Students suspended in NY bus monitor bullying

Karen Klein / CBS News

(AP) NEW YORK - Four seventh-grade students from upstate New York who were caught on video mercilessly taunting a 68-year-old bus monitor have received their punishment.

The school system in the Rochester suburb of Greece says it will suspend the middle school students from school and from using regular bus transportation for a year for bullying Karen Klein.

The students will be transferred to a special alternative education program because the district is legally required to give them an education. Each student also will be required to complete 50 hours of community service with senior citizens.

They will be able to reapply to middle school after they complete the discipline.

In a statement, the school system said each of the students involved admitted wrongdoing, accepted the consequences and agreed to let the district publicly release the terms of their disciplinary action.

The cellphone video posted online by a fellow student drew millions of viewers. The video shows Klein trying her best to ignore a stream of profanity, insults and outright threats.

One student taunted: "You don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they don't want to be near you." Klein's oldest son killed himself 10 years ago.

Eventually, Klein appears to break down in tears.

A fund drive that began with a goal of $5,000 to help Klein take a nice vacation raised more than $667,000 as of Friday.

Klein has received national attention through social and news media with interviews such as an appearance earlier this week on NBC's "Today" show. She was honored Thursday in Boston, where she was greeted by a youth cheerleading squad and escorted on a red carpet to receive an honorary Boston school bus monitor certificate.

Klein could not be reached for comment Friday. However, police have said Klein did not want the boys to face criminal charges.

In an Associated Press interview last week, Klein asked people to leave the boys alone.

"Threatening them? No. That's not the way to go about things," she said. "They're just kids.

"I don't want to judge anybody or put them in jail or anything like that. I just want them to learn a lesson."

WSYR-TV in Syracuse first reported the school district's decision.

[ZachAttack055]

In Middle School I was physically bullied every day, and told the teachers, the supervising staff, and even the principal, but they just told me to ignore it, and even after I tried to kill myself, they simply said that I had a mental disorder and refused to even do anything about it. I was also placed in classes with mentally retarded kids, despite me having perfect mental health. I would mention the name of the school I went to, but I don't want to start a legal battle.

[wordwrkr]

How completely idiotic to suspend these kids for a year. Community service? You bet. Extra homework for a year? You bet. Suspension? How stupid. These are the very kids that need MORE guidance and supervision, not less. How does suspending them help the situation? Further, I agree that it's quite possible putting this woman on a bus full of 7th graders was a bone-headed move in the first place. If someone needs to be suspended, I think it's the superintendent.

[jmn122736]

by egrattan June 30, 2012 11:10 AM EDT:
Over reacts? It is assault to inflict physical pain on a child. Do you think it's okay to use physical force on adults to teach them to do something? See how well that goes over with your employees.
--------------------------------------------------------

JRC_903 is correct. Sadly we totally ignore the old axiom " spare the rod and spoil the child".
When I was a child, discipline of students was still permissible. School discipline was generally limited to the principle to avoid excessive and/or abusive discipline. Parents routinely SPANKED their children to teach them responsibility and respect for others.
Back then, parents realized that actually showing their children that they would be held responsible for their actions with spankings and/or other penalties while they were growing up was far better than waiting until they are adults and punishing them with the hangman's rope, electric chair, or the needle.
And BTW, JRC_903; I believe that qualifies as physical force on an adult.

[egrattan]

You'll need to work on your critical thinking skills - this argument is just bad reasoning.

First: The axiom "spare the rod" comes from an ancient text whereby the "rod" was akin to guidance and nudging along with a staff. Shepherds would understand this axiom and never in a thousand years assume it meant pick up a stick and beat a kid.

Just because people behave a certain way for any number of years or if they did in history is zero logical reason to continue to practice the primitive idea of assaulting children.

Use a little common sense when you suggest taking a full grown adult and striking the body of a child. That anyone can rationalize this is sad.

[phwtb100]

Those boys got off very easy! They aren't being punished, their parents are, and that teaches them nothing in the long run.

They have now been placed in a different school and taken off the bus- so THEY DON'T have to see Karen everyday. Not the other way around. They have been slapped on the wrist with 50 hours of community service. A punishment which could be served playing cards with the seniors at a neighborhood senior center. What will that teach them?

These boys haven't learned a thing other than DON'T let someone video you when you are misbehaving. No, these boys were not punished by the 'system' and while I admire Ms. Klein for her non-reaction to the situation, I also have to say SHE deserves a LOT more than what she got. ALL of the school systems across this country should be taking a very long, hard look at what they have done by allowing students to get so far out of control.

Put corporal punishment BACK into the school system. We have already SEEN, all across this nation, the repercussion of allowing it to be removed and the outcome of the 'adults' we have gotten out of it since. The only thing that will STOP "animals/bullies" from behaving like this is for them to be able to understand there is ALWAYS someone bigger and tougher, and, at their age, no one is as tough as their school coaches and principles. If you want them to learn to settle something without a violent attitude, you have to get their attention very early.

Sadly, no one got to these kids soon enough.

[knewsteerrrrr]

Really? so you mean their homes and cells under seige with thousands of phone calls, emails and text messages, death threats, and at least one clown called the police and reported a situation that required a swat team decending on one of the kid's houses! They are known everywhere now by name and where they are, and the reports were at least one was afraid to even leave his own house LOL!!!

