tracks. This would never fly in today’s world. By the time we got to school, we were calm enough to behave in class!

By T-Man

March 24, 2006 12:15 PM | Link to this

Help me with this one. Aren’t the kids on the bus going to the same school. The bus my kid rides on drops all the kids off at the same school. So no matter if they ride the bus they will encounter the same bad kids in school. If a child is in trouble on the bus, I will bet that child gets in trouble at school. Bless the bus drivers who have to deal with these bad kids. Make the rules stick and kick the bad off the bus and out of school. When do we say enough is enough.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 12:19 PM | Link to this

Zapp Well, I don’t think I said anything about being “boring”….if I don’t like the conversation for the day, I just don’t participate.

By Sara

March 24, 2006 12:21 PM | Link to this

Zap, we are waiting for you to provide us with a different, more stimulating point of view!

By Robert

March 24, 2006 12:21 PM | Link to this

This is another example of parents that are not teaching their children the basic morals and values at home.

Yes, children that behave this way need dire consequences. And, so do the parents. Make the parents drive their child to school for the remainder of the year. If the parents fail to transport the child, and the child doesn’t go to school, arrest them for truancy.

Idiots spit out kids left and right and then refuse to fulfil the role of parents. Other types of idiots have kids and refuse to believe that their precious child would ever do anything wrong. Bus drivers, teachers, and others have to pay the price for these idiots. Let these idiotic parents feel some pain!!!!

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 12:24 PM | Link to this

T-Man My point exactly. If they are bad on the bus, the same kids, are bad at school. People are afraid to discipline children with all of the laws. Things worked better back in the day, because you got your tail paddled at school, plus when you got home, if the teacher said it, then you did it, so you had no where to run….so you were forced to do the right thing the majority of the time.

By tammy

March 24, 2006 12:27 PM | Link to this

I wish it were as easy to kick teachers, administrators, etc…. out of schools - because the only answer for some of you is to kick children out of school. I will stand for more discipline and harsher punishments (inside school), but I will never want to see a child not attending school.

Gotta love those liberals!

What some don’t seem to realize is that alternate forms of discipline does not work for all kids. Sit them down and try to reason with them? Yawn…(adults just don’t understand.) Assign them afterschool detention for throwing things in class? They laugh. Call their parents and request a conference because they aren’t doing their assignments and basically destroy the learning environment for others? Big deal. In-school suspension? Just a place to catch up on their sleep. Sweeping the cafeteria after starting a food fight? Whatever…if it gets you out of class, then it’s cool. Out of school suspension? Party time!

Pretty much any other form of discipline is out of a school’s hands. School officials—bus drivers, teachers, administrators, and others—can only work with the tools they are given. If a child is sent to school who isn’t made to behave or be respectful at home, then why are people so darned surprised when they don’t behave at school?

Wanna know what used to work? Paddling. Spanking. The old hickory switch. Too bad that our society is too sophisticated for that any more….

By Susie

March 24, 2006 12:33 PM | Link to this

I think we might be missing something here…I don’t think it would be a HUGE problem where I live, but in some districts, I wonder if they won’t boot kids off the bus because a lot of the parents don’t have their own transportation?

Everyone is saying “let the parents drive them!” but many of them can’t. And then, you’ve got the ones who just simply WON’T drive them to school. So then, they miss school. Which wouldn’t be such a problem, IF the schools weren’t under fire about attendance.

So, some districts/schools may be looking at it like this: boot the kid off the bus=absences from school=kiss your AYP goodbye.

So therefore, in the sole interest of not having absences, violent, disruptive kids won’t be tossed off the bus.

By Nel

March 24, 2006 12:35 PM | Link to this

Tiff, the problem with the good schools is that as soon as people hear about them and start moving into that county/district for that magic bullet, things begin to change. Look at the current drama in Cobb, what’s happening in parts of Dekalb, moreso Gwinnett where people flocked because they heard the schools were so good.
Unfortunately, as more people discover an area, the quality of education begins to change.

