My kids are grown, but I was talking to a woman I work with that lives in the Boonsboro district. Her son is starting his first year of middle school and will be riding a bus with both high school and middle school students. She stated that when the bus came to pick him up, it was so over-crowded that kids were sitting on the floor! She ended up driving him to school yesterday and today, and arriving in to work late.

So that's how my co-worker's first day was, how about yours? Good or bad?

The traffic sucked.

Same deal here. with Smithsburg middle and high school the bus is always overcrowded. We drive them now. i am loving school back in. Pizza and corn anyone

Lotsa stupid parents -- heard stories of many parents dragging their kids to school yesterday to sign up -- recently moved intot he area and just now signing their kids up -- and looking for daycare!!! It'd be hard to be a teacher or in-school admin these days and not smack some parents.

i dont care what anyone says about principals,teachers, or staff. They EARN every penny they make

And it seems some folks moving here from "the city" come into the local schools vocally complaining within minutes of arriving -- in front of the kids -- about the location, condition of the school, layout, etc.. I'd want to tell them exactly where to go...

That was one of the big selling features on moving here. the schools were awesome. All 3 kids are doing better with more challenging work here and I haven't met anyone at either school I didn't love. the kids elementary school principal Mr. Festerman @ Old Forge is one of themost involved, nicest, and devoted educators I have ever been around. test scores are always some of the highest in the county. we couldn't have asked for more

I agree with this statement 85% of the time. My mother was a school teacher for over 30 years, so I certainly have an appreciation for the crap they often have to deal with.

However, a friend of mine dealt with an incident last year with her daughter. Apparently there was a girl on the bus who was essentially a bully. The bus driver watched her harass children (i.e. she would take a rolled-up magazine/newspaper and wack the children with it while walking down the bus aisle) and she did NOTHING about it. This girl punched my friend's daughter either on the bus, or right when they got off the bus (I can't recall exactly where it happened). The bus driver witnessed the whole thing and again, did NOTHING. So my friend reported it to the school, and then to the school board, so that some corrective action could be taken. They said that they could not do anything and that she would need to report the girl to juvenile services (or some "juvenile" organization, again, I can't recall the name). My friend ask the school for the girl's name, address, etc. so that she could report her (per the request of the school board since they weren't going to do anything), and they said they could not give her this information to report it.

I understand that you can't give out information on students, but if you're not going to reprimand bullies, which I feel is the job of the school, how is she supposed to rectify the situation?

Also, my same friend has a son, who is a bit over weight, and his first day of school some kid was already making fun of him and calling him names. Kids can be so cruel.

The Washington County School Board apparently has a zero tolerance bully policy, yet they allow things like this to happen with no repercussions. It's the kids that are constantly bullied their whole life who end up pulling Columbine-type incidents. I just think it's something that seriously needs to be monitored.

Things like that kill me. I read all about the zero tolerance policy on bullying. They sent something home about it last year. what I want to know is why bother having a policy, printing the literature, sending it home and then when a situation like this happens everyone seems to turn a blind eye to it. If I was your friend i'd be up at the school evryday until they either got tired of seeing me or did something about it

Where is the bus driver in all this???

Naomi - she was "turning a blind eye", as Samy put it. She did nothing. I don't understand how she can sit there and witness this happening without getting involved. Even if I witnessed this happening as an average citizen walking down the street, I would have to at least break up the fight. How can you sit idly by and watch children harass each other? I just don't "get it".

Yeah Samy - I agree, I would have pushed it until something was done. I guess she felt like she was at the end of her rope, having gone to the school and the BOE. It's just an incredibly frustrating situation.

Get the kid's name, find the address, and make a visit to their house. That's what I would've done.

She couldn't even do this. This girl was in 4th or 5th grade, and my friend's daughter was in 1st grade, so she didn't even know the girl. I guess her daughter could've done some "undercover" work, but that might be a bit too much to expect from a 1st grader.

When I have kids, they'll be learning Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai... I pity the bully that picks on my kids.

My children got to school and back, just fine. One road the bus and the other drove to school. I didn't have to move a muscle.

No wondering their bullying in the schools. All they tell you is, their talk with the parnets & the child. To me it don't say much for their up bringing of that child.

My daughter last year had a incident, some child walked up to her and started beating her up for no reason. Lucky the High School has video camera. The whole incident was caught on tape. The tape clearly showed that my daughter was standing their talking with her friends, When then girl came up from behind. The girl was charge with assault and battery. If it wasn't for that tape, I doubt if they would have did anything, expect to call me.

Oh by the time I got to the school, I was madder then heck. I told them if they didn't do something, They all be in court so fast their head would spin. I told them, I don't tolerate someone hitting my child period.

