Jekyll Island Beach 2012

Jekyll Island Beach 2012

Thursday, June 21, 2012

E is for Effrontery

The Rogue Speaks:

If you see any words in blue and underlined, I have NO idea what's up with that.  Please do not click on them, thinking you are going to see something fabulous.  It's just junk.

KAREN KLEIN, SCHOOL BUS MONITOR

Oh, the effrontery!!!That poor bus monitor!  You know the one I mean--Karen Klein, of Rochester, New York!  She sat on that school bus while those obnoxious, pre-pubescent prols bullied her unmercifully. The "F" word was heavily used.   If my kid had behaved that way, he would be placed in solitary confinement for an indeterminate amount of time, and be forced to eat Brussels sprouts and mystery meat every day.

I went on YouTube today to see the video, and happened to start reading some of the comments.  Now I know just where those kids learned those nasty remarks and foul language. The majority of the comments were appalling, and many of the writers bordered on illiterate!   They spoke of beating those kids while at the same time cursing at each other, and sometimes even using racial slurs.  There were MANY misspelled words and grammatical errors!!

I would not have been as calm as Karen, I'm afraid.  You know me!  I take no prisoners!  Actually, I would have  stopped the bus and throw the little hellions off.  I would have called the school to report immediately just what was going on, and asked a school official to come to the scene.  Thank goodness someone videoed the incident!  That video has gone viral.

Well, that's all I have to say regarding this issue.  My house is such a dusty mess, and I have  a mountain of vacation laundry to wash.  Then I have to nap.

Please go to Jenny's blog to read the other pupils' lessons on Alphabe-Thursday.

32 comments:

lissa said...

it's sad what people to even hear about. I'm just glad not everyone behaves that way.

hope you have a sweet day.

~✽Mumsy✽~ said...

When my oldest boy was on the bus, kindergarten time, he came home and told me what he saw, and heard on the bus, so I yanked him off and drove him instead.

I'm so sorry for what happened to Karen Klein!

Dana @ Bungalow'56 said...

Oh my I haven't seen it. My kids have never taken the bus, as a prior teacher i knew the worst behaviour always happened once those doors were closed and they felt they no longer had to abide by any rules. I hope something positive comes of this.
Dana

Jo said...

What an amazing woman to have tolerated all of that abuse without going ballistic ... kudos to her

and to those kids, their parents should be ashamed, and yet, i bet most of those parents will deny that their child was involved ... "oh little timmy never does anything wrong" as they bury their heads in the sand yet again. this is why bullying is such an epidemic ... I urge you all to view this video and contribute to her "vacation" fun.

Lmkazmierczak said...

What was she supposed to be monitoring?

Kranky Granny said...

Afraid I avoid u-tube as if it were the plague. Hubby watches it enough for us both and usually fills me in on the hot topics. He must have missed this one.

I believe that every parent should have to do there turn as monitor of those buses and the school halls and a whole lot more. If they did their own kids would be better behaved.

Judie said...

I assume that Karen was supposed to be monitoring the riders to be sure that they weren't hurting each other, or doing anything dangerous.

Joey posts videos of the twins on YouTube for us to ooh and aah over.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I just saw a report on World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer about this, Judie. They have the video on their web site for parents to watch with their children so they can talk to them about bullying in general. They interviewed Mrs. Klien and she was a very nice, sweet woman. She hoped that people of all ages would learn from the video. The parents of the children involved were appalled by their children's actions. Someone started a fund to send Mrs. Klien on a nice vacation and so far $300,000 has been raised! So something good came out of something bad.

JJ said...

Judie: You are being too nice. There is so much more here than some misguided students bullying an older woman. Could you imagine this happening when you were in school? Society did not accept that behavior. Today, they will probably spend thousands of taxpayer dollars earmarked for education to counsel the little cherubs. I didn't see the You Tube video, but did anyone ask, "Where the hell were the parents?" These kids did not raise themselves.

Judie said...

And no one else did, either, JJ.

Pondside said...

I just saw this on the Globe and Mail website - what a horror. I despair for our future if this is the way average children behave.....and I believe that there is more of this than we know. You could have written a post with 'E for Entitlement' as that is what these children (and most likely, their parents) have waaay too much of - a sense of entitlement.

Catherine said...

My heart breaks for her, and I feel sick inside that these children are so horrible. The pack mentality was disgusting to watch. They just kept piling on, not even making sense. They even put their hands on her! But if she had said anything, or tried to defend herself, I'm sure the parents of these animals would be all over this poor woman's case. I'm glad I homeschool.

Tina´s PicStory said...

... no it didn´t rain. it was a beautiful sunny evening :) thanks for stopping by!

anitamombanita said...

I didn't see this, but honestly, the lack of civility in the world today is mind boggling!

VBR said...

When I saw that news article I was shocked. With all of the Stop Bullying programs in schools today, it seems bullying continues to be a major issue.

BECKY said...