Oh they are learning FAST just how much hate and anger there is towards them, and it's laughable to see them squirm, -AND- their parents on national TV squirming.

They are this out of control because they know the teachers cant touch them because of the laws and lawsuits, they know that no matter what they do the very worst that can happen to them even if they MURDER someone is they go to the kid version of club-med till they are 18 and then get off with no criminal record.

[egrattan]

So you want to assault children? That's absurd. You lay a my child, you'd be arrested and serve jail time. Evidence counters your claims that the removal of assault on children has led to any sort of increase.

[JRC_903]

The punishment here may fit the crime. However, this entire episode demonstrates how the pendulum has swung from protecting children from adults, to almost mandating adults sit helplessly while children abuse them. When society overreacts to cases of child abuse by making it a crime to ever use physical force against a child, then why would so many people become surprised/outraged over this event?

I tend to lean to the left in some things, however, the notion that adults can be tasked with educating children while being held to the exact same level of respect and authority is absurd. Now granted, anyone who claims they love children so much that they place themselves in this position, is questionable. After all, the way things appear structured in the schools today, if a child does not get the mark they "request"-- then any excuse to retaliate can not be rule out???? So.. if a child wants to tear up the place, or others, or the teacher, the only alternate is to call the police.. GIVE ME A BREAK! I can appreciate teaching children to believe they a worthy.. but EXACTLY WHAT ARE THEY WORTHY OF?

[knewsteerrrrr]

Exactly, and you watch some of the old movies made in the 40s and 50s that happen to have a schoolroom or classroom in some of the scenes, or kids interacting with their parents or adults it was way different!
Go watch movies like National Velvet, Lassie come home, Old Yeller, and you see kids who were totally different in every way- actually pleasant and likeable.

[egrattan]

Over reacts? It is assault to inflict physical pain on a child. Do you think it's okay to use physical force on adults to teach them to do something? See how well that goes over with your employees.

[audemus]

They should be taken out by the wood shed....I know a few million folks who'd volunteer to be their escorts.

[Mar70ilyn]

I am so glad this lady has been given money. It is so sad that she was willing to endure this kind of torment for the small salary that she was making, so she apparently needed it. Where was the school bus driver? It is a shame that school systems are so restricted in the ability to punish, that these kind of bullies can exist. This really looks bad for the parents. Respect of those different, weaker, older, etc. must be instilled in a child from the time he is small.

[phwtb100]

"...sad that she was willing to endure this kind of torment for the small salary that she was making,...."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

How much money do you think someone needs to be making to make it worth their wile to put up with the trash she was FORCED to endure? Did you SEE the original video??

Whether she needed the money or not, there is, was and never will be ANY excuse for those boys behavior. Had I been her, I wouldn't have taken it just sitting there crying. Those boys butts would have been OFF that bus in a heartbeat and in no way would it have been a gentle, "Please remove yourself from the bus" either!!! I could have, BUT WOULD NOT HAVE, held my temper that long. All I can say is those boys need to hit their knees every day and thank God in heaven I wasn't the one they tried their crap on!

[knewsteerrrrr]

Now you know what it's like for gay people and gay kids in school to have to deal with the exact same thing!

[AnnieDanny]

I think Karen Klein has responded admirably to this situation; she really sets a good example.

The boys are getting a stiff punishment, besides the wrath of their parents, so I think people who complain their punishment is only a slap in the wrist haven't thought about it. This is a big inconvenience for their families, for one thing: they have to go to an alternative school and cannot ride school buses to get there. They have to do 50 hours of community service: these boys don't drive so the parents are going to have to be involved with that as well.

They won't be going to school with the friends they have known: they're being separated from their normal life, normal school and normal classes. This is a huge deal for kids, and I think they're going to FEEL it every step of the way. It's going to make an impression.

The other comments on this thread are vicious: I kinda wonder what these people were like when THEY were 14. Or maybe the ARE 14.

[Bojax39]

However, police have said Klein did not want the boys to face criminal charges......

"I don't want to judge anybody or put them in jail or anything like that. I just want them to learn a lesson."

Yeah, heaven forbid we teach the little bastards anything about manners or responsibility or consequences for bad behavior. Just give them a pat on the wrist and delude yourself into thinking they've learned a "lesson". :-/

[knewsteerrrrr]

Right! but it's not her choice to prosecute, the state is the one who decides to prosecute or not regardless of the wishes of the victim in a crime.

[nutzabout3]

New York kids with New York PARENTS.

That explains EVERYTHING.

Nothing more needed to be said.

[islanena]

to nutzabout3, NYC and upstate new york are two completely opposite places, neither one is involved with the other, except sharing a name, otherwise it's the complete opposite. that area is pretty much working class republican. actually alot more needs to be said because the comment seems general and vague. I am now teaching in California, there are kids like that here. If you know of a state where the parents and kids are all not dysfunctional and toxic and are instead a joy to work with, fair, mature, etc. where students love learning and dont test our patiences moment by moment, let me know, I'll be moving there asap, and I am serious.

[bobnjersey]

[New York kids with New York PARENTS. That explains EVERYTHING. Nothing more needed to be said.]
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interesting logic.

how do you suppose you'd explain the fact that mrs. klein is from new york as well?

do you have any broad generalizations to apply there?