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AP
In this image taken from AP video, bus monitor Karen Klein speaks during an interview June 21.
One-year school suspensions were handed down Friday to four seventh-graders who were accused of bullying a bus monitor in Greece, N.Y., in a case that led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to the 68-year-old woman.
The Greece Central School District said the four boys and their parents agreed to the punishment, NBC station WHEC of Rochester reported.
The bullying was captured on video, posted on the Internet and triggered widespread outrage, but was followed by an effort to raise a little money to send Karen Klein on a nice vacation. That might turn out to be a real nice vacation: By Friday afternoon, the “Lets Give Karen – The bus monitor – H Klein A Vacation!” campaign on Indiegogo.com, a site devoted to raising money for various causes, had raised $667,000.
"This is definitely the highest-grossing and fastest-grossing campaign we've ever seen," Indiegogo.com spokesperson Rose Levy told msnbc.com last week.
WHEC reported that during the one-year suspension, each student will attend an alternative program at the district’s reengagement center. They will also be required to complete 50 hours of community service with senior citizens and will also have to complete a formal program in bullying prevention, respect and responsibility.
Donations for bullied bus monitor soar
The YouTube video that started it all emerged in the middle of last week. It goes on for 10 minutes and shows the four boys repeatedly harassing Klein on the last day of school.
The online campaign raising money to send a bullied New York school bus monitor on vacation has surpassed its goal – by more than half a million dollars. NBC's Lester Holt reports.
All four students have since sent written apologies to Klein through the Greece Police Department. Klein has also met with some of their parents, but not the boys themselves.
This article includes reporting from NBC station WHEC of Rochester, N.Y., and msnbc.com staff.
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Leave a Comment:
BEST PUNISHMENT...Send them all to my house for just two weeks
I totally agree with Anon-2702134. I would also of had those boys apologize In Person! They bullied her in person they should have the guts to apologize in person. I'm surprised the parents havent made them apologize in person? If I had done what they did, after my behind was swatted, I would have had to go up to her and apologize face to face.
WHAT WAS HER JOB???????TO MONITOR THE CHILDREN.She wasn't a very good monitor.Yes they were brats that needed to be reported.But wasn't that her JOB?
Rant much?
I will ask the question again. WHAT WAS HER JOB ON BUS????????????????????????Will someone please answer the question? Was it her job to control the brats on the bus?
The video was almost too much to understand the boys thought process. I don't know that I've seen any worse case of disrespect in my life for our elders. I hate to think what I would do if one of those kids would of been mine. The years suspension would seem like a walk in the park. I still get very angry thinking about these disrespectful punks.
you said it all charlie
just wondering if this happened to a ten year old on the bus would the story be on MSN for days and would the students be punished with year suspension's and would people donate over a half a million dollars for the peace of mind for this ten year old
This fat ugly bitch has gotten too much press and too much money. Her son committed suicide because of her. Read "Toxic Parents" by Dr. Donna Forward.
You are worse than the little bastards
Eric you sound like you may have raised on of those kids.
Eric, you are showing the same behavior as the bullies on the bus. You are them.
He's probably one of the parents.
this behavior starts AT HOME......they are given anything and everything they want, no discipline, most times, a one parent home....they are not taught to have respect for themselves or others....and it is only going to get worse as they grow older...they have been spolied by their parents, the teachers hands are tied as far as discipline is concerned in the schools, because" it might hurt their self esteem" to make them behave.....then we have all those who are supposedly ADHD..shove a few pills instead of having them run around outside and expend some of that energy.....
again stop saying teachers are perfect they are not and neither are parents and NEITHER are you or ME for that matter but who says the right that you have to judge these people stop conforming to the politcal correctness of all this people have the right to voice there minds in public I can go out and call the president politcians or just people names and thats my right now saying what they did was right but the money this woman received is outragoues if this was a natural disaster or parent that lost a child there would not be that much money but some old lady on a bus to monitor i repeat monitor the children did not do her job correctly
These brats got off way to easy. They should be finish their education in militay school at the expense of their parents.
All i can is good
I'm glad that the school and the parents did this. My grandmother was a reading teacher in the Philadelpia, Pa Public School for over 15 years in the 70, 80's. She past away 15years ago this month and if these bullies would have done that to my grandmother I would have 1st gone to the school, 2nd parents and if they didn't do anything I would have filed charges for her. My grandmother was like a mother two me and my brothers and sisters. This was so wrong and I glad that they are getting what they should get. I couldn't watch the hole thing before I started crying.
