Karen explains how she tried to ignore the bullying
I’m sure you’ve seen the video by now of bus monitor Karen Klein being relentlessly bullied and taunted as she tried to do her job. I’ll be honest, it was so mean I couldn’t watch all of it. The kids said some awful, horrible things to this poor lady, including telling her that her kids should commit suicide, as she sat there crying. She didn’t get mad, she didn’t yell at the brats, and she just took it. Part of the reason that this video resonated with so many people was because Klein’s son did commit suicide ten years ago, which made it even harder to watch with that background information. It was just staggering to listen to these kids say such terrible things. People have taken up a collection for Karen, started by a Canadian guy who was touched by her story. It’s currently at $644,669, well exceeding the $5,000 goal to send Karen on a nice vacation.
Radar has an interview with Karen’s daughter about what she intends to do with the money. To me, this interview reveals what a hard life Klein has had. One of her grandchildren has autism and she has another grandchild with Downs syndrome. She has a lot of bills to catch up on and this money will go a long way toward helping her retire. Karen says she’s not sure if she’s going to retire or not, but in an interview on CNN she sounded like she was considering it. Here’s more:
“She is definitely surprised and overwhelmed and certainly thankful for everyone’s support, and it is nice knowing she is not alone,” Klein’s daughter, Amanda Romig, tells RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview on Friday.
“We never thought it was going to be that much, she didn’t think that much – then wow!” says Romig, who explained that she didn’t think her widowed mom was going to return to her job after the verbal torture by the seventh graders from the Athena Middle School.
“I don’t think she is going to go back, I think she is pretty much done.”As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the four boys in the Greece Central School District near Rochester, New York videoed their torment and then posted the shocking clip — which had more than 1.2 million YouTube hits in less than two days — showing a sobbing Klein being bombarded with insults about her weight, graphic sexual comments, threats, called poor, and then physically assaulted with a book.
The shocking video sparked the launch of a fundraising website on IndieGogo.com, which aimed to raise $5000 so she could go on a much-deserved vacation, but it was has already raked in 100 times that amount.
Along with overcoming her emotional distress, what is forefront on Karen’s mind is what she is going to do with the half-a-million dollars.
“Right now, she has got to call her accountant and go from there, she’s talking about paying her bills and getting caught up and then whatever she feels she wants to do, she is going to do,” Romig tells Radar.
“She has a lot of ideas including making a donation here and there. My nephew has autism and my niece has Down syndrome, and with those types of disabilities the kids are going to get picked on too, so she wants to help both causes,” she explained.
As for the vacation the fundraising was originally launched for, Klein has already been bombarded with free trips!
“Anderson Cooper gave her 10 tickets to Disneyland, and Disney World is letting her take a cruise of her choice,” says Amanda. “She’s going to Boston to be the honorary duck monitor next week.
“There are a few things in the works, the TODAY show wants her back – but she’s not going to do a reality show yet!” she laughs.
[From Radar]
Karen told Matt Lauer on the Today Show that the bullying “Made me feel terrible, but I will get over it. I’ve gotten over everything else.” In a local interview, she said that she feels sorry for the boys, who are seventh graders, and revealed that she’s not going to press criminal charges against them. Some of her tormentors have received death threats.
A few of the boys have since written to apologize to Karen, and she did receive a personal apology and a hug from one of their fathers. She told TMZ that she didn’t really accept the apologies, and that “they can do better than they did.” As for how she thinks the kids should be punished, she now has some definite ideas. She thinks they should be banned from riding the bus, and that they should not be allowed to participate in sports.
You know what I’m wondering, who leaked that video*? That person is an unsung hero in this story. I’m picturing a quiet student who knew that it wouldn’t have made a difference to speak out at the time, and realized it would have made him or her a target. This story has really put a focus on how scary and mean bullying can be, and how it affects so many people. It’s hard to see kids acting like this and to consider that this type of behavior really goes on in schools.
*Update: thanks to those of you who pointed out that the video was posted on Facebook by one of the kids who bullied Klein. Unbelievable.
What they did was wrong, definitely, but it is also wrong not to be a big person and forgive. And it’s wrong to send these kid’s parent’s death threats. Where is the level of wrong we’re comfortable with? I’m sure this will be an unpopular or ignored comment, but I just hate this news story. Multiple wrongs do not make a right.
I dont think its wrong at all that she not forgive them, I know I wouldnt. Their apologies are anything but sincere, they only did it b/c of the media attention, otherwise their parents would have brushed it off as “boys being boys”, which is bs.
@ Macey:
Exactly!
Totally agree Macey, I think they are only sorry they were caught.
I agree with you 100%. The only thing worse than middle school bullies is middle school parents who enable them and/or look the other way. I have no doubt their “apologies” are PR damage control at best and are not remotely sincere.
I agree with Macey 100%!!! THose apologies were shallow and without the media attention the parents would have done nothing
The boys didn’t apologize in person. To me, that says it all. If you can insult someone in person, then the kid should be taught to apologize face-to-face in person. Suck it up, buttercup. The parents should make them do that. The parents should be ashamed of the kind of children they raised. I would be if I were them and my child behaved this way. Her forgiveness is irrelevant. Those parents have failed those children. They gave their kids a video camera to film this fiasco but no sense of morals or decency towards others.
I agree Macey – those kids were incredibly cruel and and nasty and need to know they’re not getting off the hook that easily. Why should Karen forgive them if she believes their apologies are not sincere? Being sorry you got caught is not the same as being sorry for what you did.
+ 5 bazillion. As for any written apologies she received, these were probably composed by the parents anyway. I doubt that any of the boys involved actually approached her to personally apologize in any sort of sincere manner.
I know if I had said such terrible things to any one of my bus drivers or teachers, my parents would have taken me out to the woodshed, then make me apologize to them in public. Not just brush it off as me being a kid.
Then again, I grew up in the 90s…
Why should she have to forgive? Being treated with such cruelty can stay with a person for a very long time.
If the bullies had not been caught, they would have never apologized, and probably would continue treating people this way. Cruelty is not always forgivable.
^ This.
They were only sorry they got caught.
She’s been far too nice in my view, asking for such lenient punishments. I hope they suffer and that other bullies see them suffer.
She won’t be able to get past it until she does truly forgive them.
Signed,
Someone Who Knows
@bluhare–Exactly. She should forgive not for their sake but for her own. Hopefully she will be able to do that eventually.
The part I find unbelievable is that the bully himself posted the video on YouTube. That’s how much he DIDN’T think he had done anything wrong. He thought his friends would just laugh with him. That sure backfired on him!
Even more hard to believe is that so far not one of the parents have brought their child to her to make him apologize in person. The one father who has come forward so far, why didn’t he drag that kid with him?
I don’t think she will be able to forgive until the kids themselves show remorse. If they have any.
You forgive people for yourself, when you’re good and ready. Never means you have to forget it though.
I feel like she’ll say she forgives them when and if the actual kids come to her face-to-face and vocalize, convincingly, their remorse. I think she knows this will happen eventually and she’s waiting for the REAL apology.
it is also wrong not to be a big person and forgive.
What? Nobody owes another person forgiveness. Not everything can be fixed by saying ‘sorry’. If you do something horrible and the other person never forgives you, that’s your own cross to bear, they don’t owe you shit.
…..let’s say you do forgive, shouldn’t it take a little time first. I know those boys are at the worst age, but she was damned generous not to press charges. I might not have been so nice!
Also, if they treated her like that, I am certain there are many meek kids who rode that bus that they had been torturing for a long time. I hate school buses b/c this stuff happens on virtually all of them.
If those little turds want forgiveness they can head to church. She can move past it an still not say well it’s all good. They don’t care and they’re only sorry they got caught and behind the scenes I’m SURE the parents are taking up for them. I know this because I work with kids and 99% of the time the parents of bullies are whiney enablers.
Annie de Vries – I so agree with you. I’m so sick of this ridiculous belief in our culture, that all you have to do is say, “I’m sorry,” and things will magically be right again. Sorry, not so.
If you ef up, you’re responsible. Having forgiveness, firstly, should not be easy, and, secondly, should not and cannot be a guarantee. No one owes anyone forgiveness. It’s not like borrowed money.
Yes! I agree. It’s called ” dealing with the consequences”.
She doesn’t have to forgive them right away. Those kids went for the jugular and their age doesn’t give them a pass to say horrendous things, especially considering bullying is a major topic in middle schools and junior highs across the country. It’s another life lesson to learn that your actions have consequences and sometimes no amount of apologies can make it right. It’s enough to learn that even forgiveness isn’t immediate or a given. The worst part of this is that if it hadn’t been caught on video and uploaded to youtube, I doubt much fuss would have been made over this. Kids can be cruel and malicious and they are crueler when they feel they can get away with it.
I agree that this stuff happens every single day. I give so much credit to schools, which have tried to tackle the bullying problem from every possible angle. However nothing will change until parents change. And sadly I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. So many kids, in middle school especially, spend their days in survival mode.
These boys are sorry they got caught. If they still haven’t gotten caught, they would’ve continued bullying this poor woman. To me, that’s not a sincere apologies. The reason they apologized was because the backlash they received from the public. Again, if they didn’t get caught, they would’ve continued.
The only way to apologize is face to face. Everything else is insincere. A victim needs to be able to gauge your sincerity and have an opportunity to get whatever is on their chest off their chest. And the perpetrator, if sincerely sorry, needs an opportunity to express that and make amends.
Boys this age typically make amends by doing any household chores (with supervision maybe) for a good while.
That father had the right idea. He should have marched his son over to her to do what he did. If she was ok with it, that is.
Yes. I believe the apology would be more sincere if it’s done face to face. Even at a young age, a child should learn to be responsible for their action. My 2 toddler children can even learn to say sorry face to face with each other when they were fighting for a toy! So why should the boys get away with just a letter of apology???
I think their parents should make them wear signs at school saying what they did. I think other kids at school should be allowed to write comments on those signs about what they did. I think they should each have to do community service with a Downs or an autistic individual (under supervision of course, so they don’t pull any funny stuff). They should have to write a weekly reflection paper on that experience until the woman they tormented sees evidence in their writing that they “get it”.