You really want to know what's stupid. I found out from her, that the tell the kids, If someone hitting them go into a fetal postion until someone comes. That's a crock of crap, I told her if someone hits her again like that she has my permission to fight back. I'll deal with the darn school.

I was a bully once.

When I was in middle school, I went through this phase of tripping, charlie horses, and other similar antics. I don't know why I did it, I have no excuse.

When I got into high school, I was a pretty tough kid. I thought I was a bigshot when I was a freshman in high school, but I'll never forget the day that all changed. It was summer football practice and traditionally the seniors would initiate the freshman one by one. There was one kid in my grade that no one liked. He had a big mouth and never shut up, so one day the seniors beat him with cleats, threw him in the middle of a huge patch of briars, threw him in a giant mud puddle, made him "sit the wall" (if you know what that is), they stole his lunch, and they beat on him in practice. Basically, they put him through hell. That day I was scared to death of what would happen to me so I got a quick attitude adjustment and somehow eluded ever getting initiated.

Throughout high school I bullied the bullys in gym class or in sports. I took up for the same guys that I bullied in middle school.

I was never taught to curl up into fetal position and cry for help. I was raised such that I wasn't to take sh!t from anyone.. if someone assaulted me, I fought back. I was suspended twice from school for 3 days each for fighting, but I was just defending myself and my parents had no issue with it. Bullys tend to be bullys because they don't get hit back. All it takes is one good shot and they will leave you alone.

I could fight, but I didn't go looking for fights. I made a better lover than a fighter.

all went well for me after i got back home and took a nerve pill, my boy just got his card to drive , so off we went in my f-250 pick up truck , i think i made things worse then they were, he did okay .

I couldn't believe they tell school child that. I think my daughter down fall is that she a lot shorter then other teens. At the age of 17 she only 5 ft, kids love picking on kids, that are a lot shorter then them. I use to get picked on all the time, but of course I'm short too. All I know is one day, I got tired of it, every person that ever pick on me or beat me up in the pass. Had everything I gave them coming to them. But the funny thing was, they all wanted to be my friend after, I beat the crap out of them.

I cant see why none of the other kids would stick up for the little girl. a 4th or 5th grader picking on a 1st grader is just plain wrong. the bus driver should be fired if they know this is happening and aren't doing anything to stop it. I think the taking a trip to the kids house to speak with his parents idea is a good one too. Then again the kid learned it somewhere and you might have to mauy-thai the old man before its over

Actually, I can understand why the bus driver didn't get involved. In today's lawsuit happy society, the bus driver was probably concerned about being charged with assault on the kids for merely trying to break up a fight.

If I'm not mistaken, the law recognizes that any child over 7 years old can be considered culpable in a crime. In other words, a 7 year old knows the difference between right and wrong. If the school administration refused to do anything or to provide any information that would aid in the investigation of a crime (i.e., assault and battery) I would have called the police and reported the crime on behalf of the child right there in the principal's office. The administration can not refuse to provide information to police when it becomes an official investigation of a crime.

Actually, I just heard on the news that a 7 year old boy was just charged with stabbing another 7 year old on a playground in Baltimore!

I think I might spring for a camera if I were a bus driver. CYA kinda thing. Heck, maybe we need them in classrooms too so some parents can see how their angelic little Johnny really is. And it might even help ferret out the occasional worthless teacher who still "teaches".

Naomi- that is an absolute GENIUS idea. parents could access classrooms from the web. I know some buses have cameras on board but all of them should be equipped

You mean Snoopy's GENIUS idea. My idea is to have a ferrett in every classroom & bus.

I could live with implementing them both

Sounds kinda like a campaign promise huh? A ferret & camera in every bus & classroom!

Samyo, I could not agree with you more... my daughter is in third grade at Old Forge.. I have never seen a principal as involved as Mr. Festerman. I have seen him address each child he sees by their first name... He knows each child in the school and takes a personal interest in making sure that they know he cares. I had a problem during first grade and he made it a point to spend as much time with my wife and I as we needed and in the end the problem was corrected to our satisfaction... As for the teachers at the school, they are tops, my daughter is challenged and loving it... she finished last year with a straight A report card.



