# Bullied Grandmother...really? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 21, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854 "2012-06-21T16:26:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/41 "2012-06-22T04:47:20Z")
To do this job, I would insist on a suit _made of tasers_, all linked to one trigger. I want the power to put 30 twitching children on the floor in 2 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/42 "2012-06-22T05:35:39Z")
She obviously didn’t know how to handle the situation, but for all we know, the school/admin didn’t care. So many districts want to treat kids with white gloves. Those kids were mean. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before (thankfully, not thrown in my direction yet). But it isn’t okay. And what’s it to you if a lady gets a $400k early retirement? ---
**Author:** ![mister\_nyx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@mister\_nyx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mister_nyx)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/43 "2012-06-22T05:58:37Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > What gets me about this issue is all the ‘moral, upstanding’ people saying they hope those 13 year olds get raped by Sandusky Okay, where did you find people wishing that these kids would be raped? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/44 "2012-06-22T06:03:36Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > She obviously didn’t know how to handle the situation, but for all we know, the school/admin didn’t care. So many districts want to treat kids with white gloves. > > Those kids were mean. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before (thankfully, not thrown in my direction yet). But it isn’t okay. And what’s it to you if a lady gets a $400k early retirement? Exactly what I was thinking. I seriously doubt she was allowed to do anything. My mom is a paraprofessional in the special education department at her school, and up until this year, when he finally moved on, she had to deal with an autistic kid who would, without warning, suddenly physically harm people, without being able to do so much as physically restrain him, as his mom was very lawsuit happy. I think it’s silly to see this as rewarding the lady for not doing her job, even if she was allowed to intervene. This is showing COMPASSION because she clearly was not suited for the job. The entire world is not in some Randian punishment/reward system. Altruism still exists. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/45 "2012-06-22T06:24:53Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > She obviously didn’t know how to handle the situation, but for all we know, the school/admin didn’t care. So many districts want to treat kids with white gloves. > > Those kids were mean. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before (thankfully, not thrown in my direction yet). But it isn’t okay. And what’s it to you if a lady gets a $400k early retirement? Early? She’s 68. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/46 "2012-06-22T06:44:35Z")
I’m not getting this either. This poor lady should have reported these little shits. Is she too nice for the job?? Still, that comment about her whole family committing suicide was the straw. You can’t touch them, so what’s wrong with going face to face and telling them to knock it off? She was too nice, but still a great lady for not escalating it, I guess. Hope a judge gives them 400 hours community service, 'cause, after all, it is summer time. Their little schedules are clear. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/47 "2012-06-22T07:09:32Z")
What bugs me most about this is the term “bullying”. The word has gotten so watered down that it now seems to encompass twelve year olds saying rude things to an adult who is supposed to be supervising them. That’s not bullying, and I think it does a disservice to actual victims. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/48 "2012-06-22T09:45:55Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > if you read the comments on youtube, Why would you do such a thing to yourself? And Lurker, while this was the last day of school, these kids are all going to be back in the district in 2 months. She should have asked them if they want to start their next school year off with a week of detention, and restricted bus privileges. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/49 "2012-06-22T10:46:50Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Part of me hopes Karen Klein uses part of her $200,000 windfall to hire some middle school inner city gangs to come to Greece and kick some snarking middle school ass. The other top stories, locally: A man was arrested for getting into a protracted shootout with police on a dense residential street, and another was arrested for raping a nine-month-old baby. But, definitely, hire those thugs to take out the true menace- mean 8th graders. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/50 "2012-06-22T10:54:09Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > What bugs me most about this is the term “bullying”. The word has gotten so watered down that it now seems to encompass twelve year olds saying rude things to an adult who is supposed to be supervising them. That’s not bullying, and I think it does a disservice to actual victims. Say what? The kids were definitely bullies, especially the little brat who said her whole family should commit suicide (or whatever stupidity she said). I don’t know what your definition of bullying is, if that’s not it. > [@](#): > > And what’s it to you if a lady gets a $400k early retirement? If you had a colleague who was caught not doing her job, wouldn’t it get under your skin if she was rewarded with $400k early retirement? People express their sympathy with money, I get it. And she was a victim. It’s just…it’s a strange thing to me. If I were a teacher who had to put up with this shit on a daily basis, with nary a thank you let alone a check for a kabillion dollars, I think I’d feel a little sting. I’d start playing with the idea of installing a hidden camera in my classroom. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/51 "2012-06-22T11:21:24Z")
