View From the Bushes:

Yesterday afternoon, just as the school bus my children ride was about to arrive at their stop, some kid was seen with a knife. Now you have to understand that this is an elementary school bus, that it is full almost exclusively of children in the "Gifted Magnet Program," and that the knife in question was a box cutter which the child had been given at school and then neglected to return. In any case, one of the children started screaming "knife," so the bus driver stopped. He was less than five minutes from my kid's stop, but he pulled into a parking lot and demanded the knife from the kid. Unwisely, the child refused. Of course, he's thinking he's going to get in trouble for taking school property (it's unclear whether he did it purposely or accidentaly). He doesn't realize that having a weapon is a much greater offense, but he will quickly discover his error.

At this point the bus driver, who's retired military and, who confesses later, never felt even remotely threatened, calls the police, who take their time arriving. Meanwhile my wife is waiting for the kids at the bus stop and after 20 minutes had passed decides to call the transporation office. They have no idea where the bus is, but they assure her that they will find out. Finally, back at the bus, the police arrive and begin to question the kids. As soon as they establish what's going on they take the offending child, put him in cuffs and toss him into the back of the police cruiser. While I have several issues with the way things were handled up until this point, I'm infuriated by this last point. Why the police found it necessary to cuff an 11 year old with a craft knife is inconceivable.

Of course at this point you're thinking, well it wasn't your kid with the knife, why do you care? Well of the seven kids on the bus, two were mine, so I'm the parent of 1/3 of the kids who were spectators, and I have to tell you both of them were pretty shaken, and I can understand why. When I was a kid the world of adult rules was mysterious and confusing. When I got in trouble it frequently blind-sided me, because I had not previously suspected that what I was doing was wrong. There also seemed to be a problem of degree. Sometimes I was only mildly chastized for things I thought would get me grounded for months, and other times I was lectured for hours about things which seemed perfectly legitimate.

I'm not laying any blame on my parents either. In all of the cases I can remember, I now understand the way the punishment fit the crime, but when you're a kid and you're trying to learn the ropes, things don't always make a lot of sense. So here you have my kids who see something, a kid with a knife, the same knife they've seen dozens of times in the classroom, and they figure it's no big deal, but then all of the sudden it's the biggest deal of their young lives. The cops are called, people are questioned, and the youthful offender is led away in hand-cuffs.

My son, who's kind of a trouble maker (and in fact at the beginning of the year was warned several times to stay in his seat) is now wondering if at any moment he could be hauled off by the police in cuffs. My daughter, who's the law and order child, is feeling guilty that she wasn't the one who told the bus driver about the knife. I mean it was obviously such a huge deal, how can she be forgiven for not saying something? Or so she thinks. As a result of this total over-reaction my own children's view of the world is severly distorted, and that's what's bugging me.

In any case, I called the transportation manager today to let him know of my concerns. It was then that I learned of the student's initial refusal to turn over the knife, which makes the whole situation a little more understandable, but still does not justify the cuffs. But of course that's the police, so I called the police chief and tried talking to him. He was in meetings all afternoon, but his assistant promised he'd call me back tomorrow morning. In any event, that's the story. I am interested in your thoughts...

Surrounded by jack-booted thugs
Ross

Posted by direkobold at March 2, 2006 03:46 PM

Well I'm probably one of the few people in the family that has been handcuffed by the cops. The three times it happened in my life were indeed "experiences" but they all happened to me. I can't say I have ever been in the reverse. What you are talking about it seems to me is the "no exceptions" we are plastered with today. If the driver felt no danger then he probably should have rationally explained the situation to the kid and got the knife from him. If he couldn't get the knife from him who is to say one kid wouldn't think "I guess it's ok to carry knife if that kid can". When the cops got there the same rational conversation could have taken place, plus if they did have to take him away they could have explained why to the other kids. I guess what I'm saying is without being there it is hard to say. If the bus driver let him keep it and your kid came home and told you one of the kids on the bus had a knife and I told the bus driver and the driver told him to give it to him but the kid wouldn't so the bus driver let him keep it. Your next call would have been to get the bus driver fired.

There are my ramblings

Posted by: Fred at March 2, 2006 04:38 PM

Being in Edu myself I know how often parents blame the school for what went wrong. If you knowingly let the kid have a knife and you suddenly stopped or he tripped, and stabbed himself, another kid or the beautiful green vinyl of a blue bird would the kid be in trouble? Yes. Would he be fired, pay restitution,or be registered as a child abuser?
No.

Would you as the driver, a licensed representative of the school, the district, and the state, be? Without seeing the court transcripts I can only guess, but I venture it will come to a court decision.

Of course being in Edu I know how often we blame the parent. I mean why am I paying taxes to support a program for "Gifted Magnets" if the PARENTS have not even established authority in the kid? How gifted is that? *wink*

Bus Rule #7 Be mindful of the bus driver and other adults. They are here to protect you please do as they say.

Bus Rule #8, 8 I forget what 8 was for but 9, 9, nine's for a lost cause. And 10, 10 ten is for everything everything everything.

Posted by: ttocS O:) at March 2, 2006 05:09 PM

I agree about the driver. His military training came through: he did as he was surely told to do in such a case, and there were no other extenuating circumstances (e.g., the kid was threatening with the knife).

It's one of those times I don't envy parents, when you have to explain *why* the police got involved. I guess it's a way to explain that things that can even be _perceived of_ as weapons are not good in today's environment, and that schools will usually overreact on safety's side.

I think the cops could've handled it a little better, but I wonder if there is also a SOP telling the cops that it's best to cuff them, perhaps for the kid's own safety (so they don't try to run out of the cruiser). I mean, if you're getting a ride from the cops, it's one thing, but a haul from the cops is another. The cops probably should've gone out of their way in explaining things to make them seem as normal or calm as possible.

Just be glad the kids weren't on a chartered plane flight! :)

Posted by: Ed at March 2, 2006 05:12 PM

View From the Bushes

March 02, 2006