Allow me to comment on the above statements...
My wife is a school bus driver. She does not drive for the BOE, but for a contractor. I know a great many other drivers. I would say that all the drivers I know will not allow the type of behavior that happened on that bus to continue. In fact the drivers have the right to write up a student who is not following the rules on the bus and the complaint is given to the principal to be taken care of... depending on what the complaint is for a student may be spoken to, suspended from riding the bus and if it continues to happen a student can have their bus riding privilege taken away completely. I know of a few instances where this has happened.
Yossarian, the bus drivers DO get involved. Unfortunately, not all the drivers do, but I would say that over 95% of the drivers care very much for the students on their buses and take great pains to see that they all act as they are supposed to. Of course like most jobs, the minority that does not do the job makes the rest of them look bad.
In the case of a fight on a bus, the driver has a cell phone and will normally stop the bus, and call the police. I know of drivers who have been threatened by students on the bus and have had fights break out and this is what the recommended procedure is. This way the driver is not physically involved in the altercation.
At the beginning of each school year ALL school bus drivers MUST attend a training session, no matter how many years they have been driving. At these training sessions they go over all the bus safety issues, how to deal with unruly students, and also have on road testing of ALL drivers.
At this time I believe the majority of BOE owned school buses have a camera in them and the tapes are available to the BOE Transportation Dept.
Allow me to make a few suggestions based on years of living with a school bus driver.
1. If your child is having a problem with a bully on a bus and the driver is not doing anything to take care of it. Contact the BOE Transportation Dept., give them the bus number. They will investigate.
2. Any problems you have with school buses should be told to the BOE Transportation Dept. If they are not told they have no way of knowing.
3. If you see a school bus speeding or not obeying traffic regulations, call the BOE Transportation Dept. It will be taken care of.

When you hear a story about a problem with students on a school bus, please remember that it is not the norm and the drivers have been taught how to handle the problem... just because the issue is not handled immediately on board the bus by the driver does not mean it is not being handled at all. I know drivers who have pulled their bus over to the side of the road and announced to the students that they were going to sit there until order was restored. It usually works... if it did not, the driver might then drive back to the school and let the principal handle the problem... in some cases, the principal actually rode the bus to make sure the students behaved. You have to know that there were repercussions about that the next day at school.

Yes, I know first hand that the buses have cameras in them. Late in year last year-May, I think, my son was very late coming home. I was about to call the school when he showed up. It seems some dumb-dumbs were smoking on the bus in the back, and the bus driver smelt the smoke and told them to quit. They did not, so he turned the bus around and headed back to school. The principal reviewed the tape and called the young idiots' parents to come and get them and they did not ride the bus for the few weeks left. My son thought the whole thing was ridiculous on the idiots' part. He said all the kids know there are cameras on the buses!!

As far as the bullying in school, I also had an episode with middle school last year. Another kid threw my daughter's books down the hall--she is also very short and petite...and when my daughter grabbed the other girl's arm to stop her from hitting my daughter a teacher saw that and hauled both of them into the principal's office. I went there fuming and found out that the other kid is a 'troubled' child and my daughter should have not confronted her!!! So I demanded to know where the teachers were when this started...oh, they do not always stand in the halls before school..oh, and we got all but one of your daughter's books back...needless to say I gave them alot of my mind..and the punishment the other kid got? She was sent home from school for the day...as was my daughter for 'fighting'. I informed them that if my daughter was assaulted again she had my permission to fight back...I REFUSE TO NOT DEFEND MYSELF OR MY CHILDREN.

No kid should ever be punished for defending themself.

I told all my kids if they ever got suspended for defending themselves I'd take off work and take them wherever they wanted to go! If they started it then that would be another story and the punishment would be severe. i am not going to tell my children to stand there and do nothing if they are being assaulted

Exactly.

Y'all are gonna love this idea:

The teachers teach the students that the way to defuse a 'bullying situation' is to empathize with the 'bully' and try to become their 'friend'. (I am not making this up--this is what they told my son at some type of 'indoctrination/awareness' program at school. He cracked up when he told me this...thought it was the funniest thing he ever heard..His friends and he know better--it just encourages the bully).

Oh and the teachers have been told that the difference between a bully or disadvantaged(read poor/disadvantaged) person and the average student is that the former feel that people are possessions rather than people. HUH?? Since when is a person like a notebook?

That's about the stupid thing, I ever heard. Teacher must be a little off the wall there. Well I done warn the school, if I have to come back next year for the same thing. Somebody is going to be sorry, that's for sure.

Someone bein a bully has nothing to do with how well they read. Bullys come from all kinds of backgrounds.

when my boy was in middle school he was walking down the hall, when he camme to the corner to turn left down another hall a boy was waiting and sucker punched him, they were taken to the office and punished for fightiing, i was so mad i told the principal that im telling my boy to hit back the next time, he said thats right , if you get hit hit him back, he said that both will get punished any ways , but hit back. how dumb is that?

The above was taught in a Professional Day Teacher's Workshop. They were taught how to "understand" and "relate" to these often disruptive students.

I think it is our tax money hard at work...

I'm still wondering why, the schools have more days off then they use too. When I went to school. School use to start the day after Labor and you got out in the early part of June. What was wrong with the old ways?