Wild Rides

Some parents ignore the truth of what goes on in school buses,By Lori Price Sparta - True story. Here’s the scene: A rowdy out-of-control school bus ride home. Items and profanity travel through the air like, well , like air. The bus driver warns his passengers, issuing orders to all in an attempt to gain control over the unruly mass of adolescence. Before long the bus pulls over, the doors are locked and with a quick draw of the cell phone the defeated driver calls the police. “Run!” is the directive shouted by a teen concerned about police involvement. Most of the precious cargo on board flees out an emergency exit, bobbing and weaving their way down the streets and for some, straight into the path of police waiting to escort them home. Parents may ignore what actually goes on during a child’s ride to and from school. Parents may not know that their child’s school bus resembles less a scene from Leave it to Beaver and more like a scene from Mutiny on the Bounty. Based on some unofficial accounts, middle school aged students take some wild rides, while elementary students have a more tamed atmosphere during their school bus rides and, interestingly, high schoolers no longer find the disruptions entertaining. “The hormonal storm of adolescence is associated with more impulsiveness and distractibility for a few years and consequently more acting out behavior,” says Sparta, Psychologist Pierce Skinner. “For this reason, middle school is a more challenging time for setting limits with children.” A middle school aged child may not use profanity, but thanks to a select number of his peers on the bus, he sure hears it. Parents may not think their child needs the slang version of the birds and the bees lesson, but chances are, they’re already educated. That music they are forbidden to listen to at home, they’re getting an earful on the bus. True, not all buses are out of control; many area bus drivers command full control over their passengers, resulting in respectful and tame children. A Sparta bus driver who prefers not to be identified in this story, believes the burden of setting the right atmosphere on the busses rest on the drivers. “I believe it’s the drivers themselves who allow unruly behavior to get out of control on a daily basis. Without rules the students know what they can get away with. Parents and school administrators need to be made aware of bad behavior through written warnings, and if need be a meeting should be held which also includes the bus driver,” she says. This female bus driver admits to occasionally pulling the bus over to address inappropriate behavior. “This is not a new problem,” states Sparta Police Sergeant Russell Smith. “The kids have been under wraps all day, doing work and following rules. They get on the bus with their friends and neighbors and if the bus driver doesn’t care or doesn’t act like the one in charge, what do you think will happen? Some kids will act like it’s a party. Wow! How human…” According to Smith, contributing to the problem is the fact that once a student starts the middle school, parents no longer wait for them at the bus stop and are unaware of the type of atmosphere their kids are subjected to and in some cases, creating on the bus. “For you parents who say, ‘hey, not my kid’, well, guess what? It is your kid acting up,” says Smith. “Parents need to remind their kids about proper behavior. Bus drivers need to make formal complaints and, if necessary, call the police for some curbside attention for misbehaving kids. And the school administrators need to be tougher on the offenders.” According to Michael Gregory, principal at Mohawk Avenue School, all bus drivers have “Conduct Report” forms, which have to be filled out and submitted to the school’s disciplinarian, which in most schools is a vice principal. These forms provide the drivers an opportunity to report inappropriate behavior by students. The policy for the Mohawk Avenue School, which is posted on its Web site, states that violators face punishment of a warning letter for first offense to suspension of bus privileges and school suspension for repeated offences. “The Sparta drivers seem to have more control over their passengers and do not tolerate as much. The private contractors the district uses do respond to our concerns immediately. In my situations, I always investigate and speak with the students involved when concerns are brought to my attention,” states Gregory. All parties involved share the opinion that providing a safe ride for the students is a collective effort. “Parents have to not only talk to their kids about their behavior, but also talk to the bus driver to really know what’s going on during that time your kids ride the bus,” says Sergeant Smith. Psychologist Dr Skinner believes that simple changes such as moving a misbehaving student to the front of the bus, and assigning permanent seats could solve the problems. “Addressing the children with regards to safety, rules and regulations, and having the vice principals board buses to address behavior issues are structuring and containing behaviors that are internalized by the children,” says Skinner. “Anger and aggressive behavior on the part of the bus drivers can create resentment on the part of the children. And conversely, a driver who doesn’t set limits with children, for whatever reason, will generally see children act out more and more.”