Why on earth should she forgive them?
It’s not like they ‘just’ called her fat.
They attacked her on the fact that her son committed suicide.
I don’t give a *badword* about what they suffer now. Youngsters who are capable of such cruelty can not have but parents who have at best spoiled them rotten and at worst actively encouraged their rotten behavior.
If my son did anything like that to another person and I found out about it, he would not be able to sit down for a week! Kids are like that now because there are no repercussions.
It is not wrong to not accept their apologies. Those kids were knowingly and purposely cruel to her. They hurled vicious insults with the intent to hurt her. Sometimes we make mistakes and saying “I’m sorry” is the best we can do. But purposely hurling insults at someone, assaulting them physically, with the intent to hurt them, that can’t be fixed with an “I’m sorry.” Plus, it’s easy to say I’m sorry. Especially when you don’t mean it.
No one is entitled to forgiveness. She is the one who heard or read the apologies. Perhaps they were not good enough. Perhaps those boys could do better. SHE was the one who was wronged so SHE gets to determine if the apology is good enough for forgiveness. In what universe does an apology automatically merit forgiveness? Certainly not in mine.
I read somewhere else that she didn’t accept the apologies because they were released to the media, not given to her in person so she doesn’t believe they are sincere. She is still waiting for their apologies. I hadn’t heard about the father giving her a hug and apologizing, but I wonder why he didn’t bring his kid so he could apologize himself. She’s not the one sending death threats to the kids or their parents so can’t blame her for that, that was the kid who posted on facebook’s fault and his stupidity.
They were unspeakably vicious to her, and had the intent of posting the video to further ridicule her. And now they want forgivness to fix everything? Of course, we teach kids that saying sorry fixes everything from taking a toy to bullying. The expectations shouldn’t be on Karen; they should be on those nasty boys, who are now delighting in their infamy and trying to make excuses for it.
I’m sorry but are you one of these kids’parents? It is unbelievable to think that all is fine because you said sorry after TORTURING someone and made them cry! You f… up then there is a price to pay, a lesson to learn. This is how you’re supposed to raise your kids. Sometimes a SORRY and a hug is enough but this is not one of these times…
Forgive? I would’ve had them charged with whatever possible, including assault and battery. Since when is it incumbent on a victim to forgive her attackers? Her not accepting their “sorry we got caught” apology is not a “wrong.”
I wonder who leaked it as well? It could be anything from one of the tormentors (who wanted attention) or like you said. Another thing, I’ve recently seen a lot of the elderly getting picked on by teenagers. What is this generations problem?! Oh wait…
The bullies posted the video. They thought it was hilarious and wanted attention for it. They didn’t expect backlash and are now batting their eyes and saying sorry because, in school and probably at home, that fixes everything.
They posted it themselves??? Wow, talk about sweet, poetic justice 🙂
I’m sure you’ve seen the video by now of bus monitor Karen Klein being relentlessly bullied and taunted as she tried to do her job. I’ll be honest, it was so mean I couldn’t watch all of it.
Me neither. I was able to see a couple of minutes but eventually gave up.
It was just plain nasty what was done to her.
And no, she doesn’t have to accept any of these half-assed apologies. These kids need to be punished somehow.
I know “mob mentality” has something to do with their behaviour, but their parents are partially responsible for that. I’m baffled by parents today who ignore discipline and the wonders it can do to one’s character.
Example: one of the many things my parents taught me was to respect the elderly — I’ve learned and practiced that from a VERY young age.
I can’t watch it at all, the description of what happened already made me cry.
I hope she retires and uses the money to make her family and herself happy!
And I agree with Macey, the apologies were only made because of the media attention, I wouldn’t accept them either!
I would feel like a total failure if I was one of these kids’ parent.
…and quite rightly so! Those kids HAVE been failed by their parents! Manners and kindness do not cost anything to learn but can cost a life if not learnt (think bully!). How much is a life worth really?
+1. Really makes you wonder what the parents are like.
I’m so uncomfortable with this type of thinking. Not every rude/obnoxious/horrible kid can be blamed on bad parenting, especially in a situation like this where a bit of a group mentality emboldened them. Maybe they do all have horrific parents, but that’s an assumption.
My brother was a terrible, terrible human at that age (and beyond) and it had nothing to do with parenting. There were consequences, lessons, being taught right and wrong from a young age…some kids are just bad. It really hits a nerve with me to assume the parents are just as bad when I know that’s not always the case.
Nicole-The Nature Vs Nurture argument is something that is still hotly debated by scientists and geneologists.
I’m very sorry to hear about your brother and it’s clear that you don’t blame your parents for his transgressions. The point is that there are several children involved in the crime we’re talking about. It is doubtful that ALL of them just happen to be bad seeds. True that they are feeding off of each other but can’t you agree that on some level the parents are failing? Regardless of whether these children are truly bad kids (I wouldn’t make that assumption based on one video alone) at the very minimum, they were not taught to respect their elders or those who hold a position of authority (regardless of how limited their authoritative powers may be). We can argue forever about the nature vs. nurture debate but I think we can all agree that in this case, it is unlikely that ALL of these kids just happened come out of the womb as inconsiderate bullies.
Hi originalkitten,
You’re right, I don’t blame my parents. At all. They did everything right and have suffered greatly due to their ‘bad seed’. I don’t need a scientist or empirical study to show me the nature vs nurture arguments. I lived it. That kid was born bad. Seriously. The stories would shock you.
I agree that not all these boys are likely to be inherently bad kids, but I also know how teenagers think and all it takes is one ringleader to get kids who may know better to join in.
I have actually kind of been surprised at the response to this, not because it’s not worth of attention, but because it’s not that uncommon at all. Tons of kids act like this, it’s just never broadcast to the world. Hopefully it will make all kids think twice, even if its for fear of shame and not due to being a good person.
I’m not trying to fight, it just bothers me to read so many “all the parents fault” blanket reasoning.
Nicole-I don’t need to hear the stories about your brother. I can tell from the conviction with which you speak (or write in this case) that he has caused immeasurable pain for your family. I’m so sorry for your hurt. I was lucky to be blessed with amazing parents AND a great big bother that is also my best friend. I can’t imagine what you must have gone through and you’re right-I’m certainly NOT in any position to argue with you about nature vs nuture (nor do I want to).
I majored in art education and student taught in college (K-5) at an inner-city elementary school. During that time I experienced 4th graders jacking cars and saw kindergarteners get expelled. I met some of the offenders’ parents-some seemed lovely and genuinely concerned and others seemed disinterested and distracted. Kids will and do bully but unless we draw attention to this type of terrible behavior, we will never be able to teach them how wrong it is. The solution isn’t to just accept with a shrug that “it’s what kids do”.
actually, I’ve read that some of the parents were mortified when they found out what their kids were doing and that one parent suggested the kid have to do work for her (mowing the lawn and stuff) as part of his punishment – I think that parent also said he made his kid write a letter of apology to be sent directly to her as well
I’m a little confused by why this harassment was going on as long as it was. She was the bus monitor not the bus driver, her job was to keep kids in line right? Why didn’t she report their behavior so they school would discipline them and let their parents know? More importantly, why didn’t the bus driver report the behavior either?
If your kid being vicious in middle school was the definition of failing as a parent, very few people would be able to call themselves successes. I say this as someone who experienced a lot of bullying from students and even adults in school. Kids at that age are impulsive and hungry for peer approval. I’m not justifying their behavior at all, but it is entirely possible that there are future doctors, guidance counselors, and wonderful moms on that bus who will grow and learn. It’s really disturbing that some of the criticism against these kids has been so dramatic and violent. Who sends death threats to a child?!
Agree that people who send death threats to kids are nasty. It’s never ok to tease others but you’re right-kids have done it from the beginning of time and will probably continue to tease. I feel like this incident incited so much anger, not so much because of the fact that the children used nasty words, but the CONTENT of those nasty words. It’s the fact that these kids brought up something so intimately painful (her dead son’s suicide) and wielded that as a weapon against a woman who has clearly suffered quite a lot. This is a level of insentivity that transcends simply calling another child fat (and that is wrong too-not trying to diminish it). On top of that, the fact that they BROADCASTED it on Facebook as if it was badge of honor???? Can’t you see how this goes BEYOND the average teasing? You just have to hope that this incident becomes a lesson for them…
Sans, yes, even politicians, according to the Mitt Romney bullying story.
Very interesting debate. I do think many parents aren’t doing enough to instill the strength of character that would ensure that a situation like this not occur.
I also think that some kids are “born bad,” as Nicole posted above. Reminds me of the book “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” which stuck with me long after reading.
I worry about my middle school aged kids making the right choices every day. As well as worry about them (especially my older one) being targeted by bullies. But I also know I can only do so much at this point as a parent, except to set up expectations regarding right and wrong, model good choices and to let them know that I love and support them.
I couldn’t watch the whole this either! And this is in my area It is so embarrassing.
She does not need to forgive them right away or ever as ar as I am concerned. They need some strict punishment. Maybe having to volunteer in a nursing home for the next year? Military school? The fact that these kids are so disgusting to an elderly person is reprehensible.
Agree!
Agreed. No need to forgive, but the kids DEFINITELY need to be punished. Just apologizing isn’t enough.
The one boy who was tormenting her was the one recording it, he released it b/c he thought it was funny and wanted all his classmates to see. Glad it backfired and I hope Karen enjoys her retirement.
I doubt much will happen to the boys that did this, the one boy’s dad works for the police dept, which is why they are giving the bullies protection (isnt that a kicker). They should consider themselves lucky that someone did set up that fund for her otherwise Id really hope she’d sue. they didnt just verbally assault her, they were also poking and prodding her as they were doing it.