I have 3 children of my own and if they did this they would be ground until they turned 18. They would have had to go to and old age place and help that care of them also they would have been taken classes in non bullying.
I glad this has been brought up because I don't think this is the only person it has happened to. I'm sorry for this woman but I give her credit for not say anything back to them. If it was me I would be jail cause I would have slapped them in the face and told them to shut up. I'm 47 but I would never let this happen to anyone. I step in. If I did that I would have been grounded, slapped and much more. Kids today get away with everything. They have not respect for anything.
The students' behavior is an exact reflection of a large minority of Americans seen everday on the internet to road rage on our highways. This is good as it is ever going to be whether it's gangs in the inner city to officials in every major city being convicted of misconduct.
This is as good as it gets, so don't act appalled each week as a new story is reported.
First off, the use of the word large preceding the word minority is a contradiction in terms. In addition to your analogy of Americans by comparison to what or where I don't know, is invalid. Now if you had written your opinion beginning with "I believe" then I would simply respect your opinion and agree to disagree by no reply.
So the American people can raise a half a million dollars for a bullied woman's vacation but cry poverty and chafe at the notion of paying for health care reform. Hilarious.
We have been paying for "poverty" since 1965 and it never stops. It's so old and cliche, but here goes:
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Show him how to fish and he eats for a lifetime. Everyone in "poverty" areas has a cell phone and every convenience. Everyone has access to a FREE education but low income people have the highest truency rates. Where are they if they don't work? No one starves in America unless it's self imposed. We have the fattest low income people in the world. Statistics are clear that conservatives give much more to charities than the bums who call themselves liberals. That's the facts.
So you're saying we should teach people to perform self-appendectomies and prostate exams?
What you're passing off as "facts" sounds a lot more like Ayn-droid rhetorical regurgitation.
alur - you live in a bubble, in isolation from the real wrold.
you know this for a fact?
you need an education
is it truancy or truency?
Oh-no: So do you.
is it world or wrold?
Americans can do just about anything we want to, when we want to. We are like everybody else in the world because we are made up of people from everywhere in the world. We are the best of the best and we know it. The real question you should be asking is when is the rest of the world going to stop crying about Americans! That's not so funny as it is tragic.
@ Daydreamer1958
Did someone forget to take their Vyvanse today?
the little @!$%#s got off easy
That's the least that should be done to these lowlife scum kids! Everyone should think about "what if this woman was my grandmother . . ." How would you want her to be treated when just trying to help children?
Eric Burgess above is exactly like these kids - scum!
WOO HOO!!!!! This worked out well for everyone. Even the school did the right thing. And I have no doubt the amount of attention given this issue, as evidenced by the amount of money given, had everything to do with it.
Good. Now if their parents are really made of something, in addition to that piddly 50 hours of community service, they would be spending every Saturday doing nothing but cleaning, reading, schoolwork, and more community service.
My question is why is there not a mention of any kind of punishment for the PARENTS!? This was NOT these kids first hoo-rah, it may be the first time they were CAUGHT but no doubt, not their first. This kind of behavior does NOT just happen. I think the parents should have been slapped with some community service or at the very least, a fine.
Oh and yes, when do you suppose Uncle Sam will ask for the donated vacation money to be taxed?
As soon as she gets it and what is wrong with that?
$600,000 @ 35% she gets $390,000 or so, not a bad vacation.
I'm wondering, does she have to pay federal and/or state taxes on that money donated to her? Anyone know for sure?
Yes, absolutely. It depends on if she gets it all at once or not. She will be taxed at about 35% for Federal and 6% for NYS if she gets it all at once.
No. They're individual donations. The individual donation has to be over $13,000 to be taxable.
OK, I'm hearing two completely different things here. The reason I ask is because I have a co-worker whos wife isvery ill, and an account is going to be set upat a bank where by people can donate. He'd like to know if the money has to be declared. He's not in the frame of mind to hire a tax attorney at the moment.
Parents, if you don't discipline and teach them right from wrong, law enforcement will.
What did you people expect from these kids? Nobody pulls chairs out for ladies anymore. Room full of guys sitting and a lady walks in and not one gives up his chair. Most people don't know when to stand and place their hand over their heart and for which song. We've forbidden most forms of punishment and replaced it with time out or toy restrictions. Kids are the same today with the exception of consequences for ones actions. Given the right guidance, these boys would most likely become outstanding citizens. All you people hating couldn't stand up to your own background check. So you need to clamp down!
Daydreamer....Correct!!!! So very correct....you said said it well and I recommend everyone read your message and remember it. Manners and respect...not only for people, but as you said, for the flag have gone, gone, gone.