there are times in the video where she does speak to the kids. not very forcefully, but it is there. it would help to know what her duties are and what they are told to do on the bus. if they are just to monitor, take names and report behaivour, or if they can stop the bus and reprimand, and if ness. have the child or children removed. it is being reported that some of the kids thought that it would be cool to have a video made and on youtube. if so it was a planned thing and not a spontaneous thing. ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/52 "2012-06-22T12:11:40Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I saw that one of the parents has come forward and apologized on behalf of his son. Major kudos to him. That’s great, but I would have been more impressed if he’d have made his kid do the apologizing. To the monitor, in person. ---
**Author:** ![LoonyMoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/34f0e0/32.png) [@LoonyMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoonyMoon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/53 "2012-06-22T12:19:03Z")
This is one more sad commentary on how far out of touch we have allowed ourselves to get. New technology allows us to have “friends” we never see, to take pictures of some poor scared kid in the gym shower and ruin their lives by posting it on Facedy-Face or Tweetley-Tweet for the world to see, and to act like unrestrained cretins in general. This goes for ALL age groups, not just teens. There is no consequence of being cruel or hurtful any longer–you can create an identity online and be as snarky and nasty as you like to anyone on the planet, and no one calls you on it. It appears that we are no longer teaching or modeling for our children basic civility to other humans, no matter their age, social status, race or appearance. We are living in a reality show environment where it feels like you can do and say whatever you please, and rarely are you punished for it. This has to end. It’s as simple as this: whatever we say or do to another person, imagine someone saying or doing it to US. I’m guessing most of us, after a little thought, would choose another path. We CAN change this attitude–we just have to WANT to. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/54 "2012-06-22T12:44:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The entire world is not in some Randian punishment/reward system. If it were, the driver & the monitor would have gotten off the bus, taken any well-behaved kids with them, and “gone Galt”, leaving the little monsters to take the bus off the side of a cliff while a narrator detailed how each child deserved the flaming impending doom. As it should be. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/55 "2012-06-22T13:42:12Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > And Lurker, while this was the last day of school, these kids are all going to be back in the district in 2 months. She should have asked them if they want to start their next school year off with a week of detention, and restricted bus privileges. You don’t think that is the least of what is going to happen now? ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/56 "2012-06-22T13:58:35Z")
If these little fuckers were willing to single out and harrass/bully a 68 y/o woman, I readily see them being the same type of animals that would physically attack a senior citizen for fun. That district needs a Gunnery Sergeant Hartman as bus monitor. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/57 "2012-06-22T14:15:46Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > If these little fuckers were willing to single out and harrass/bully a 68 y/o woman, I readily see them being the same type of animals that would physically attack a senior citizen for fun. And if they’re capable of doing that, they’re capable of killing a cat! Which means that they’re going to be serial killers! Someone should just kill those animals now, before they harm again! ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/58 "2012-06-22T14:17:57Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > If these little fuckers were willing to single out and harrass/bully a 68 y/o woman, I readily see them being the same type of animals that would physically attack a senior citizen for fun. > > That district needs a Gunnery Sergeant Hartman as bus monitor. He’s probably getting up there these days, and it’s been a while since he took on anything more threatening than a watermelon. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/59 "2012-06-22T14:19:22Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > And if they’re capable of doing that, they’re capable of killing a cat! Which means that they’re going to be serial killers! Someone should just kill those animals now, before they harm again! I have the pitchforks; can you bring the torches? We’ll gather up the angry villagers on the way to their houses. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854/60 "2012-06-22T14:21:34Z")
> [@LurkerInNJ](#): > > You don’t think that is the least of what is going to happen now? Even before this story went national there was local talk of a year-long suspension and possible criminal charges. I think the suspension is incredibly likely, but the bus monitor doesn’t want to press charges. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bullied-grandmother-really/625854.md?page=4)