Its a sad society when ppl justify these kids actions by saying they’ve seen much worse. Just goes to show the bar for parenting had childhood behavior is at an all time low
No. Wait a minute. She was NOT doing the job she was hired to do. She was NOT stopping bullying. She was sitting there doing nothing about it. Part of her job was, I’m sure, to STOP BULLYING BEHAVIOR. She does NOT deserve $500,000 for not doing her job. Yes the boys were horrible. Yes they need punished. Yes they need somebody competent to do that job, which is NOT her.
My question is, if those kids were doing the same thing to another kid, would she still sit there and do nothing? Give me a break. I’m a teacher. Kids can be awful. That’s why there are rules and consequences. There were no boundaries of acceptable behavior on that bus, which is part of the problem. She is part of the problem.
So many things are wrong with your post.
her job was NOT to stop bullying but report it when it happens. Bus monitors have NO authority over these kids what so ever and would face repercussions if they even attempt to get in the middle of something like that. she is also 68, what do you think a 68 yr old is going to do? she was also petrified and upset which would cause just about anyone to freeze. had she spoke up and said something, the bullies would have attacked her in another manner and chaos would have ensued. if not that then they would have reported her and she probably would have lost her job. she was truly in a lose/lose situation.
as far as the money, its not like 1 person came up with that amount to give to her, that is a collective amount from ppl donating anywhere from 1.00 to 10.00, just to show support. i think the fact that it is as high as it is shows their are some good, compassionate ppl in the world. they did to show their support not b/c someone felt a the situation warranted a certain dollar amount.
If she wasn’t capable of doing her job, why was she there in the first place?
And you can’t tell me that she did or
didn’t do anything before this video. I can tell you that if she had reported the kids when they did it, and the school did nothing about it, that would have been the first thing she said. Guaranteed. She didn’t. She did NOTHING.
@SOnia
you dont know what was done or not. this video was released right after it happened. Im sure she had to collect herself before doing anything, which would have been hard to do after being so traumatized. maybe she delayed out of fear of losing her job? its not as if there are plenty of jobs for 68 yr olds and she can just pick and choose where to work. you dont know the politics behind some of these school kids. so much shit they do gets brushed under the rug if their parents have money. you really cant judge unless you are in that situations. I know fear can be paralyzing.
You sound pretty bitter over the outcome of the situation instead of the cause of the situation (which is the boys bullying), makes me question how you got into teaching but then its ppl’s attitude like yours that make ppl like Karen afraid to do anything, again you’re blaming her instead of them which is why most victims do not report things right away.
What would you have her do? It’s not as if she could have the bus turn around and go back to the school – the other kids’ parents would have ripped the school and bus company a new one. It’s not as if she could have the bus pull over and kick the kids off. She couldn’t separate them on a bus because it wouldn’t necessarily stop the bullying. It’s not as if she had the principal right there in waiting. It’s one thing to stop bullying between kids and it’s another when you’re the one being bullied, even as an adult. Sometimes it can be damn near impossible. Where I’m from, bus monitors are not trained in how to deal with issues like this beyond reporting it AFTER it happens.
Maybe she was being bullied for having tried to do her job? Why would any of these kids start mocking her for no reason? I know that by just being described as a “bus monitor” makes her a potential target, but this video isn’t proof she wasn’t doing her job (before).
Maybe she did try but failed because of the bullying.
You are a teacher you say? Wow. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Agree.
Agree
sonia, people like you are what’s wrong in this world. blame the victim and not the brats. geez. not doing her job? what’s wrong with you!! what would you have her do. stop making excuses for this entitled generation. they were poking at her too, which people seem to forget. they touched her and intimidated her!! i would have done like her, nothing, while in a confined space with these lunatics. they need to really punish any bullies and humiliate them in front of the whole school. yeah, right, let’s blame the victim.
Yeah and let’s not forget: if she would have even pushed one of their poking hands away, they would be all over her and trying to blame it on her.
Vile system that should be reorganized. If kids can’t behave on the bus, then no bus for them. Let the parents grumble when they have to take the kids to school.
Especially in the US the kids and parents are way too entitled.
Blaming the victim? Wow, that’s really helpful…
I’ve seen that done several times by teachers and parents at my children’s school. Is that the go to solution then? Shifting the responsibility from the bully to the victim? That will sort out the bad behaviour then? Really????
Those children should not have behaved that way, no matter what the situation on that bus was and the fact that they did and thought it was ok and even boasted about it by posting it on youtube makes me feel really, really uneasy. There’s something chilling about that. At their age, they should know right from wrong.
Perhaps you need to review your career…
Are you one of the boys’ parents? Blaming the victim – nice. Pretty much you can’t do anything to students without fear of being sued by the parents. Parents do not support the school.
I agree with Sonia. Does this woman really deserve $600,000 because she couldn’t control the kids on the bus when it was her job to do so? Did they say horrible things? Sure. Be an adult and handle the situation. This political correct shiz is getting out of control. Kids are not all sunshine and rainbows. The behavior needed correcting. Sitting there crying just proved that she was unable to do her job effectively. Am I missing something here?
They went beyond saying horrible things. They were were touching her and poking at her.
Legally there was not much she could have done, aside from report it.
People keep saying she should have handled the situation better. How exactly? She did tell them to stop. Was she supposed to have the bus driver remove them from the bus? She doesn’t have the authority to do that.
lw – have you ever been bullied by a bunch of rabid little b@stards?? What could she have done? She is 68 years old for goodness sake!! You guys that justify what the kids did by saying she wasn’t doing her job are sickening. Do you always think the person being bullied is at fault….really???
@lw
Those donations are not about her “deserving whatever amount”, she did not sue them and was awarded that amount. that amount represents the number of people who are showing compassion and empathy thru a donation, some as little as 1.00. she did not ask for it to be judged or questioned about whether she deserves it or not. its a gesture from the public to show support and treat her to a nice vacation. I think its great that people are doing that and i hope it gets to a million.
sad thing is now she’s going to have people like you spewing hate b/c it amounted to so much or too much as you state, she really cant win for losing. I think the fact that it is getting so high shows there are a lot of compassionate people out there, which is something we all need to see after witnessing the behavior of the psycho-kids.
The money is people’s way of showing support against bullying and despicable behavior will not be tolerated. People were so disgusted and wanted to do something, send a message.
I would like to read your answer to AnneOriginal’s question. How exactly is a bus monitor supposed to handle this situation (be specific)? She did tell them to stop, was she supposed to get up and physically force them to sit in their seats, hold them down, and if they weren’t quiet, slap them across the face until they were? To any of those saying she didn’t do her job, what are the instructions to handle this situation that would have made these children magically turn into angels?
This is a serious, not sarcastic question: What exactly is a bus monitor’s job description? What are their responsibilities?
I’ve been wondering that – not being from the US I have no clue. What is her job description and what sort of authority does she have? What sort of action COULD she have taken without getting into trouble for overstepping her authority?
Let’s be clear here. She didn’t have a JOB, she was a volunteer. It would be silly to assume that someone who isn’t actually hired could be given any kind of authority that had teeth.
So she is an horrible bus monitor who deserves to be verbally abuse, right?
Whether its a paid job or a volunteer role NOBODY deserves to be treated with such indignity!
And for the record, the lady was quite right not to retaliate! Not only could it have made the problem much worse verbally but what would then have stopped physical violence? And! why should she reduce herself to their standards anyway!
Nobody deserves to be treated like that but, as the bus monitor, she should have been reporting the behavior to school officials so they could have punished the kids in school and let the parents know what little terrors their kids were being. In not reporting the behavior, it’s likely the behavior just kept escalating because the kids were never held accountable (if they were that bold with someone who was an authority figure can you imagine what horrors they may have imposed on other kids?)
this part of the thread reminds me of a link my friend gave me the other day.
http://rubberchickensociety.org/2012/06/22/you-got-400k-for-what-rcs-forced-to-call-bullshit-on-bus-monitor-debacle/
i don’t know if anyone here has read it.
it has:
– links to the Greece Central School CoC
– and job guidelines from the NYSED
– discussion along the lines of:
* victim blaming
* job blaming
* school district higher up responsibility
* questions about whether we’re doing a disservice to our younger generations by being too nice
and it touches a little bit on the things being discussed here on celebitchy also.
i’m following this story with a lot of interest, especially community reaction s and how a rounded approach can be found. because a lot of these things happen on our streets too, somewhat abetted by horizontal- and (not or) vertical-clashes as well.
the abhorrent behaviors of the children are focus here. but what can we do to a) discipline these kids, make them learn their lesson properly, b) avoid this in the future (teach the kids AND protect the adults as well)? and i do not believe that putting the blame on the bus monitor is acceptable, either. she is also entitled to a healthy working environment and a good support system. there’s something wrong with the ecosystem here, i think. but what can we do about it, though?
Thanks for the link helping to explain what a bus monitor’s duties are.
Thanks for that article, deb. I read it and pretty much agree.
Doesn’t mean I condone what those kids did, but she certainly didn’t handle it well. I also think this wasn’t the first time, and she’d put up with it before. If she had, she was doing no one a favor, not herself nor the kids who were doing it.
At a very minimum, the bus driver should have stopped the bus until the situation was resolved, and those kids should have been separated. Of course, these days, the poor little darlings probably aren’t allowed to be told where they need to sit, and I’m sure the bus driver has to drop them at their assigned stop no matter what. Or else someone’s whiny ass parent will sue.
I’m with you Bluhare. One has to wonder if their nasty behavior towards any students they may have targeted got increasingly worse as they kept harassing Klein without so much as being called into the principal’s office. Even though she didn’t act like it, she was in a position of authority so if she did nothing and they would have felt emboldened to behave as they wanted when targeting another student. If so, she owes any kids that were targets of these brats one hell of an apology
“My question is, if those kids were doing the same thing to another kid, would she still sit there and do nothing?”
Good question. I’m going to guess no, because she’d probably be afraid of parental retaliation. And w/o proof, it would be her word against theirs. As I said, there are often no consequences or a slap on the wrist. “Here, write this kid an apology.”
I’m going to assume you’ve never been bullied before, or you are a bully yourself. Apologies in advance if I’m mistaken.