By Robert

March 24, 2006 12:35 PM | Link to this

Tammy -

Stop using the label “liberal” for anything that you disagree with, please. I am a liberal and am proud of it. George Washington was a liberal as were many of our founding fathers for having the sense to not be “conservative” and conform to the old ways (thank goodness!) and making the wealthy royalty in England even more wealthy with our tax dollars in the US.

I am a liberal and I do think that appropriate consequences are needed for poor student behavior.

By Susie

March 24, 2006 12:47 PM | Link to this

Nel, I’m hoping I can get my kids out of school before that happens where we live! If we can make it 8 more years (when my 4th grader will graduate,) I’ll be happy. But I would like for the kids that come after mine to have the same good experience we’ve had.

By a high school mom

March 24, 2006 12:47 PM | Link to this

Susie…

Believe it or not, we live in a well sought after school district…and a wealthy one. Regardless of where you live, you still wind up with a few idiot parents with awful kids. Most of the times, it’s the parents fault…lack of parenting.

The setting of the fire, or possession of a lighter, etc. got the kid three days of in school suspension. The school was swift in reacting to the complaint as was the transportation dept. No problems since.

By T-Man

March 24, 2006 12:54 PM | Link to this

Educate me, How do kid’s with multipule rule infractions stay in school? We allow it. Maybe not directly. The candidates that run for office are not being pushed to make this real. What will it take a law-suit against the school system for not providing a safe place for children to learn. I think it is time we fight back and sue the schools to keep the bad kids out.

By Amazed (Independent Woman)

March 24, 2006 12:55 PM | Link to this

Tammy,

You have to love those so called “Godly” conservatives, when it comes to their little darlings. They always want to change the rules for their children. With mindset such as - Send my drug addict child to rehab, instead of jail. My daughter “only” sold, METH - so why should she go to jail. It’s not the same as Crack. She’s never been in trouble before, except for when she “Took” a very inexpensive blouse from a cheap store. Or something like this “My daughter should “NOT” and I mean “NOT” have to walk to the end of our neighborhood to catch the bus.” Or something like “Please don’t put my little “Sue”, next to “Paul”, because she doesn’t like him.

Their children are so GODLY, they usually spend all day saying mean things about the little shy girl who wears braces or glasses. Or copying homework from the “NERD”.

Conservatives, usually have a “Those People” mentality. Only those people, think and act a certain way. Or Those people are causing all of our problems.

Tammy, I’m liberal with many things and conservative on others. However, I do know the difference in being a hypocrite. Get a mirror, before you label me.

I care about all children.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 12:55 PM | Link to this

But you can’t stop growth in a geographic area! You may think that the good schools are becoming overcrowed because “the word has gotten out” but the fact of the matter is, GEORGIA’s population is growing more rapidy than forecasted. Ok, so you want to keep the good schools under hush, hush. So what’s the alternative? You know you are going to have bad parents, bad kids, that’s just life. I have just never grapsed the concept of …”not my kid, not my problem”.

By Susie

March 24, 2006 01:05 PM | Link to this

High School Mom, I know there are rotten apples everywhere, I mentioned one earlier…my neighbor the “innocent victim.” This kid was a holy terror from the time I knew him until I stopped having anything to do with them because of him.

I don’t know what he’s doing now. But this kid was an absolute perfect angel when he was around his parents, and the spawn of satan the rest of the time. He broke stuff at my house, (swung on my porch swing so hard he banged it into the porch rail over and over till he broke it to pieces, picked up my “Dogloo” and threw it down and split it, just two examples), he liked to “play too rough,” and someone else’s kid ALWAYS got hurt, he was in trouble every.single.day of his life in school, on the bus, and anywhere else he went out of his parents sight.

But of course, according to his mommy, he never did the things they said he did, they all just blamed him for everything. (rolling eyes) I used to tell my husband, “one of these days, she’s going to be telling it to a judge.” the kid was completely out of control. Well, I say he was out of control, but he sure could control himself when his parents were around. I think his deal was that he knew he could do anything he wanted to, because he had his parent so “snowed,” that they’d never believe anything anyone told them that he’d done. It was truly unbelieveable.

