Scribblings

Lay Off My Kids!

I have had it with nasty, troublesome bully types!

Heidi and Billy came in around 2:30 as usual. I heard them going back and forth about what happened on the bus and realized there?d been a problem. I asked Heidi to tell me about it and I just decided I?d had enough.

There was some bully on the bus who?s hassled kids before. He?d subsided (or at least I didn?t hear about him) for the last few weeks but there was a substitute driver this afternoon so he (his name might be Tony or Tommy) and another kid named Dom began verbally abusing Heidi and some other girls.

Verbal abuse ? of a kind that Heidi didn?t want to tell me what those boys said even though she was clearly upset. Heidi tried to ignore these guys but it just seemed to inspire them to make more comments and suggestions. That kid, Tony, grabbed Heidi?s knee and also began spritzing her with cologne he?d gotten from Dom.

I could smell it from across the room, a real heavy perfumy kind of smell for a guy. It was nauseating. Heidi is sensitive to smells like that and her face was a bright red. I had her go shower while I got on the phone to ?fix? things.

I talked to the supervisor of transportation and he told me that the sub was a new driver. I didn?t think that mattered. Why would she put up with that abuse? According to Heidi and Billy, this Tony character yelled at her to ?turn the fucking music up!? I wish she?d pulled alongside the road and shut the bus off. That?ll shut those troublemakers up.

The supervisor took the information and apologized and said I should call the principal. I spent the next hour trying to speak to someone about what happened. I must have called at the staff?s end of the day because absolutely no one was around except for the unfortunate coop student stuck answering the phones.

TB, who?d been napping, came in and when we told him the story he was pretty ticked. Since I wasn?t able to get through to an administrator, he thought it would be good to call the police.

I hesitated for just a second or two, thinking these bad-ass boys hadn?t threatened Heidi ? but they didn?t feel an ounce of guilt about what they did. I am sure of it. That same Troublemaker Tony harassed one of the kids? classmates. Paul got fed up and he and Tony fought at school. Both got suspended. According to Billy and Heidi, this jerk has caused all kinds of other problems with other kids.

Okay, so enough is too much already!

Why do people get the idea they can say and do whatever they want, where ever they want? Why do some kids totally diss the cops and any other grown up in authority? The policeman who came to take the information said it?s because parents of those kids don?t care enough to get involved. When you make an issue, the parents shrug it all off. Their darlings wouldn?t do anything wrong.

Tomorrow I?m taking Heidi to school and we?re going to talk to that principal and identify those kids. I want these little punks to know that they can?t mess with my kids and then there?s no consequences. We?re not sitting by and letting that happen, no way!