When you’re being subjected to a verbal assault like that from several people (especially kids) at once it’s overwhelming and you sometimes can’t react according to the “rules” or what your job dictates. Fight, flight or freeze. Karen happened to freeze, and so would a lot of people.
After what these awful excuses for kids did to her, she deserves a great vacation, to pay off her bills and enjoy a great retirement.
You should reconsider your teaching career. It’s attitudes like yours that contribute to the crappy reputation teachers are getting.
First off my BFF is a bus driver and has been a monitor.
You are NOT allowed to correct those children. You are allowed to pull over and call the police or return to school. Period.
My BFF actually grabbed a kid (13) by the back of his jeans as he was trying to THROW himself off the bus into high moving traffic after he attacked and STABBED the monitor with a pen in the arm! And SHE is the one who was reprimanded. He was taken off the bus for two weeks then allowed back on. Next time she will have to just let him just run into traffic and kill himself so mommy and daddy wont be upset.
Secondly monitors are usually volunteer and you can in no way do anything to a child except tell them to stop and if they don’t you can fill out a form at the school. That’s it. Verbal confrontation (aside from sit down) is NOT ALLOWED!
You can’t even legally break up a fight on the bus! YOU can be charged if you do!
My sister was a teacher for 30 years. I doubt she would be blaming an elderly bus monitor for being a victim of these kids. If this is the attitude you take into the classroom, its time for you to leave and work in another environment.
I do not think that she needs to forgive these animals, at all!! I think they too deserve much harsher punishment than what they got. I know I am going to get criticized for this, but I personally feel that their behavior represents their parent’s lack of/poor parenting skills. Children raised the right way would not behave like these animals did!
No criticism here! I have found when children bully there is a root cause going back to the parents. Either the parents themselves are bullies or they are just totally disinterested in acknowledging their kids are capable of wrong doing.
At least the one parent had the good sense to meet with this lady face to face and offer some kind of apology compared to the others.
A written apology? How convenient, for them…
yeah, really. I lost count of the written apologies I got when I was in school. Know what they counted for? One guess.
It also represents the “herd mentality.” I would be absolutely MORTIFIED if one of my children (even now, when 2 are adults) treated ANYONE like that, let alone an elderly person.
I saw that video and I couldn’t watch the whole thing either, It was disgusting. When I was in high school we’d talk crap about teachers and stuff but we would never have said stuff that horrible to their face or even behind their back tbh and the fact it’s an old lady is even worse it just shows the complete lack of respect or even decency.
They must have some shitty parents and tbh I don’t blame her for not accepting their apologies it’s obvious they’re only doing it because of the backlash, none of them came up to her and apologised before it went viral and anybody that can gang up on and taunt an old lady like that probably has no conscience anyway…
Exactly. They seem like little psychopats to me.
How else can you go and hurt someone like this? Even taunting her with the suicide of her son?! They should lock them up to make sure they don’t go around hurting other people. It wouldn’t surprise me if one or two of them already have tortured mice in their drawers.
I’ve not actually seen the video, because the whole incident saddened, shocked, and disgusted me.
I’m sure those apologies were of the “I’m sorry…I got caught” variety. She’s under no obligation to immediately forgive the little shits, if ever.
Frankly, if I was her, I’d send them all fabulous pictures from my vacations and cruise and everything else. A little “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” scrapbook, if you will. Serves them right!
From what I’ve read, the video was shot by one of the tormentors themselves, and then posted onto YouTube. That’s how it got there in the first place.
The total lack of empathy to film that, as well as the stupidity and lack of forethought in actually posting the thing online for all to see, is chilling.
I personally believe there was a lot of forethought, unfortunately. I think these kids were trying to think up ways to get a video on youtube and this is what they came up with. And as a parent yes I do blame the parents. Had these children been brought up with manners and common decency this would not have happened. I know as a parent we try our best and sometimes the kid goes off the rails, however, I cannot and will not believe that this was a spur of the moment thing. It was totally premeditated.
The little creeps should be video taped and the apologies posted to you tube. I can only imagine how their parents are and even though they are getting death threats or whatever, I still dont feel sorry for them. Yes, they are kids, but their personalities are already basically formed at this age. Secretly they are probably thinking how cool they are for doing this. I say put them on a bus, let some one torment them, call them names. Each and every one of them needs counseling for whatever their issues are. As it seems they have many.
I agree. Even better? The school organizes an assembly and the kids are paraded out to apologize in front of all their peers. That’s what I would do, if I were their principal. If the parents don’t like it, tough shit.
If a child (or anyone really)is not caught and corrected, they will likely continue the pattern of behavior. A person has to be clearly told what they are doing is wrong and then they must be punished if they choose to commit the action. Having a good example of the correct way to act also goes much farther than just being told how to act.
However, it is also possible for a person to be caught doing something wrong and still feel true regret for their actions.
It is also possible that a person can feel regret for their actions even if they are not caught.
It is impossible for us to know the boys feelings after that day on the bus. We can speculate, but we do not know. Clearly, we know her feelings as she has stated them publicly. Yes, we can say that the actions caught on camera are clear, which they most definitely are, but these boys should not be written off and not given the chance to make things right now. Which they should be encouraged to do right away by their parents and the other figures of authority in their lives.
No, she does not have to give them forgiveness, of course not, she is free to feel however. But forgiveness is not something she is giving them, it is something she gives herself so she can perhaps move on a bit more easily.
No, the “boys will be boys” mentality is no excuse for their actions. Yes, they should have apologized personally before they were “caught” via the video. And afterwards they should have gone to her first, not publicly.
That said, if they are really receiving death theats over this, then there are a few more (likely adult) people that need some serious counseling as well.
None of this was written to in anyway defend the boys actions. There is no defense for bullying.
They just need some serious help right now even more than screaming and yelling at them (at least after the initial dressing down they should receive from their parents). I’ve found that a bully, who is caught and ripped apart for their actions without some much needed guidance afterwards will not only continue their bullying, but will actually become worse because the embarassment they felt over being caught and then being ridiculed themselves over it can very likely become anger and even rage that could cause them to act out in an even worse manner in the future. For that to happen, to me, would be the absolute worst outcome of all of this.
There is always so much talk about people with psychopatic behavior and how to treat them. The thing is: some can’t be treated.
Though we are not sure here if they are psychopats, the one who taunted her with the suicide of her son(!!) probably is.
Just lock them up and throw away the key. I feel far sorrier for their future victims (people and animals) than that I care about whether or not they get every possible treatment.
They’re junior high kids. They aren’t psychopaths. Kids that age can be that way, I know. I was bullied a lot in junior high because I looked and talked funny. I remember it to this day, and I will also be willing to bet you that most of them are normal adults today. Adults who hopefully remember what assholes they were in jr. high.
Psychopathy cannot really be treated. Not all bullies are psychopaths or sociopaths, but some are. And people can exhibit psychopathic-type behavior without being true psychopaths. Still, slapping on a label of “psychopath” on a 7th grade kid for bullying behavior is actually a bit inappropriate.
Oh, yes, kids can be little psychopats even when they are in primary school. They are pioneering treatment now, but a lot of it doesn’t seem to work. Putting them together to teach them morals seems to have a worst effect (since they just learn tricks from each other). http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/magazine/can-you-call-a-9-year-old-a-psychopath.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
If you can say something like what that kid did about her kids and suicide, and then even think it makes him look cool enough to post it online. Well, then there is something severely wrong with him mentally and they should keep a very close watch over him, so he won’t make more victims (humans or otherwise).
Also, I remember my junior high school very well and I can tell you that nobody did even remotely anything like this in my class. Talking back to a teacher, yes, and an occasional fight, but then you got punished. Nobody went out to completely destroy someone mentally or would have thought it cool to poke and insult old ladies. Perhaps this is because kids were held accountable for bullying even in primary school. They should do more of that in America, instead of babying 13 year olds and always being afraid to hurt a bully’s precious feelings.
The current thought is that psychopaths are born, not made. There is a difference in the brains of those who are diagnosed with psychopathy. Yes, children can technically be diagnosed with forms of psychopathy and sociopathy, but it’s a slippery slope since their brains are still developing. I am simply saying, as a professional, that labeling someone a psychopath (or sociopath) is an awfully big leap. There really isn’t even a definitive test to determine psychopathy in children. You don’t ignore the behaviors hoping they will go away or the child will grow out of it, but there are many other root causes for bullying behavior.
It is well established that there are kids with no remorse or empathy around, whose hobby is harming others.
The one who referred to suicide seems to be one of them. Better treat him as such and let him prove himself otherwise than keep excusing him and allow him to do more harm.
Protecting victims and innocents is more important than going out of our way to give cruel people second, third, fourth chances.
As a professional you know more about it than I. And I hope also more than the professionals in that article I linked, who thought it a good idea to put such kids together in a camp.
The result? A girl-leader who twists her minions (who have all shown scary behavior themselves) into a personal task-force, with orders to missbehave.
My point is, better keep a good eye on them and their extreme behavior. Put the needs of victims first.
This is definitely a show of bad parenting.
And another reason i will keep my children out of public schools.
Kids can be extremely malicious and cold hearted at the middle school age….
I know because i was once the bully (never to this extreme) and the bullied.
I would like to blame the parents, but I just don’t think that’s all of it, I think it’s the herd mentality and a mix of the crazy testosterone levels found in boys that age. Still doesn’t make it right and these boys need to be punished as an example to others and to grow up themselves.
All you have to do is read up on WW 2 for examples of herd mentality.
Agreed, never underestimate the power of the influence of those around you at the time.
Sorry .. why do you think private schools will be any different? Plenty of bullying takes place in private schools.
FYI, I was bullied to the extreme in private school; it actually got better after I went into the public school system (see my rather lengthy post below). It’s everywhere, and how much of it and how it is dealt with, depends on the community of teachers, administrators and, most important of all, the PARENTS.
Yeah, the video was posted on Facebook by one of the kids who bullied her! Because he was proud of it! Then someone found it, passed it on and it ended up on Reddit.