By Susie

March 24, 2006 01:08 PM | Link to this

T-Man, it’s all about attendance, I’d be willing to be money. Bad attendance equals possibly having a school that “fails” AYP. They’d rather have these hellions in school keeping everyone else from learning than let them rack up absences.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 01:22 PM | Link to this

Susie…. I’m at work and laughing to myself…”hellions’….I haven’t heard that in a long time…..but that’s exactly what they are! I too think it’s all about money. Why else would you be willing to keep disruptive kids in school? Suspending a child for 3 to 7 days will not cure bad behavior…especially if it’s repetive.

By meme

March 24, 2006 01:29 PM | Link to this

Any student that is suspended for 10 or more days has to go through a tribunal to prove that they should be allowed back in the regular school setting. Of course, they have to go through all sorts of “step” before they get to those 10 days. I am sure that it differs from system to system.

By Susie

March 24, 2006 01:33 PM | Link to this

Tiff, I actually think getting suspended is what some of the hellions are shooting for…a little vacation time.

I kinda like the in school suspension they have at our middle school…they are totally isolated from everyone ALL DAY, and they have to do their assignments as though they were in class. If they don’t do it all, they are back in there the next day till they do do it all. They even have lunch in isolation. All in all, it’s not a fun day. It kills two birds (maybe three) with one stone…they are NOT disrupting class, they are STILL in school doing their assignments, and they HATE it! It’s nowhere near as fun as an out of school suspension would be!

I think most kids think of an out of school suspension as a few days to kick back on the sofa and watch tv, play video games, surf the net, or run around the neighborhood while their parents are at work all day.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 01:41 PM | Link to this

Meme, It is different by district. I have a family in my neighborhood (the family from Hell!)and their son’s (4) are always getting suspended…..I can only accout for twice this year I know of that 2 of her boys got suspended for 10 days each,twice this school year, and are still going to school…( I know because I have a friend that teach at the alternative school). People may not want to believe it, but it’s the SYSTEM that has failed us all, and we are doing exactly like they want us too…”not my kid, not my problem”.

By Jeff

March 24, 2006 01:44 PM | Link to this

I’ve been around those “Godly” parents too long!!! They - and their brand of legalistic Christianity - are why I left my former church. I’m as conservative - if not mroe so - than they, but without the legalistic hypocrisy. I even anticipate hearing from a few of them next week. I gave a midterm today to my College-Prep level class. The midterm was truly college-prep level, rather than the absurdly low expectations they’ve been held to so far. Still grading the first class, but the highest grade I’ve seen so far is roughly 55%. ON THE MIDTERM!!!! They’ve seen these questions FOUR TIMES NOW. Why am I seeing these kind of grades??????

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 01:51 PM | Link to this

Jeff — No foundation. The children have had none. You can’t expect for them to erase 7 years of bad education because you want to challenge them….it’s not going to work…as you saw….but Kudos for trying.

By Tiff

March 24, 2006 01:56 PM | Link to this

Susie, it is a vacation for them when they are not in school. That’s why I agree with letting them stay, but away from the others. Like you said earlier, all parents don’t have alternative means of transportation….if any at all, so the system need to try to do what’s best for the children…because these same kids are going to be out in society one day. WHy would they want to be productive citizens when no one cared when they were younger.

By Patti Ghezzi

March 24, 2006 02:10 PM | Link to this

Hey all, the victim of this crime was a boy, not a girl. Sorry for the error. I can’t seem to get into the software to make the change on the post.

Patti

By SET

March 27, 2006 10:01 AM | Link to this

Maybe it would help if we eliminated compulsory schooling and free schooling - and only had children who wanted to be there on the buses and in the schools. We need to disengage the money from the ADA and base it on potential enrollees.

