"One boy received more than a thousand death threats" (school bus monitor story)

[steve2470]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/online-video-ny-bullying-stirs-passion-anger-16625649#.T-Qz49Axh-0

A video of four seventh-grade boys mercilessly taunting a 68-year-old bus monitor in New York state that went viral has turned the victim into an international fundraising juggernaut and opened her tormentors to an onslaught of threats and abuse.

From around the world, small donations for Karen Klein poured into the crowd-funding site indiegogo.com, at one point crashing the site and pulling in a staggering $443,057 by early Friday.

At the same time, police in the Rochester suburb of Greece, N.Y., were stepping up patrols around the houses of the middle-schoolers accused of taunting her. Police didn't name the boys but their purported identities leaked out on the Web.

Greece Police Capt. Steve Chatterton was compelled to warn against vigilante justice. One boy received more than a thousand death threats and commenters online were clear — and sometimes venomous — in their desire that the boys be severely punished.

[Prometheus Bound]

1. Seems to me there's a lesson in all of this.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. For the life of me, can't figure out what, tho.

[Prometheus Bound]

5. Well for one, maybe bullying isn't so cool.

These kids obviously thought it was so cool they put it on YouTube, looking for respect or something I guess.

I wonder what affect the reaction to them and to the bus monitor will have on other bullies. I guess some will take a lesson from it.

[Tx4obama]

6. Perhaps the lesson is ...

not to put a 68 year old lady on a school bus as a 'bus monitor' that is not trained to 'verbally' be able to control the kids on the bus.

Seems to me that the JOB of a bus monitor is to be able to control the kids behavior which would include not allowing them to bullying anyone.

The woman seems like a nice person, but it is apparent that she was not the right person for the job.

[Politicalboi]

7. You're right

Well, with all this money coming in, I would think she could retire. I wonder if she got back on the bus if the kids would ask her for money, or try and steal it.

[sabrina 1]

9. Yet, she worked at the job for 23 years. So it seems to me it was not her inability to do the job

The job description didn't include dealing with a gang of bullies who engaged in unlawful behavior.

She stated that she had never had anything like this happen before.

The behavior of those boys was criminal, they threatened to stab her, to go to her home, they touched her physically, filmed her without her permission. That kind of behavior is not what a school monitor is expected to have to deal with, that is the kind of behavior the police normally deal with.

She handled it very well. She stated that it took all her strength to not react, but she knew they would be getting off the bus within minutes. She didn't panic, she gave them no reason to escalate the situation. She exhibited incredible self control. Adults are not allowed to beat children, yelling at them, she correctly determined, would only have played into their game. She was not passive, she knew what she was doing from what she has said.

It all worked out perfectly, the bullies are being dealt with. No one, including them, was physically harmed, she, though no doubt emotionally affected, has received support from all the over the world, two of the parents have contacted her and are planning to take their children for therapy.

I'm not sure how it could have been handled better, frankly.

[Tx4obama]

11. I found 'one' article that said she was a 23 year veteran bus driver and now is a bus monitor

Perhaps kids do not hassle 'bus drivers' like they do 'bus monitors'

or maybe she drove a 'city bus' in the past and not a 'school bus' - the article did not state which type of 'bus'

[sabrina 1]

15. She was on television tonight and was asked how long she had worked

at this job and if this had ever happened before. She said 'over 20 years' and that 'no, nothing like this had ever happened before'. She was asked if she knew why it happened, but she had no explanation she said.

I think her professionalism showed in how she handled it. And yes, bus drivers definitely do get harassed. We got complaints all the time from the bus-drivers about kids misbehaving (no monitors on those little buses going to private schools like ours) and I always called the parents and told them their child was not allowed on the bus until they learned to behave, so they had to make arrangements to drive themselves. We always work with the drivers.

But they definitely do get harassed. Bullies take a dislike to someone, they don't care if it's a driver or a monitor.