One of the boys who was bullying the monitor uploaded it to YouTube,clueless to the reaction he would receive. This makes the whole thing worse,if that is possible! Shows how the four have no moral compass. The kid who filmed it is no hero. I followed the story last week and caught a clip of video of the filmmaker talking to a local news station in NY.
That is one of the sickest things about the situation, that they are so devoid of empathy and compassion that they don’t even realize that what they did is something they should be ashamed of, not brag about.
You have to wonder what kind of families these kids are growing up in.
For everyone trashing her for sitting there and “doing nothing” she mainly did that because she didn’t hear most of the insults because she is hearing impaired.
She could tell that they were being little a$$holes but could not make out everything they were saying (THANK GOD)
If she responded, the parents probably would’ve accused her of not being nice to their children. The parents would’ve turn it around and say she wasn’t nice to their children. I know this is a terrible thing that happned to her but I’m glad it happended this way & was recorded. This way the parents of these children and other parents can see that their children are not as good kids as they think they are.
I personally think these kids are a lost cause and are sociopaths in the making. People forget they were “proud” of what they had done. That’s why they were filming it and posted it on the computer. They were showing off their bullying skills.
I’m from Greece, NY where this happened, so I’ve been following this from the beginning. What I find the most troubling is that Karen Klein was in a position where she couldn’t respond without fear of losing her job. I guarantee that if this hadn’t been recorded and she had responded, all of the parents would insist that their children were just expressing their individuality or whatever. And then she would have been fired, because Greece Central School District has no interest in protecting its employees.
I agree with you completely. I feel sorry for school staff because it has gotten so out of hand what kids get away with in school now. Staff are afraid of the parents and losing their jobs or just having to deal with a psycho angry parent. Esp if the district is mainly upper class white people. They are not supported and the kids know it. I work as a PT in schools and I have heard a kid tell a teacher his dad would get her fired. The cr@p I’ve seen kids do at schools are shocking. Parents are quick to go on YouTube and the media if a teacher wronged them. I say put cameras in the classrooms so these parents can see their little angels in action. Disgusting
I totally agree. For 2 years, I taught middle school (grades 6-8) in one of the worst school districts in the country (worst in terms of lowest test scores, highest poverty rates, highest violence rates). My students–many of whom I genuinely loved and for whom I had a ton of compassion given how tough their lives had been–were already serious criminals by that age.
I had pretty much zero recourse when there were major discipline problems. And I got reamed out multiple times by parents when I finally managed to get one of them to come in for a meeting with me to discuss a child’s behavior. (And when I say “behavior” I don’t mean “talks too much in class”–I mean, threw a punch at a classmate, broke a window, pulled a knife). It was never the kid’s fault, I must have been doing something wrong/been negligent/couldn’t do my job. 2 years was all I needed, then I got out.
I imagine that if she had so much as put a finger on one of these kids–even in self-defense–all it would take is one slick lawyer hired by a parent, and next thing you know, she and the bus driver and the school district would be out half a million bucks for some lawsuit.
Why the f*ck didn’t the dad who came to apologize bring his son?? Instead he does it for his son?? PATHETIC. These parents should really be proud of themselves for what a great job they’ve done with their psychopaths.
What is truly disturbing is the shockingly arrogance of them to post it on Facebook as they are so confident nothing would happen to them. SO disgusting.
I agree, hairball. It’s nice to know that at least one kid has a parent who accepts what his son did, but it would have gone a lot further had the kid been made to look her in the eye. THAT would have stayed with him. Sort of like when a parent takes their child back to the store and makes them admit they shoplifted and, if they haven’t eaten it, give it back, and pay for it if they have. Kudos to all of you guys who make your kids face consequences!
Yeah I don’t get that either. Was the apology being taped? Maybe he was trying to protect his kid’s identity or something? But yeah, that is SO ass-backwards. Message: “Don’t worry son, whatever mistakes you make, I’ll always be here to take the fall for you. You’ll never have to be held personally accountable or face the person that you abused.”
Back in the day…a father would have taken his son (by the scruff of the neck) to the bus monitor’s home for a face to face apology. Then the father would have asked the bus monitor what chores his son could do in order to work off his debt.
I’m sure her windows could use cleaning, or her yard mowed, or her car washed.
And this chore/punishment would have continued for a year.
Instead we have the dad on AC360 doing what? Talking.
Talk is cheap. Let’s see some penitence.
That’s exactly what I thought chica. It’s gonna be a long hot summer and I’m sure she has plenty of yard chores to do. Maybe at the very least she has a couple of dogs who need poop picked up? And the parents should supervise Every Day.
Brava, cranky chica. That is exactly how it used to be, & that’s how it should be now. This case is shocking. Imagine putting this on Facebook like it’s just the best entertainment ever! Heartless little beasts. Those parents should be watching their kids like hawks, as torturing animals & possibly small children may be their next favorite activities.
Of course they’re not sorry for what they did. They bullied this woman to tears and then had the nerve to record it. Stuff like this happens in school all of the time. She’s not the first, and unfortunately she won’t be the last.
Add me to the list of people who intentionally DID NOT watch this video. Reading about it made me cry and it truly sickens me to think of what this world seems to be coming to. It makes me so sad to think that these are the kind of people that my innocent (and yes, well raised) kids are probably going to be running into at school.
And yes, if I EVER found out my kid was treating people in this way, there would be some serious behavior modification going on. Just sayin’.
I asked my mom what she would have done if I did this. After the whole ‘no child of mine would EVER treat someone this way’ speech, she said that I would walk to school every day until I graduated high school and spend this summer doing chores around her house at the very least. And also doing mandatory acts of kindness. And no fun all summer long. This is why I have a healthy respect for authority, haha.
+1 to your mom!
Sounds like my mom 🙂
And add to this that the brat of a kid would be at this woman’s house, apologizing to her IN PERSON and then doing chores for her all.summer.long.
This behavior is just inexcusable.
Sounds like our moms exchanged notes on parenting. My thoughts exactly. Time to learn the merits of walking to school. I know I sound like the old far that I am but in high school for me, you could only get free bus tickets from the school if you lived at least 2.0 miles away. I lived 1.9 miles and had to pay for my bus tickets out of my allowance or walk (1970’s). My allowance only covered 7 bus tickets per week, so I walked at least 3X/week. All year. Teenage obesity was not an issue.
To all the people who posted that Karen was not doing her job:
The answer to “how did these boys become bullies to this extent?” has been answered.
They were raised by people like you. Without a thread of empathy, without an ounce of compassion.
Please tell us detail how a 68 year old VOLUNTEER should control this situation? Or are you all pulling a “Wahlberg” and telling us you could do it better?
The fact is this: they should have known better. Therefore, there would be no situation to control.
Simple.As.That.
Preach it, Kay.
People who are entitled, but don’t give an ounce of respect to others.
Vile people, with a rotten core.
Deleted because I think I misunderstood your post. Who are the vile people?
Hey Bluhare, Vile people= parents who give no ounce of respect to anyone, let their kids behave like monsters, but then start whining whenever someone questions their kids’ behavior.
The ‘vile’ was not directed at anyone here who made a comment.
Could not agree more. If my child had partaken in the bullying, they probably would call child protective services on me because that child would have had every privilege taken away, not only forced to apologize in person but also made to do chores around that poor woman’s house.
Children will only misbehave if they think they can get away with it. Too many parents are afraid to parent and blame everyone else when their child does wrong.
Forgiveness that is not EARNED is shallow and useless. If they truly want forgiveness their actions and words will show it. Good for her, not letting them take the easy way out.
My kid would be long gone
. Off to boot camp for a year. Period!! Kids that age need a 6’5 300 lb dude to ride with, and knock em on their asses if needed!
She wasn’t a volunteer, she said she was doing the job to save up for a vacation. I never said the boys should be excused for their behavior. They are children and need to be TAUGHT evidently, how to behave. They need to be punished, which I said and some of you didn’t read, and if it were my kid, he would be taken off the bus for the rest of his school career. Yes I am a teacher, and I’m proud of it. I am also an adult who knows how to handle it when my students try and pull this crap on me. I do my job, which is to teach. I do much more than teach math or English or Science, I teach responsible behavior, that actions have consequences, and kindness toward others. I haven’t heard one thing about people saying boys will be boys, that’s a pretty big assumption you folks have. Must be the same folks who hate every teacher and blame us for the decline of society.
My point was, and still is, had she done her job and reported them, then the school would be at fault here for not protecting her. She didn’t report it.
Sonia, I agree with you.
I think you’ll agree that schools handle bullying improperly. My mom taught for 35 years, and it was always a subject at our house. Instead of simple actions, they start these big campaigns to eradicate it — impossible. Or they push for zero tolerance, which means innocent students get caught in the crosshairs when they try to defend themselves or others.
They aim too high instead of starting at the bottom. In the end, it’s to make the school look good, so they can say they have a policy in place.
Do you think the kids should be punished? How do you handle bullies?
I handle bullies by calling them out on it and speaking to the parents. I don’t know if it always works, though. I try to get administration to help, I try to get the guidance counselors involved, I work with both kids if possible. I would have the boys involved- and that includes the kid who shot the video and is now trying to act like he posted the video out of the goodness of his heart- commit to a year of counseling, lose bus privileges for a year, do community service and apologize to Karen Klein in front of the school at a public assembly or in a public forum.
YOu bet I do (think the kids should be punished)! At the very least, significant time off the bus. Yes, I think they should be allowed back on the bus eventually, to prove they learned from it, because they are kids. If that happened at my school, either my principal or I would ride that bus as needed, and we’ve done it. Kids for some reason lose their ever loving minds when they get on a bus! One year a kid simply could not help but punch someone each and every time he was on that bus. Guess what? I rode with him, and he somehow made it without hurting anyone. The next day he did it again-no punches, and he was all by himself. The third day didn’t go so well, but he knew he was wrong and apologized to me and the other kid. Yes his parent was terribly upset because someone “made” him punch them, of course, but seriously. There are days when I teach parents as much as I teach my kids. I will be very interested to see how the school handles it. Could go either way, and I have a bad feeling I know which way it will go.
