Those nasty bullies who tormented an innocent 68-year-old school bus monitor with comments about her weight, sexual acts and family members killing themselves, finally got their due. A one-year suspension from school, time in some type of rehab facility and community service with the elderly.
A one-year suspension is huge. It seems just and appropriate for a bullying offense. But why does it still not feel like it's enough to pay for what they said and how they actually did it? Maybe because it's not. Once you say such terrible, mean, and hurtful things as they did, you can never take them back or make good on them, no matter how harsh the punishment.
Those taunts will live on the Internet and in the heart of poor Karen Klein forever, no matter how many vacations she gets to take or how many days those boys miss school.
The four middle-schoolers apparently waived their right to a hearing. After a week of talking about the incident, which went viral around the world, the school district near Rochester, New York, issued a statement last night on how to deal with the deviants.
In addition to the suspension and community service work, the boys have to go through a bullying prevention program. Usually, being suspended (or expelled) from school does not mean they miss a grade, it just means they attend an alternative type school where they are still required to complete classwork requirements to be able to keep on track with their current grade. But in many districts, it's not nearly the equivalent of instruction they get while attending regular school, and they miss out on all the social and extra-curricular activities as well. So yeah, it's a real blow to a kid.
But whether the boys will "learn their lesson" from this punishment is unclear. It still doesn't seem to bridge to the larger crime of human decency and respect. Nothing really does. There just is no appropriate punishment for what those boys did to Mrs. Klein ("official" punishment, that is).
Do you think the boys got the punishment they deserved?
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Comments 72
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I feel this punishment was fair and just...they were probably bullies to more than just the bus monitor...Karen Klein wasnt on that bus that day to collect any amount of money near what she now has because it went viral on the internet!! What about the other days when it wasnt being videoed!! Now these parents are very much aware of the chaos their kids have been committing for quite some time and are having to see that they behave in a different school district...if not home schooling...and maybe they will finally come to terms with their own bad behavior while they are still young enough NOT to go to jail/prison behind some childish stupidity.
THEY DESERVED TO BE PUNISHED FOR WHAT THEY DID TO THAT WOMAN. WHAT IF THAT WERE THERE GRANDMOTHER? HOW WOULD THEY FEEL? SHE WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT HAPPENED TO HER. I AM GLAD THEY WERE PUNISHED. IT IS ABOUT TIME THAT SOMETHING IS BEING DONE ABOUT BULLYING. BULLING HURTS PEOPLE AND CAN SCAR THEM FOR LIFE. ESPECIALLY WHEN THE WHOLE WORLD SEES IT.
Unfortunately this may or may not be enough...nor appropriate. These kids are suspended, so to them, especially at middle school age, it probably isn't the worst thing, as they don't have to go to school! i don't know that they are going to a different school, maybe they should have to be home-schooled, but either way the punishment should fit the crime, which the community service does.
However, I am aghast at the incidence of bullying and cruel and inhuman behavior by middle schoolers in general. They schools say they have zero tolerance, but then don't enforce the rules; what is to be done? The kids hear this antibullying stuff from elementary school on by highly rated antibullying programs, so why is this still happening?
i hate to say this but if we were in any country but the u.s. an accepted solution would be to give these kids a dose of their own medicine; humiliate the crap out of them, so they can see what it feels like'; maybe teach them some empathy. This world is a cruel place to kids sometimes, and it pisses me off.
I'm not sure about everyone else, but I wouldn't want those scumbags anywhere near my grandparents or anyone elses!! Not really liking that part of their punishment nor do I think it was a wise one. Who is going to watch them around the elderly to make sure they aren't still being verbally abusive?! If being suspended in their state means sending them to an alernative school, these kids are just going to get worse. I think this punishment wasn't quite thought out and they just wanted to do something quickly to appease the masses.
Those kids were horrible and I'm extremely happy that they were suspended and weren't just ignored as the stupid saying kids will be kids. Bull! When I was that age I was always told to respect my elders and to never speak in that disgusting manner that they did. I don't think it's forgivable because it was beyond disgusting, they filmed it to further humiliate her and her feelings were of course hurt badly as well as many people feeling for this poor woman who had to endure these slimy punks. They'll grow up to be losers keeping up that kind of sickening behavior. I think they should wear those signs that judges make people wear when they've done really awful things to be embarrassed and know what it feels like to treat people like garbage. Yeah, why not jail for punks like that. They way they were speaking I know she definitely couldn't have been the first to endure their ugly words.. Keep it up scumbags. You'll see what happens.
The "alternative" school that they will be attending is not even one filled with "violent offenders." In addition, if they show that they're finished being douchebags, they can be allowed back to the normal school as early as after one month. There's really no risk that they're going to turn out worse.
These guys get jail time and bullied for a month. That would be fair.