[demosincebirth]

27. It'll be kind of stupid to hassle the bus driver while he's speeding down the highway. nt

[obamanut2012]

34. She handled the situation almost perfectly

What do YOU think she should have done, remembering she is a bus monitor and not a cop, and that it is illegal to verbally abuse minors in any way, or to touch them.

[KurtNYC]

36. "never had anything like this happen before" -- no, she said this was worse than what happened prior

this was on-going and there are other videos made by the boys on different days. They posted them on FaceBook and this was like their version of a reality TV show apparently. The final episode before summer was the one which went viral.

[Scootaloo]

10. Yes, it's clearly her fault for being abused by her charges

Good thing she wasn't wearing shorts, who the fuck knows what kind of riot she would have caused.

...Really? Am I still on DU here? Right. Okay schmott guy, how do YOU control the behavior of eight-plus teenagers whose attitudes are ricocheting off of one another?

I had to deal with this on a public bus once, where a group of dicks - I'm estimating 7th grade - were amusing themselves by throwing stuff at one of their schoolmates who, as far as i could tell was not enjoying the treatment. Fed up, I grabbed the nearest asshat by the strap of his backpack and, taking a line from one of my favorite werewolf movies, asked if he would like to be the nest thing thrown at the kid. He replied that no, in fact he did not want to be the next airborne object on that particularly King county metro.

That was illegal, however. I committed an assault that day, and given the foul mood I was in, I might just have made good on my threat which probably would not have improved the situation. On my side was the fact that the other adult passengers were similarly fed up with Generation Xbox's antics, and the fact that I looked like a chibi Zangeif.


(Though I lack that stunning eye for fashion)

So how precisely do you propose this lady handle the situation? I think it would be a lot of trouble to get the school board to equip each student with a shock collar, after all.

[Tx4obama]

13. There is no need for you to be rude or imply that I meant something other than what I said

1) I never said it was her 'fault' - actually I would say it was the school's fault for not giving her the proper training regarding how to handle 'bullies'

2) I am not a 'guy', I am a woman.

3) What is the definition of 'schmott' ?

[Scootaloo]

19. And you're not answering the question

What is proper training? How should this be handled?

Do bear in mind that she probably has a ten-pound booklet explaining what she can and cannot do in these situations, lest some soccer mom get upset that someone spoke with a raised voice to her precious Tyler or Madison.

There are limited solutions to a situation like this. If these children were attacking another child on the bus, that would be one thing, the "intervening adult" is pretty easy to do. But when the adult is the target of it? What then? I don't think you understand how these situations work.

The children are in full understanding that her actual ability to do anything is extremely limited; she can't have the driver pull over and throw them off the bus, the school is responsible for their safety during transport, and would get into deep shit if the driver did that. She can't out-bully them since again, there are rules and that would be considered abusing her charges - same reason she can't whack them upside the head. She can ask them to stop - and she does - but that is where her actual power and authority ends. All she can do beyond that is take it.

As for my rudeness, you're the one who is freeing the cretins tormenting this woman of all responsibility. You start off blaming her for not doing her JOB, (your caps, not mine) you imply she's too old to do it anyway (68 or 38, what's it fucking matter, please explain), and for not controlling a situation that any idiot could explain was going to be outside her control no matter what. When confronted with your victim-blaming, you instead try to blame the school - again, letting the kids off the hook - and then call me "rude" for pointing out what you're doing.

Bottom line is, the blame falls on the kids involved. Not the school, not the driver, and certainly not on the kids' victim.

[treestar]

57. Good post, especially the second paragraph

You can bet there are plenty of things she would have liked to do to precious Tyler and couldn't or be called an abuser!

[smokey nj]

39. The fault in this incident lies solely with the children and their parents who, apparently, are

doing a horrendous job raising their precious snowflakes.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

41. "There is no need for you to be rude"

Maybe you're just not properly trained on how to verbally control kids on a web forum.