This might be a bit off topic, but when I was in high school we had an incident where a teacher attacked a student. I mean, literally, he tried to choke her. The local media made the whole fiasco out to be a case of a dangerous teacher who went crazy.
HOWEVER, it was way more complicated than that. This guy was a math teacher; a fairly quiet and typically patient kind of guy. The student was a loud mouth brat who tormented him every day for the entire semester with verbal taunts and by distracting the class to the point of making it impossible for him to teach.
On the day in question, she had come into class with one of those used car magazines. She was loudly telling people how she was about to get her license and showing off pictures of cars she liked. He asked her three times to put the magazine away, until he finally lost his temper and yanked it out of her hand. Out of frustration, he went over to the window and just started ripping the magazine in half.
In retaliation, she got up and grabbed his grade book off his desk, ran over to the window and began doing the same thing. That’s when sh*t got real. He grabbed her, pulled her back towards the chalk board and just throttled her. It took three guys to pull him off.
Now, of course, he was wrong to attack her. But, I’m not going to lie, I couldn’t help but sympathize with him a little. It wasn’t like he just went nuts out of nowhere.
That night she went on the news and cried about how she was “just trying to learn” *eye roll* and the teacher was promptly fired. He obviously deserved to be fired after what happened, but I never felt right about people portraying this girl as a victim.
In some ways, I’m glad the video of this woman went viral. Now she can have the vacation she deserves instead of possibly snapping and losing her job.
See?!? And people wonder why kids go agro and shoot up their schools. I’m not making excuses for that behaviour; but if a GROWN MAN, a CERTIFIED TEACHER, can be driven to act out violently, how much more likely is it that a young person (who has likely endured much more antagonism throughout his or her school career) is going to lose their shit one day?
The NYC Public School System has an entire department devoted to teachers who have lost it.
It’s known as The Rubber Room and serves as a place to warehouse tenured teachers that cannot be fired, but can no longer have any contact with students, until they’re eligible for retirement.
That hasn’t been true for a long time. The rubber room no longer exists. It initially existed because it took investigators months or even years to get started on investigations and trials but you couldn’t and shouldn’t fire someone without due process, so that was the compromise. One school photographer got sent there for straightening out a kid’s collar before taking the class picture. Another was accused by a child who had accused a number of other teachers of hitting and punching him even though there were no witnesses to this supposed abuse and he changed his story several times. Trust me when I say most teachers want to be in the classroom, though I’m sometimes uncertain why. People have so much to say about us NYC teachers, but not many people want to have our jobs.
Proper apologies have three parts:
1.What I did was wrong.
2.I feel badly that I hurt you.
3.How do I make you feel better? ( pg. 162, The last Lecture, by Randy Randy Pausch, 2008))
That’s why she has not forgiven; the apologies are defective.
I don’t understand why these children have not been made to apologize in person to her.
Jaxx – Poor parenting, plain and simple.
There’s a general malaise I’ve noticed over the last 20+ years amongst parents; a kind of “live and let live” attitude, which is wrong. That kind of attitude leads to some “Lord of the Flies” shit.
If you are unwilling or unable to discipline a child and teach them personal responsibility, accountability, respect for themselves AND others, JUST DON’T HAVE KIDS.
It takes A LOT of energy to stop typing or cooking or whatever it is I’m doing at the time to correct or follow through with what I told Toddles, but I DO IT, BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO RAISE AN ASSHOLE. (I must be doing something right, because my two adult children seem fine.)
Parents also have to TEACH BY EXAMPLE. If you want your kid to have manners, use them yourself (even with said kid). Want them to respect others? Show them how. It’s really very simple, but like I said: it requires A LOT of energy on a parent’s part.
And publicly.
If any of those little twerps had been mine they wouldn’t see the light of day til the day turn 18.
I would send those kids to THERAPY. They obviously need it very much.
Everyone keeps talking about the kids, and how they should be punished, and I agree. But what about the parents? I bet you if we started making parents liable in such cases and in cases that end up in the death of another individual because of teasing a lot of this cases would diminish. Parents need to have repercussion as well as the children. This behavior was learned! Bottom line is: If your children are acting like this it is because as a parent you’re doing a sh*tty job!!! That’s YOUR child, deal with it before you have a visitation pass for the county jail. The End.
I went to church with a family whose grade school son was being picked on by a girl, a fellow student. A playground altercation ended up with her arm getting broken as the result of him trying to defend himself, and she fell and landed “just right” for a break to occur.
That bully’s parents SUED the boys parents. (I don’t know the end result.) So, maybe the bullied kids’ parents should start suing the bully’s parents.
I’ve seen a few interviews with the boy who shot the video where people ask why he didn’t step in. He did the right thing by recording it, end of. What was he going to do? What power would he have over them if a grown woman couldn’t stop them? No matter how big their heart is, a kid is usually not going to want to turn the attention to themselves, especially if they’re outnumbered.
Those kids need their asses kicked hard. None of this “the school is investigating.” Please. You don’t need f–king DNA samples. I’m tired of schools paying lip service to students and parents. I went to school past the age of nuns and the strap, but sometimes I think that’s what some kids need. You can give all the talks you want and have every guest under the sun in to talk about bullying, but until there are real consequences for their behavior, they’re all useless. They need to stop being afraid of parents and kowtowing to potential lawsuits.
He didn’t step in because he thought it was funny. He told “Inside Edition” he wanted to submit the video to “Tosh.O”. He didn’t show the film to his parents or school authorities. He put it online because he thought it was funny and played a part in the bullying. Now he’s backtracking.
Whoa, shit. That I didn’t know! Okay, they’re all little pricks. It would have been even more sickening if Tosh happily aired that.
I don’t think it ever got to the point where he tried to enter it. It was found and received outrage, but he keeps trying to say, “Well, I just wanted it to get on TV.” Mmm-huh, really? Why? He’s the one who originally put it on youtube. This stuff is everywhere- they have “cage fights” (as the students call it) when no one is at the school I work in and post the videos. They love taping horrible things and then trying to get attention for it; they never think anyone will see it and come down on them for it.
Thanks to the kindhearted Canadian who started the fund. Very thoughtful.
Sitting through that video was brutal. Talk about heartbreaking. I’d have a very difficult time forgiving those kids too.
Mostly I cannot believe kids so young would say such vicious things. How desensitized have we become as a society when children tell their elders to kill themselves? Are we quickly losing our capacity for empathy? Wishing death on somebody is the lowest of the low. I hardly expect (nor would I want) for society to revert to 1950s mannerisms, but the sudden decline in how we treat each other is surely a sign that our society is in deep trouble.
I was bullied when I was younger and it really left an impact on me, so I really feel for Karen. I wouldn’t forgive those kids either, and they damn well need to learn some very hard lessons about respect and treating others with kindness. Honestly, I’m hoping these kids are given psychiatric treatment and put into intense therapy.
I think it’s awful what she has to endure- buy I also think over $600,000 compensation for that is ridiculous. Things like this happen every day- they shouldn’t, but they do. Does that mean that each one of those people deserves a payout?!
I think the difference is that it’s not a lawsuit, it’s not mandatory, and she didn’t ask for it. A third party set up a donation website. I can think of worse things to spend $5 on.
But it’s not a lawsuit, it’s not mandatory, and she didn’t ask for it. A third party set up a donation website. I can think of worse things to spend $5 on.
If I donated money to that fund I would be hella upset if the money did not reach her. This was an effort by many for one person, I would want her to enjoy that money.
If their parents are worth a damn they’ll do few things to drive the point home that they WILL NOT BEHAVE LIKE THIS ever again.
1. All electronic gadgets-gone. No cel phones, no ipads, nothing. Sold and the $ donated to charity.
2. They make fun of someone being poor? How about their clothes coming exclusively from Goodwill. All expensive clothing should be taken away and they can learn how to get by with secondhand clothes.
3. After school and weekends will be spent volunteering to help the poor in some way. Mowing lawns, working in soup kitchens, whatever it takes to teach them that poor people are HUMAN and deserving of respect.
4. Finally, a good old fashioned butt whipping is in order.
Maybe after those things (or similar punishments) are carried out, they might learn a thing or two and grow up to be decent human beings.
That requires effort on the parents part…many parents don’t care to properly discipline their children.
That’s what I said up-thread, in my reply to Jaxx. 🙂
Is exactly what should happen to them.
Proper way to deal with bullies???….I think she was right not to engage them. Bullies want you to get upset. When I was a kid I would pretend not to hear them and then give them the crazy evil eye( I WILL CUT YOU) death stare….that look has silenced many a bully. Never let them see any emotion, they get tired when they cannot break you.
That is absolutely the correct way to deal with a bully. It can be very hard to do, but in the long run, you are quite right.
I couldn’t watch the video. Just the small clip shown on the news was enough for me. It’s sad and disheartening seeing her suffer in silence. The kids and the parents of these kids should feel nothing but shame.
I think the way to punish these lowlifes is to make them stand in front of the whole school while other students hurl insults at them and ridicule them. It’s unorthodox, but the issue is these kids need to understand what it feels like to be ridiculed and made to feel like crap. They are certainly not learning any lessons at home.
F*** forgiveness.
One act of vengeance is worth ten years of therapy.
As for the little bitches receiving death threats?
Now that they’re on the receiving end of this type of unfettered cruelty, I wonder how they like it.
ITA with you elaine. I hope those little f***ers are scarred for life. With children much of the time the ONLY thing keeping them from being criminals is the fear of the punishment. Kids are by definition uncivilized–it’s time we start realizing this again, and stop always assuming the best about them.
The problem with threatening and bullying these kids is that requires someone to threaten and bully these kids, which really isn’t much of a solution-it just perpetuates bullying, which is what we as a society need to get away from.
I think other solutions such as taking away privileges, forcing the children to apologize to this woman in person and maybe to make amends by doing chores etc are more productive and effective solutions to what is obviously a pandemic problem.
At this point, the kids are being publicly shamed so that in and of itself should affect some change in them (hopefully for the best).
