Woah. Let's just throw anything I had to say out the window today (wait, scratch that. Too hot).
I was going to talk about training/diet/heat, etc. But that can wait until tomorrow.
Because when your town makes national news, you address it.
I just wish that something positive put Rochester on the map :-(
But...unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard the national news story of the bus monitor, Karen. The 68 year old widow was the victim of heartless bullying on a bus Monday afternoon, all caught on camera and posted to You Tube, where it went viral.
The four tormentors....were 12. And 13.
Oh yeah. It was a middle school bus. Did I forget to mention that part? The bus monitor, employed by Greece school district for 23 years, sat on the bus while the kids rode home, and for at least 14 minutes, endured taunts regarding her looks, family, socio economic status, and downright threats on her person, home, and family.
Disgusting.
And those little brats filed the whole damn thing, thinking it was funny.
Well, karma has a way of biting you in the butt. Once the video hit YouTube (see a clip here-it's really disturbing, though...I only got to about minute 4 before I had to shut it off), angry citizens began calling the police, school board, and superintendent. The police are currently investigating the situation, as is the school, stating that any punishment will be doled out in the new school year.
And now, it's National. MSNBC. The Today Show.
Wow.
A few thoughts. Regarding the kids...it's disgusting. You want to place blame somewhere, but where? Behavior like this is completely unacceptable, and I do hope that they are banned from the bus, made to do community service, and apologize publicly to the victim. At least. But do they deserve to be punished forever? The Internets don't forget...and all four perpetrators names and addresses are in the web. Imagine 10 years down the line when they are applying for jobs....did you think about that when you were 12? Me either. But then again, I never would have pulled this crap when I was a kid. Forget the school or the police...I would have been scared $hitless to go home. My mom was great. She raised me well. And I had a ....healthy fear of her, as a parent. I think I got smacked two or three times as a kid (when i well deserved it). But that fear of the possibility, along with lessons on good manners and a good example, did the job. What did these kids role models look like? We don't know, and we can't judge. But many kids today do not have that "healthy fear" of parents. Why? Well, I won't get into that can of worms.
But, be that as it may, there are plenty of other "good kids" in today's day and age, so you can't put a societal blanket over it.
There is a silver lining in all this mess. Once the you tube video hit the Internets and the public went crazy, one student in Toronto decided to organize a helping hand for this woman. He launched a site through Indiegogo.com in order to collect donations to send the bus monitor on a nice vacation after dealing with her ordeal. The original goal? $5,000. The site went live Tuesday evening.
As I write this, they have raised nearly $300,000. All on the goodwill of people.
Should a bus monitor rake in that kind of cash? Who knows. And really, who cares? Something truly terrible happened to her that people can identify with. So they want to help. And that shows that even though horrible things can happen in this day and age, the basic decency of some people exist. Ever seen "It Could Happen to You?" Yeah. It's like that. And in New York, too (hmm).
Society? It's messed up. This should have never happened. But at the end of the day, don't rule out people. They can come through in the strangest of times :-)
What do you think of this whole story?
I was going to talk about training/diet/heat, etc. But that can wait until tomorrow.
Because when your town makes national news, you address it.
I just wish that something positive put Rochester on the map :-(
 |
| Karen Klein, Bus montor |
The four tormentors....were 12. And 13.
Oh yeah. It was a middle school bus. Did I forget to mention that part? The bus monitor, employed by Greece school district for 23 years, sat on the bus while the kids rode home, and for at least 14 minutes, endured taunts regarding her looks, family, socio economic status, and downright threats on her person, home, and family.
Disgusting.
And those little brats filed the whole damn thing, thinking it was funny.
Well, karma has a way of biting you in the butt. Once the video hit YouTube (see a clip here-it's really disturbing, though...I only got to about minute 4 before I had to shut it off), angry citizens began calling the police, school board, and superintendent. The police are currently investigating the situation, as is the school, stating that any punishment will be doled out in the new school year.
And now, it's National. MSNBC. The Today Show.
Wow.
A few thoughts. Regarding the kids...it's disgusting. You want to place blame somewhere, but where? Behavior like this is completely unacceptable, and I do hope that they are banned from the bus, made to do community service, and apologize publicly to the victim. At least. But do they deserve to be punished forever? The Internets don't forget...and all four perpetrators names and addresses are in the web. Imagine 10 years down the line when they are applying for jobs....did you think about that when you were 12? Me either. But then again, I never would have pulled this crap when I was a kid. Forget the school or the police...I would have been scared $hitless to go home. My mom was great. She raised me well. And I had a ....healthy fear of her, as a parent. I think I got smacked two or three times as a kid (when i well deserved it). But that fear of the possibility, along with lessons on good manners and a good example, did the job. What did these kids role models look like? We don't know, and we can't judge. But many kids today do not have that "healthy fear" of parents. Why? Well, I won't get into that can of worms.
But, be that as it may, there are plenty of other "good kids" in today's day and age, so you can't put a societal blanket over it.
There is a silver lining in all this mess. Once the you tube video hit the Internets and the public went crazy, one student in Toronto decided to organize a helping hand for this woman. He launched a site through Indiegogo.com in order to collect donations to send the bus monitor on a nice vacation after dealing with her ordeal. The original goal? $5,000. The site went live Tuesday evening.
Should a bus monitor rake in that kind of cash? Who knows. And really, who cares? Something truly terrible happened to her that people can identify with. So they want to help. And that shows that even though horrible things can happen in this day and age, the basic decency of some people exist. Ever seen "It Could Happen to You?" Yeah. It's like that. And in New York, too (hmm).
Society? It's messed up. This should have never happened. But at the end of the day, don't rule out people. They can come through in the strangest of times :-)
What do you think of this whole story?
Wow, watching stuff like that makes me thankful not to be standing in a classroom teaching. I'm currently enjoying my role as a SAHM and praying that if I return to the classroom that they get a grip on this bullying mess. Keep the inspiration up, next year should be my full Iron Distance year.
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