Hey Judie! I didn't watch the You Tube video, but I saw enough on the nightly news. I'm appalled, too, and had the same emotions the rest of the "civilized" world did. One of my first thoughts was, No wonder millions of people hate the Americans, because they think our entire population behaves like that, and never gets punished. But just now, after reading your astute thoughts...it kind of makes me wonder, too. Yes, she should've stopped the bus. Yes, she should've called SOMEONE. And just WHO was she supposed to be monitoring?? I'm sitting here shaking my head....

Linda @ Life and Linda said...

It's shameful what those kids did to her. She must have alot of patience. I am sure she was tempted to yank away the phones and smack them. You can't do that. I saw today, that those kids put out apologies.....I am guessing those words came from their parents in a script. I am happy to hear people supported her and also set up money for her to take a lovely vacation.

Cathy said...

Unfortunately I know quite a bit of those.

My only consolation is, they will NEVER amount to anything.

Judie said...

These kids are still quite young--7th/8th graders--and I believe that they and their parents should go into counselling, and take an extensive course in sensitivity training. I am sure that many of them succumbed to peer pressure. Don't get me wrong! I'm NOT defending them by any means. They should receive some type of punishment that they won't soon forget.

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

There was so much about this that amazed me-not the least of which is that, according to what I read, one of those horrible students posted the video on the internet! Was he proud of their behavior? I'm so glad that there was a public outcry over this. I read this morning that the boys are now apologizing. Hopefully, lessons were learned. laurie

Jim said...

Effronterie of the worst, Judy! And she is a bus monitor.

The kids should have been scared silly of her. My opinion of why they aren't? She is too nice a lady. But she did manage driving the school busses for many years.
..

Ames said...

Well I didn't see the You Tube video but I can tell you this...I would be behind bars... for kicking some young tender asses! I can't stand disrespectful brats! I blame it on their parents. "BRING BACK THE WOODSHED!!!" BRING BACK THE BELT!!!" For kids like these...where is "The Great Santini" when you need one?? Todays youth have no respect for their elders.~Ames

Judie said...

So far, $550,000 has been sent to her for a vacation! OMG!!!! Maybe I should become a school bus monitor, and take abuse from kids!!! Nah! I would probably snatch the pee-wonka-doodle out of those little brats and throw them off the bus! Then I would get sued by the parents. There's no justice!!!

Splendid Little Stars said...

didn't know about this. just looked it up.
How sickening!
I want to say "unbelievable." What happened to respect?
verbal apology is not enough.

Theresa Plas said...

I saw this story on the news this week. Offensive and depressing. I understand it will be used as a learning tool and the offenders will be punished. On a good note, there was a collection taken up for the victim...last I heard it was 115K...kindness still exists out there.
P.S. I emailed you my address Ms. J! xo

Vicki/Jake said...

Makes me puke...the whole thing. Now I need to figure out what to post on the viral site...I need a vacation too:)

EG CameraGirl said...

I'd love to know why children feel it's okay to bully others. More than few parents are NOT doing their job, I fear.

Jonell w Harrison said...

Judie: There..I found you! will follow and stop by now and then when possible. My two cents worth: As I look back at my childhood and relationships I realize that WE never made fun of or denegrated people like our grandparents or other elderly people in our lives. They were human beings & we actually knew what RESPECT was. Today we hear about RESPECT, hear the word spoken but do not see it. And btw my grandparents' word carried the same 'weight' as my parents. Lordy me..we actually knew the difference between 'right and wrong' were not proud of our 'wrong' choices nor rewarded for them as is often the case these days. One more thought: The reason this bus monitor did nothing is because no one has any real authority-priority #1 is DON'T GET SUED.
Ooooookay, enough of my rant. Thanks for listening/reading.

Jonell
South Alabama
"Like Gramma's House" blog

KDL said...

The whole thing is saddening and maddening. I think there are some things she could have done that wouldn't have gotten her sued, but would maybe instill some respect in the little urchins. The parents definitely need to step up and take some responsibility here. And God help us get to the root of this nonsense in our culture. As you note it is rampant. People can't even leave respectable comments on public websites. We have little decency left it seems.

The Poet said...

Hello.
I've not seen the video, but this seems to be the behavior of so many of today's children and society. I've said this once and I'll keep saying it...manners and respect begin in the home. In my day, we NEVER behaved like this and it was instilled in us to always respect our elders (whom we referred to as Mr so & so or Mrs so & so) and each other. Those kids deserve to be punished...hit them where it hurts...take away their privileges, make them go cleaning up the neighborhood, anything that will make them realize they can't treat other people like this. All too often parents today want to be their child's BFF instead of the parent. This is why I'm glad I don't have any children. Thanks for sharing.

Emotions Of Poetry

Jenny said...

I cannot understand society.

Ignored and entitled children with too much time and no positive influence.

Accckk.

I dunno Judie.

The world is a scary place.

Thanks for linking this. You always make such sense of the mishmash of emotion I feel when I hear of things like this.

Hugs and +

Annesphamily said...

This world is going to hell in a hand basket! But look at the T.V kids watch and the games they play! Plus look at some of the families they come from! Ugh!Most of it is just foul mouthed junk! I would have turned that bus over bare handed before anyone bullied me like that! I am old and I am not afraid to speak out!