Sorry kitten, but some kids just aren’t that evolved. Some do need the threat of serious punishments to stay on the straight and narrow. Sometimes threats from the community at large is what it takes to make them realize there are greater consequences in life for criminal behavior than having mommy take the xbox away for a week.
Better for them to learn that lesson now, then when they are 22 and will end up in jail, or worse.
I respectfully disagree. Though I do agree that different kids respond to different types of punitive measures accordingly-meaning a slap across the face (for instance) might get one kid to wise up whereas that same slap to another kid’s face will just alienate and further enrage him. Much like two convicts may go to jail for the same crime-one might come out scared-straight and become a productive member of society while the other will be more violent and likely end up back in prison. I just don’t think a *blanket approach* of punitive tormenting is really the way to go.
I never said that it was. My point is that I am happy to see these brats get bitch slapped by society. You can call it what you want (punitive tormenting)–but social standards and fear of retaliation are what helps keep potentially violent and criminal human beings in line all over the planet currently and has throughout history. The basic rules of human dynamics shouldn’t change for you just because you are 7 years old and on a school bus.
Being a juvenile is not a free pass to do whatever you want, and it’s a step in the right direction that maybe Americans are finally starting to see that and collectively take a stand for common decency.
People gave money because everyone knows how awful the world is, and how particularly awful it was for that little old lady on a bus full of idiotic children. Chipping in five bucks or whatever made them feel a little better about the world and themselves. The fact that it’s become such a huge sum of money speaks more to the overall empathy of people in general, rather than any lottery mentality.
Did this woman earn the money? Not really, but it could be argued either way. Is she any more deserving than the countless other victims of bullying and/or general injustice around the world? No, obviously not, but that’s not really the point either. People sent money to her, and that’s that.
As for what she should do… well, she should do whatever the hell she wants at this point. Nobody ‘owns’ her. She’s not seeking the spotlight here. She’s not going to use this as a springboard to launch a fragrance line and spin it into a book deal. Calling her a ‘reality’ star is applying parameters to her situation that she not only never sought, but never even contemplated. She’s a little old lady who works on a school bus, and that seems to be the beginning and end of her ambitions. If people were kind enough to donate some money to her because of her sad incident, be it $50 or $500,000, that money is hers, and she doesn’t owe the rest of us anything.
It would be nice if she chose to donate the lions share of the cash to some anti-bullying charity or to Amnesty International or the Red Cross (and maybe she will), but I would totally understand if she used it to go on a nice little vacation with her family and then set up college funds for her grandkids. Or pay off her families mortgages. And nobody should judge her harshly regardless of her choice. no one certainly has no business telling her not to take the money though.
My youngest son, 2nd grade, was bullied at school by an older boy in grade eight. The principle spoke with this boy as well as the school counselor, his mother made him come to my home and apologize…it didnt do any good. UNTIL my older son went to the school pulled the little shit into the schoolyard and humiliated him in front of every kid on that playground. Not a problem after that. Sometimes the only language they understand is their own.
Good example. That is exactly how it works with those creeps. And what kind of creepy 8 grader bullies a 2nd grader?
Glad you have an older son. Good job.
Forgive these little bastards?! For what?!
They are not the least bit sorry. Their cretin minds could not perceive the backlash this video would incite & they are only sorry that the public didn’t enjoy their abusive taunting of this poor lady as much as they did.
I will refrain from commenting on what I would do to them personally.
“They are not the least bit sorry. Their cretin minds could not perceive the backlash this video would incite & they are only sorry that the public didn’t enjoy their abusive taunting of this poor lady as much as they did.”
EXACTLY.
As someone pointed out above so nicely, I’d like to see these *ssholes have their cells taken away, Facebook pages terminated permanently, computer use taken away for a lengthy period of time AND do community service.
The sad part is, you know their f*cking parents won’t do anything like that and if they attempted they’d feel sorry for their br*ts and reverse it.
Someone commented above how the kids aren’t psychopaths because there are lots of kids who bullied and are now doctors etc. Well guess what? They may have grown up, but they are still *ssholes who are making their relationships and work place a living hell.
These kids and their parents make me sick.
Couldn’t agree more.
In extreme cases the ones who as adults terrorize everyone around them (or even go violent), started with ‘lesser’ victims, like animals or the mentally handicapped kid/extremely shy kid around the block when they were young.
1st. I feel sorry for her!
That being said for 600k you can call me every name in the book you wanted too
Heck, I’ll even let ya spank me for free!
Of course she’s gonna say “they can do better” in order to string this thing out for as long as possible and milk it for all it’s worth.
If she plays her cards right she might even get a reality TV series out of it.
No, I don’t agree at all. They wrote some lame apologies and neither called her nor appeared in person. They sure as hell can do better.
The sincerity of their apologies is probably irrelevent at this stage.
To accept any apology or imply that she has no intention of ever forgiving them would lead to closure.
The media hates closure and wants a scab that they can continue to pick at.
So she should accept their apology to appease the media?
They wouldn’t have apologized at all if not for the negative attention.
She’s a smart woman and she’s got her own life to live. If she chooses not to accept their lame apologies there’s nothing improper about it. Let the brats stew and deal. Bad actions have consequences.
I’m a teacher in a rough neighborhood in NYC and have been for 16 years. I adore my students and my job, but I can tell you that adults are constantly blamed for KIDS’ behavior. If you’re a better teacher, more sparkling, more engaging, your students will be better. Never mind that the counselors and assistant principals can’t handle them one to one because some of them are that out of control. It’s always our fault. And there are NO repercussions. I do my best in my classroom, but live in fear of getting in trouble for being too harsh (like taking away recess, which is against the rules). Administration hems and haws and avoids consequences and the kids run wild because they know they will get away with it. Really, what has the brats’ school district done? Nothing. And they won’t. They make excuses, and if it didn’t get national attention, NOTHING would have happened. And it probably still won’t.
I know, it’s really sad isn’t it? To have teachers afraid of parents when it comes to dealing with brats at school? Kids pick up on that hesitation to really do something and so they continue to act like brats.
When I’m in my daughter’s classroom I can’t believe the behavior I see and the teacher seemingly has little control over it.
Kudos to you for lasting 16 years. And you are right. The schools do nothing and the parents do even less. I’m shocked at the behavior of kids in public at restaurants, malls, theaters,etc. The kids do as they please, ignore their parents if they bother to try to settle them down. No discipline, or no effective discipline. Makes me wonder what the country and the world will be like when the current crop of kids is running things. I’m glad I won’t be here to see it.
Thank you! 🙂 I would kill my kids if they behaved that way. The administration is ineffective and they castrate us. Don’t take away their recess! Don’t sit them alone unless they have a book with them (great message about reading as punishment, huh?)! Recently, I reported an incident to administration about three fifth grade boys who were kicking violently at the door of the stalls in the bathroom, scaring the first grade boys they were threatening. The administrator said icily to me, “It’s the end of the year. They’re done. Aren’t you?” Real nice.
It is often blamed on adults, but the wrong one imo.
Not the teachers should be blamed in a school, but administration.
Okay, I normally don’t get very soapbox-ish, but on this, I’m letting loose. I was bullied (not a “victim” even if it is accurate, because I hate thinking of myself that way), for much of my childhood. It happened in front of teachers, and one even instigated it by calling me “stupid” (turns out all I really needed was a MATH TUTOR, I don’t think that made me stupid, but whatever).
By 3rd grade, I had given up since it was clear to me that I was stuck in that godforsaken school because it was a “better private education.” (Side note: my parents have since apologized, many times, for not paying closer attention.) I honestly believed it was normal and acceptable to behave that way, and I would just have to put up with it, because if I didn’t like it, the problem was me, right?
In 7th grade, the bullying got physical, a girl who was larger than me almost beat me up because I would not give her my gym uniform to wear (we got docked a point if we didn’t have our uniforms). She chased me into the bathroom, where I’d locked myself in a stall, and was screaming, kicking and punching the door. Thankfully another student came into the change rooms, heard the commotion, and got the teacher, who dragged her off to the principal’s office where she was given detention for two weeks. Just to be clear, this was the FIRST TIME anyone had ever defended me from bullying. FYI, the stall door, which was one of those metal ones, was dented in three places after this incident.
It took ANOTHER incident, when my father noticed a bruise on my arm (given to me by a boy in my class), for him to finally realize that this boy didn’t like me, he wasn’t teasing me, but was bullying, and my dad finally called the school to speak to the principal about it. What I remember most are these two things: first, when my dad asked me where I got the bruise, I just told him straight out. It didn’t occur to me to downplay it, because I figured it was acceptable. Second, this was the first time my dad ever stood up for me to the bullying.
To those of you (Sonia) who think she “didn’t do her job,” I submit to you the following: What might they have done to her if she had tried to stop them? And, if she had reported the little cretins, it would have been their word against hers. You really think they wouldn’t deny it UNLESS they had been stupid enough to make this video? You really think their PARENTS, who raised these selfish little pr!cks, wouldn’t engage in some bullying of their own to make sure school administrators didn’t unleash any consequences on their precious kids?
And to those (gee) who think Karen should forgive these little creeps, I say this: I have NEVER forgiven the girl who almost beat the crap out of me in 7 grade. I don’t OWE forgiveness to someone who wrongs me, even if they do apologize (neither of those kids did, ever). I DID stop blaming myself for being her target and for not standing up to her (I probably would’ve ended up in hospital), and I found that was enough for me. At this point, I remember everything, but don’t care one way or another about that girl.
Okay, I now resume my regularly scheduled celeb-oriented sassiness. (And, sorry for the long post.)
Don’t apologize. I feel very sorry for what happened to you.
There is something wrong with the system if kids think it’s normal to beat up a door just to get someone’s gym clothes. Stricter punishments are necessary and whiny parents should just stfu.
You are too right. That crazy girl never went near me, looked at me, touched me or talked to me again. The boy who hit me? He was suspended for three days. No tolerance, no exceptions. And he left me alone too. On a side note: Karma is an even bigger bitch than me (and I’m a lawyer, LOL). The girl who once used her size and strength to intimidate me ended up severely anorexic in high school, and nearly died from it. I certainly didn’t wish her dead… but I found I didn’t care either way. Nearly 15 years later, I still don’t know what happened to her. Still don’t care.