By Becca

March 27, 2006 10:44 AM | Link to this

I would love it if all my kids were here because they wanted to be here and get an education.

By Nikole

March 27, 2006 10:51 AM | Link to this

Ending compulsory and free education would solve this problem, and create a whole list of more serious problems to replace this one.

By SET

March 27, 2006 04:09 PM | Link to this

Nikole,

I’m considering that. But the status quo results in a total loss of all the borderline students who could be saved by a real school system. The genetic underclass are going to prison or early death anyway and I’m not concerned about them on this blog. I want to save the students that could be saved.

Besides, when it’s sink or swim time people take swimming lessons. If the schools were to impose a more draconian policy about excluding screw-ups I really believe that a majority would change and toe the line.

I believe the reason we have the problems with deportment now is that the students can behave as they please and still be let in the door the next day.

I believe student behavior would change just enough so they could stay on campus with their cohorts.

Funny this is that I don’t support maniacal “Zero Tolerance” at all. I’d like a “What would Madea Do” policy.

Just like when I was in school with the Irish and Italian Nuns in Calif. They set up schools in working class neighborhoods and took in children of Doctors and Butchers and Carpenters - dressed them all alike and treated them all alike and expected all of them to toe the mark. They kicked somebody out every year (in the entire school 1-8).

I miss that. I want it for all our students.

To me it seems like such an obvious solution.

By Laf

March 28, 2006 03:04 PM | Link to this

get rid of them. Find solutions to the problems on buses instead of running from the problems. Bigger buses, smaller buses, more adults on buses, cameras, better behavior management systems, etc

By jim d

March 28, 2006 03:42 PM | Link to this

The real problem is that we’re putting kids on the buses at the age of 5 and leaving them to their own whims.

We could correct a few issues i education by keeping them home with their parents until they reach the ripe old age of say 7.

But then that opens up a whole new can of worms. Patti, have we done a mandatory school age blog recently?

By luvs2teach

March 28, 2006 08:39 PM | Link to this

My daughter was driven to school for kindergarten, and then rode the bus from 1st through 3rd grade. My son entered kindergarten when she was in 4th grade, and so we drove them both to school that year. After that they always rode the bus in the morning, and rode the bus in the afternoon unless they were in the after school program.

I never felt too concerned until my son was in middle school, and talked often about threats of fights on the bus. This was shortly after the Josh Belluardo fiasco (the child who inadverdantly killed his classmate by “jumping” him after they got off the bus), so we had reasons to be concerned. However, due to middle school hours, it was impractical to drive him. We just talked about sitting towards the bus driver, conflict resolution, and how to tell an adult if necessary - he’s in high school now, waiting to get his license and drive himself!

I think monitors are probably a good step for some populations (middle school in particular), but so is more adult supervision EVERYWHERE. Parents - meet your kids if you can and talk to them about what goes on on the bus. Most teachers have bus duty in the morning or in the afternoon at school. Principals need to be empowered to take bus infractions VERY seriously - more than one life is at stake if that driver can’t focus.

And EVERYONE - even though it’s a pain - needs to follow the rules and STOP when the bus does!

By MrLiberty

March 29, 2006 01:04 PM | Link to this

Wow,

I can’t understand at all why anyone would ever send their child to a government-run school. Virtually every kid I know thinks of government school as “prison” and there is obviously no reason they should think otherwise.

Why are you not homeschooling? Aren’t your kids worth it? How can you read stories like this along with every other story of government school failure and continue to send your children.

Please don’t give me the line about socialization - this is the kind of socialization they are getting.

Face it, your kids just don’t mean that much to you. Maybe you need to think about why you had them. Maybe it was just to check off another box on the life checklist, but they are individuals that deserve far better than the government indoctrination centers are giving them.

You women who stay at home have absolutely no excuse, but the rest of you certainly could look at the finances and find a way. You found a way to buy the house, the car, the new TV, etc. Why not something as vital as a good, safe, quality education for your children?