[treestar]

56. Good one!

[treestar]

55. There's a line to be drawn here

If their behavior borders on the criminal, no monitor may be trained in "controlling" that.

There's a point where you can't control others, if they are going to cross the lines that define civilized behavior.

She may be very good at her job, but that doesn't mean some kids aren't going to go way beyond what is expected of middle schoolers on a bus.

I mean if the kid brought out a gun and started shooting, that could hardly be due to the driver and monitor failing to "control" the behavior of kids.

They're only there to control "normal" kid misbehaviors.

[EnviroBat]

30. I wish more people would do what you did in that situation.

these little pricks use this new-found "no-one can touch me" attitude to act like assholes in public all of the time. They think they've got cart-blanch privilege to harass anyone around them, including adults, and I for one am sick of it. I NEVER acted like that when I was growing up. If I mouthed off to an adult, a fat lip was the price. And I don't want to hear all of the "assault is never the answer" bullshit from all of the touch-feely types. Kid's should be put in their place when they are acting like animals.

[obamanut2012]

35. You can't touch them, and they know it

They know they can have you arrested in a nanosecond, and they do.

[treestar]

58. So true, it's hard to draw the line

Society has a hard time telling abuse from discipline so at this point are putting kids in the driver's seat. And kids are naturally savages.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

42. ah, the catholic church defense.

[Javaman]

62. +1 nt

[vaberella]

18. Aside from the age thing. I agree with everything you said. n/t

[morningfog]

21. Oh please. Those kids were little asshole bullies.

I hope they have been scared straight.

[cordelia]

22. Blame the victim.

Your lack of empathy is truly astounding.

[obamanut2012]

33. I know -- I'm getting tired of it

A bus monitor isn't a cop.

[obamanut2012]

32. She has been a bus driver and monitor for 23 years

She knows how to do her job, and she did it. What do you suggest she should have done? She knew, and the kids knew what she could and could not do to them. They wanted er to snap and scream and hit them, That's what they wanted. She did not engage them.

She has stated the principals do not back up the drivers and monitors who report bad kids, which I believe. She also stated t was the next to last day of school, and knew they would not punish the kids. She's been an employee there for 23 years, so she knows what the admin is like.

A bus monitor is not supposed to be a cop.

This is not the fault of the woman, it is the fault of the kids.

[Starry Messenger]

37. +1000

And if she had been assertive we'd see a million threads on DU on how she was suppressing their freedom of expression.

[obamanut2012]

38. Or is a Teabagger and should bd arrested for abusing kids

"If she can't handle them talking to her like that without reacting, she shouldn't be a bus monitor!"

Am I not right?

[smokey nj]

45. You've hit the nail on the head.

[Starry Messenger]

48. Rule #1 of being a public school employee

You are always wrong, no matter what you do.

[obamanut2012]

49. Or no matter what you don't do

[treestar]

59. Yes. You are right.

[kemah]

47. My coworker was a bus driver, he had a strategy to quiet kids on his bus.

In the morning the kids were semi asleep so that pretty much just dozed on the bus. In the afternoon the kids were full of spunk and would start to disrupt. He would just pull over and stop the bus. The kids wanted to get home quickly, but he would say he could not drive the bus if he was distracted and everybody had to be quiet. They learned to be quiet or sit on a hot bus.

[treestar]

54. "control the kids?"

They aren't responsible for anything they do or say? Yep, let's teach them that. You behaved atrociously? It was the teacher's fault, the school bus monitor's fault, your parents' fault. I'll never understand this mentality. Do you behave badly ever? Whose fault is that?

[Posteritatis]

25. "Don't do things that would cause that sort of reaction," maybe. (nt)

[ChairmanAgnostic]

43. a bit subtle for a bullying teen to learn, unfortunately.

[hifiguy]

53. I think the lesson is "Don't be a mean, vicious asshole."

That is a lesson a lot more people of all ages could stand to learn.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

63. not an easy lesson, though.