Glad your middle school was better in that regard than your primary school.
It’s horrible that you thought that behavior was normal.
Congrats on becoming a lawyer, you probably did a lot better than either of those brainless idiots.
Speak on it, Izzy!! If they hadn’t been dumb enough to make the video and post it, nothing would have happened. Karen probably never bothered reporting it because nothing ever happens and it’s always somehow our fault. Karen owes no one anything. This is why kids think farting out a tepid apology fixes everything on the planet. And if you look it up, you will see nothing has actually happened to these kids. No consequences. Nothing. Even with hard evidence. And living well is the best revenge. Good for you!!
Schools don’t have the balls or authority to sort out bullies these days. My two sons have Asperger’s syndrome and I’ve had to make a lot of waves down at their school to make the staff do their jobs and protect them. In the end I told my boys that they can’t always expect the grown ups to look after them and they need to learn to stick up for themselves sometimes. I also told them that if anyone attacks them they have a legal right to use reasonable force to defend themselves and if the school has a problem with it they can talk to me and from there I’m prepared to lawyer up if I have to.
Good for you, glad that you stick with them.
I think kids with asperger are primary targets because it is so hard to sort out for them what is literal and what not.
Like this:
Bully: “You look like a frog!”
Asperger kid looks in mirror: “But I’m not green.”
Bully: “Hahaha, stupid!”
They need to learn social behavior with the part of themselves that also learns maths and facts, instead of the much more automatic part that non-aspergers have. At least, that’s how it seems to me.
I noticed how she said she was sitting in the back of bus… I remember in seventh grade, I had been assigned a seat in the back, and let me tell ya…it’s a jungle in the back rows. I was bullied in seventh and eighth grade for reasons that still remain unknown to me. I was a soft spoken kid who was friendly to every person I met, so maybe I was an easy target. I didn’t know how to defend myself because I was so befuddled that there was abrupt violence and hate towards me that I didn’t provoke except for being present in the other kid’s territory. I guess it makes sense in retrospect…maybe all the hormones surging through a developing teen causes aggression? Maybe because she was a spoiled brat who got anything she asked daddy for. I don’t know. It just breaks my heart to know that an elderly lady was bullied though. It sickens me… because if there’s one thing I know, it’s always to treat elders with respect. That’s just like the golden rule in my book. And if I had vile kids like them…I’d mess them up so bad. Send them to military school so they can learn some discipline and respect…
“maybe all the hormones surging through a developing teen causes aggression”
This. It’s not an excuse. BUT, I think you are correct about it perhaps being part of the reason.
Funny, when I was bullied in school, it was also on the bus and I was also a shy, quiet kid who had no idea what to do to stop it. My parents would talk to me at night when I told them what had happened (they’re kind, non-aggressive folks) and make me feel better, but I was never allowed to really “fight back”. They just always told me it wasn’t worth it in the end.
Seems to me this bus system has some serious problems.There should be a lot less tolerance for this and just have schoolbus as a privilige not a right.
Small infractions should mean a few days or a week off. Crazy stuff like this should be a permanent ban. Bet parents will do a lot more about their kids behavior if they are late for work when they have to drive them themselves.
I actually feel a little bad for the kids. I mean it’s clear they’ve had some bad parenting but I also think you need to remember how young these boys are. Hormones are running high. Their brains aren’t capable of making rational decisions. I hope the parents take the time to really teach these kids something and I feel bad for this woman and am really happy she got the money however the death threats are awfull and over the top. They are kids. You don’t threaten kids for gods sake.
I don’t want death threats coming their way, but it’s not just hormones and bad parenting. Come on. It was vicious, violent bullying. They were threatening to rape her and stab her, for pity’s sake. And that’s forgetting cursing her out and calling her names. This was beyond normal rudeness. This was wilding. This was deliberate, violent evil toward an elderly woman. They were enjoying her pain and rejoicing in what they inflicted and they even got physical with her. They then enjoyed the aftermath because they posted the video. Very hard to feel an ounce of sympathy. Some kids are just rotten. What they did went beyond normalcy and I tell you I work in a horrendous neighborhood and have rarely seen such psychopathic behavior toward an elderly person.
LittleDeadGirl, you seem to have a good heart but I simply cannot muster one iota of sympathy for these kids. They are 12, not 2, and when I was their age I was defending other kids from bullies. I completely understood right from wrong, and I guarantee that these kids do too. I do appreciate the whole gang mentality coming into it – how kids can get caught up in the moment, but they clearly felt no remorse for what they did afterwards, right down to posting the video in the hopes of entertaining their peers. I don’t think they should be threatened with bodily harm but I do think they should be punished severely. How else will they learn from this and not carry the same vile behavior over into adulthood? All privileges revoked and a sh*tload of charity work might be the answer.
Exactly. Way back my classmates and I got shamed by a teacher when we kept calling a boy a bad name, because he always pulled our hands and acted like he stuck to us. She explained he probably did this because he was insecure and did not know how to talk to us. We all felt justified in calling him this name until this talk, which made us feel pretty guilty. He stopped pulling and we became nicer to him.
That was when we were 9. Had we continued, we would have been in serious trouble.
A middle school student is far beyond the age where they should know right from wrong. Worse, the threats they make and language they use, makes them sound nothing like normal junior highschool students, who might say ‘shut the **** up, ****’, but don’t go around threatening to stab old ladies. They sound like violent criminals.
Are you seriously for real..?? These poor, poor boys…it was the hormones, they can’t possibly be blamed and held accountable. They are victims as well.
Vomit.
What these boys said made them lose the ‘just kids’ privilege in my view.
‘Kids’ don’t threaten to slice open an old lady and taunt her with a child’s suicide. The things they said are not those of a naughty kid or even a bully, but of severely disturbed men..
People should lay off this poor woman for all the money she’s been gifted. It sounds to me like she was working that job because she needed the money and that was all she could get. I’ll bet she would love nothing better than to retire and not have to deal with little S*ITs like that, AND I’ll bet she knows d**n well that she’s not really qualified but it sounds like she’s got some serious medical bills to pay for the people that she’s RESPONSIBLE for, and I’m also willing to be she was desparate to get work, any work, just so she can provide. So eff me if people can’t have a little bit of compassion for her situation. The only thing I would amend in terms of giving her money, is that maybe some good neighbours give her their TIME, and compassion and maybe help her out a little. I cannot believe how cruel people are to her and her situation, especially given how crappy the economy is and how hard it can be for seniors in particular these days. It’s just infuriating this whole situation, including how self-absorbed people are. She’s a senior citizen, for God’s sake. Have some respect. And none of those kids had the guts to apologize to her face, did they? GRRRRRRRRRRR. It’s times like this I appreciate my dad because us kids would have gotten the beating of a lifetime if he ever caught wind of us doing stuff like that and we would have deserved every bit of it.AND he would have grounded us, AND he would have taken away priviliges, AND we would hear about it for at least an hour every day for a week. I cannot believe that only one parent spoke up about how disappointed they were in their children, because that was horrible horrible behaviour for which there is no excuse. In my books, even if they’re remorseful, that kind of stunt deserves some serious punishment. PLUS charity work. For a senior’s group or assisted living, or a medical services or something. They want to see suffering, make them see it. I apologize for the long rant, but this whole thing has made me very angry.
with kids getting out of control, and parents who seem to do nothing, and school staff powerless in the face of kid+parent onslaught, what should we do?
put marines and navy seals on every bus? more stringent punishments for offenders (community service?)
i remember a piece of news about a school in the UK having policemen to guard the children against bullying and boy did that backfire also, since some parents (and i can’t help to think that these are parents of bullies) think that these cops are bullying the children.
i may be wrong, or remembered incorrectly. maybe some of the UK CB posters remember the exact details.
I will be interested what becomes of the children involved in this case. Will they use this media attention as an excuse later on in life for not being alltogether decent citizens? Or, given some time and perspective, try to become people who make a positive difference in the world? I think that is an interesting part of this story. To me, that is the opportunity the perpetrators are being given right now – do they change their behavior or not?
Boys are really nasty. Especially when they gang up on women. I hope those little bastards have a miserable life.
This.
Saw an article written soon after this trying to put some on the blame on her.
Of course it was written by a man. Guys like that must be pissed they have so little to work with, seeing how nice she has remained throughout and how she did not retaliate.
Really hate the kind of male scum who get pissed when someone questions men/boys behaving badly to women. (See also that Grammy creep who is pissed that people shun Chris Brown). Enough with the ‘boys will be boys’. Girls get called ‘bitchy’ and ‘catty’ all the time. It’s high time we do the same with boys, or you get all these guys who think they can insult and harm without consequences.
This mother lost her child to suicide,and then have to hear those cruel words.My heart goes out to her.There is no greater pain in this world,than to lose your child.
I just want to say if I had ever said or done anything as awful as these kids did to this poor lady and MY parents found out…
There’d be ‘MISSING’ posters all over the US with my picture on them because believe me…my Mom would erase my presence from this world.
Horrible horrible cretin children.
to all the readers who have children of their own- all i can say is
“Kiss them, Hug them tight, tell them they are by far the most mega awesome kids of the new millennium (although they could keep their room cleaner)n’ i love you”
that’s all i can say on this subject…i can’t watch this video (although I want) i wasn’t even going to click on the story because this bullying syndrome is SLICING my HEART!
Just please, tell your kids so they can always stand tall and if they fall short one day by a bully it won’t hurt as much cause they have loving/accepting parents to come home to.
hey — tell your niece/nephews, friends kids, the cat/dog, whatever.
btw, with parents like these, who needs bullying kids?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/14/parents-brawl-preschool-graduation_n_1598452.html
i feel for this woman, truly, but i was bullied and tormented all through high school (as were many other people) to the point where i actally tried to commit suicide at 17; where’s my half million?
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