By Susie

March 29, 2006 01:30 PM | Link to this

“You women?” I know stay-at-home dads, and not one of them home schools their kids. Do you have anything to say to them?

We women don’t NEED an excuse, and we sure as heck don’t need approval from the likes of YOU.

Oh, and by the way…it’s not just “government” schools. I don’t know any kid in ANY school who doesn’t think of school as “prison.” I felt more imprisoned at the private school I went to when I was younger than I ever did in a public school.

And another thing…I babysat 4 kids who were home schooled, and to hear them whine, you’d think they were in prison too. Kids don’t like school, wherever it is, because it interferes with what they WANT to do. They BEGGED to go to a real school.

About 10 years ago, my “cousin-in-law” was forced to take the GED because no college would even look at him because he didn’t graduate from an accredited high school. Yep, he was home schooled.

But that’s ok, you just shelter your precious babies from the big old mean, evil, corrupt real world for 18 years…maybe you can even home-college them, and then you won’t have to worry about them going all “girls gone wild” on you, once they finally get out from under your thumb. (which is just what happened to the kids I babysat.)

By Amy

March 29, 2006 01:48 PM | Link to this

I think the story in Metro about the ‘Molestation suspect cleared to go back to school’ is just as scary as the incident on the bus. How is it that someone who has been charged with luring someone to his home then sodomizing them is allowed back into his middle school? It doesn’t matter how young he is, I can’t fathom letting him have contact with other kids. If he is found innocent after an investigation, then he can go back to school but until that time, the protection of the other kids at his school should be paramount. Obviously, the boy has some real issues and he needs some serious help but I wouldn’t want him around my kids until he’s had that help.

By Susie

March 29, 2006 03:41 PM | Link to this

Thanks for pointing out that story, Amy…that would be a good blog topic all by itself.

By luvs2teach

March 29, 2006 04:44 PM | Link to this

Mr. Liberty - I appreciate your point of view (really, I do), and some of what you say has merit. But I looked at homeschooling, private schools (like Waldorf and Montessori), and public schools before I made my decision to send my children to public school.

Yes, of course they are “worth it” but I also know my limitations. I could not be objective enough to teach my own child - and to be honest, most people out there probably couldn’t either.

That doesn’t mean I leave all schooling to school, however. We have a lot of informal education going on in our house - politics as we watch the news, science and art when we visit museums, history when we read. We eat dinner together; we watch TV together; most importantly, we spend time together - time that I would rather not spend in a formal educational setting.

It’s not perfect, but neither is the “real world” and my kids are getting the skills they’ll need to make it in the real world. Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do as a parent - prepare my children to live a successful life on their own without help from me or the government? That’s what I’m striving for, anyway.

Have a great day everyone!

By Tar Heel Bred bleeds Tar Heel Blue

April 10, 2006 05:20 PM | Link to this

Some parents just don’t think that their kids, huh? I wonder why…? Bus monitors should be used more often and most school systems who have the available funds are always trying to recruit more bus monitors and bus drivers, but let’s get real…bus monitor and bus driver can be somewhat very hard and difficult positions to fill and keep filled. How many people do you know that want to spend their time being responsible for trying to keep one eye on the road so that the bus doesn’t crash and one eye on an overcrowded bus full of sometimes wild and unruly kids and who wants to get up at 5:00 AM to work a split shift (5:30AM-9AM mornings and 1PM-4:30PM afternoons) to do it?

It’s hard enough to find bus drivers and teachers because these days most children want to grow up and be high-paid lawyers or are looking for other $100,000-a-year jobs. Not many children aspire to grow up and be a stressed bus driver who has to manage wild kids while trying to drive during a spilt-shift with no summer income. I know because I briefly drove a bus and decided after a few days of riding with a veteran driver who would call the police for help only to get a response that there was no police help available because they were dealing worse incidents like bloody fights, drugs, weapons and violent threats on other bus drivers by students and parents alike to come and deal with a bus full of students who wouldn’t stay in their seats while chasing other students around the bus.