[longship]

3. You've hit the nail on the head.

nt

[rucky]

14. Bullies can only be stopped when we all come together...

to threaten and intimidate them

[AngryOldDem]

26. Bullying is bad. No matter who does it.

But it's just one more of those incredibly simple concepts that most minds can't grasp.

[Tx4obama]

4. Counting anonymous comments from online as 'death threats' is ridiculous

The internet is NOT real life.

[vaberella]

17. Internet threats are just as threatening and viable as real life threats.

Just like cyberbullying is now a valid form of bullying. Because it's over the net, doesn't mean that someone wouldn't act out on it. Would you not want someone who threatened the President on the internet to be taken seriously? I agree with the measure.

[JustAnotherGen]

8. What I don't get

Is why the District hasn't announced punishment . . . There were anti bullying rules in 2001 or 2002. I lived in that town for 5 years with a significant other who had two elementary school kids. I distinctly remember the brouhaha because no one wanted their kid to have been the trigger for the rules being implemented.

[TheManInTheMac]

12. Well they did it to be popular. Now they're popular and they're complaining about it?!

Just no pleasing some people.

[vaberella]

16. What a vengeful and cyclical world we live in. Bullying begets bullying. n/t

[sadbear]

51. +1

[deutsey]

20. Started off as a depressing story on young punks tormenting an elderly woman

Then it became a positive story about people coming together to support the woman with generous contributions for a wonderful vacation. And we saw what a basically decent person the woman is.

And now it's back to being a depressing story, this time about mob vengence and death threats.

[bongbong]

23. No one is making an even scarier threat to the miscreants

"I will lock you in a room & tutor you until you can recite lesson XXXX of subject YYYY in your sleep"

[LeftinOH]

24. Where was the f*cking driver in all this? My grandfather was a school bus driver

(1950s-1970s), and he put up with NO crap from any kids on the bus. All the kids on his bus were treated equally; horseplay, teasing, and bullying would result in a righteous scolding that no kid would ever forget. Long after he retired, some of his "kids" would stop by for a visit, and most of them commented on how much they looked up to him when they were kids. There was no bus monitor. I guess it was just a different time.

[smokey nj]

28. If you do something shitty and cruel, don't post don't post the video where the whole world can see

it. Although you may be proud of your actions, everyone else thinks you're just shitty and cruel and you might get some backlash.

[slackmaster]

31. You do that only if you are a Tier 1 dumbass.

[KurtNYC]

46. they made the video for FaceBook

They made others. They didn't do this stuff in spite of the camera -- it was their camera. They did this BECAUSE of the video camera.

TV is full of this kind of stuff -- people being nasty and verbally abusive toward others -- Hell's Kitchen, Trump's Apprentice, and other "reality" fare.

[slackmaster]

29. LOL @ "Police didn't name the boys but their purported identities leaked out on the Web."

Those little ASSWIPES will be paying for their abusive behavior for the rest of their lives.

[Douglas Carpenter]

40. boy behind the cell phone video is interviewed

[slackmaster]

44. "I had no clue that it would go this far."

Luis Recio, Jr. has learned a valuable lesson.

[obamanut2012]

50. And showing he only cares he was found out

And embarrassed nationally, and the cops came to his home.

[slackmaster]

61. That's pretty normal for the state of moral development at that age

This experience will hopefully help him move on to a more advanced stage. Real empathy often has to be learned.

[riderinthestorm]

52. Politicians of every stripe could learn how to apologize like this family

Look straight at the camera and say "I'm sorry."

This kid didn't say anything to Karen Klein but he did record it and publicly post it. Not the worst of the lot but definitely part of the group. He's done a good thing coming forward quickly, with remorse, and a straightforward apology.

[Nye Bevan]

60. Oh no! People on the internet are saying mean things about the little angels?

My heart just bleeds for them.

[unreadierLizard]

64. Aww! Excuse me while I play the world's smallest violin.

In my mind, bullies of all types get what they deserve.