Parents....Please don't leave everything to schools....YOU need to teach your children responsibility, respect, and caring.
I have to say that not all kids behave this way. I work in a Charter School not a Public School. Yes, we had a few kids who are asses, but the majority of the kids at my school are respectful to adults, teachers, and other kids. Students who parents are involved in the school are usually the best behaved kids at the school. Students who parents are bullies, are the bullies. This is what these kids learned at home or in their home environment. These kids will probably learn worst behavior in the Alternate School, since this is where behavior problem kids go. If they don't learn their lesson now, they will be spending some time in prison. This is just the beginning.
I am happy that folks came to the bus monitor's aid with cash... I hope she has a wonderful vacation and a long and healthy retirement. That being said, I would also hope that some of that money go toward an anti-bullying organization. This won't be the last time we see such behavior in kids. The examples they see in other kids' behavior and in the media guarantees it. And until they "get it", we have to keep drilling it into kids that what they say and do impacts others.
I wonder, as well, where was the bus driver in all this? I'm no wallflower so I think I would've handled this whole thing differently. After taking about 1 minute of that crap, I'd have told the bus driver to stop the bus, I'd have called the school's central office and had the little S*@*ts taken off the bus. Then, I'd have demanded a meeting with the boys' parents so I could tell them what a....h....s they're raising. The woman was a "bus monitor" and taking that kind of abuse isn't part of the job. She shouldn't have sat there and taken it.
They should have broke out the paddle for those kids. When I was in school we got paddled for that kind of thing and let me tell you we didnt do that kind of thing because of the paddle. Shame on the parents too for not making the boys apologize in public to that poor woman. How would any of you feel if that was your mom, sister, aunt or grandma being put through that kind of thing.
I work for a middle school, this type of thing happens everyday I cant tell you how many times Ive had to go to the principal and risk my job in order to get my own children who attend the same school a chance to be able to learn in their classrooms because some rotten kid continually being disruptive or outright rude. I wont let them take the bus, Thugs have harrassed students, cut holes from front to back of bus seats, In my job duties, part of which I spend outside to watch the kids during breaks, lunch and recess. Ive been called everything in the book without any repercussions to them. The schools hands are tied. The rotten kids . yes they get in trouble. barely. They are mollycoddled... the excuse given is well.. "they have a rough homelife" I say stick to your guns, demand from the schools that our children are safe, make the parents responsible. If a kid destroys a bus or bullies on it... no more bus!... the kids attitude will change real quick when mommy or daddy has to get up at 7 or 8 am everyday and drive the kids to school.. .and pick them up!
There are legal steps to be taken to ensure your children are safe in school, if you know how. Problem is, most people don't know how to deal with the system and most of those who do, ether don't make the time or just cop out. I miss the 50's & 60's when the Principal was next to God and teachers and parents fell in step with his authority. There was none of this going unchecked back then. There was law and order.
"All four students have since sent written apologies to Klein through the Greece Police Department. Klein has also met with some of their parents, but not the boys themselves." Met with some of the parents, why not all the parents of these "fine young men"? Why not insist that these brats "man up". If they are "tough" enough to terrorize someone who could be their grandmother, they shouldn't be afraid to face her directly. Oh yeah, they might be embarrassed, Guess what, everyone had done something, accidentally or deliberately, like in this case, that they are embarrassed about. Seems like the more you are embarrassed the less likely you are to do it again. Shame may be a teacher of last resort but if the lesson is learned, so be it.
These kids got what they deserved. It may not seem like it's enough but, I'm sure they will learn their lessons the hard way. I'm sure that they will be shamed by most of their peer group as well. If their parents are smart, I would sit my child down in front of the computer and have them view all of these comments. What I don't completely agree with is placing the total blame on the parents. A lot of what these children do comes with hanging in the wrong crowd trying to fit in and society today. These kids think they can get away with murder now that parents can't spank their child for a punishment like the good old days. They also like to use child protective services as a threat to adults and parents thinking they can do what ever they want. I blame the child AND our such a wonderful government for the way our society is today. Now, if the kids aren't being monitored on FB... that is the parents fault and they should be paying more attention to what their children are saying and doing on ANY social level and correct it FAST.
You've made some valid points. There are many factors that feed into these kinds of behaviors. Once the it is brought into the light and the kids face consequences, there is a good chance things will turn around for the better. Yes kids need punishments. They also need positive reinforcement for good behavior. People raise pets better than they do kids now days it seems.