When students get bullied on the school bus, many bus drivers say they're just not equipped enough to intervene, although they feel like they should be doing something.
Lois Yukna has been driving school buses for 34 years. As a driver and safety coordinator for the Woodbridge Township School District in New Jersey, she says bullying intervention wasn’t always a big issue for school bus drivers.
“For most of the time, when I was driving, bullying wasn’t a major thing we were trained for. So, I really just used what I thought was gonna help me and luckily, it worked,” Yukna said.
“I’ve gone to workshops through my association, but as far as actually being involved in any training, it’s really just me using my own instincts.”
According to National Education Association data, 92% of bus drivers feel it is “their job” to intervene in bullying situations, but nearly all of those drivers say that they need additional training in bullying prevention and intervention.
Earlier this month a school bus driver in Pinellas, Florida made national headlines when he followed his instinct not to intervene as three young boys attacked and brutally beat a 13-year old student on a school bus.
A video of the incident quickly went viral on the internet and drew the nation’s attention to the issue of bullying intervention training.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
While students bullying other students at school are nothing new, incidents of bullying occurring in route to or from school often fall within a grey area that some school districts have yet to define leaving bus drivers to question when or how they should intervene.
According to U.S. Department of Education data, 10% of all bullying incidents among middle and high school students nationwide occur on school buses.
While there are both federal and state laws against bullying in general, in our region, specific policies about bullying on school buses vary from district to district.
Several school districts in the region list school buses as an extension of school property and thereby require the same disciplinary action or intervention method as it would if a bullying incident occurred on school grounds.
The School District of Philadelphia (SDP)’s policy on bullying includes incidents occurring in a school setting. That includes school vehicles and designated bus stops. When bullying incidents occur, SDP has a procedure that requires persons to report the incidents by way of filing a complaint with the school, and requires principals to investigate the complaints and administer consequences as he or she sees fit.
Under SDP’s policy, students can receive a variety of punishments for school bus bullying from documented warnings, to loss of school privileges, and in severe cases, suspension or expulsion.
But what is a bus driver to do in the heat of a violent bullying incident like the one in Pinellas, Fla.?
Yukna says school bus drivers’ instincts should be geared towards the safety of their young passengers.
“I think, instinctively when you see a child being bullied you’re gonna do what you can to protect them,” Yukna said.
In some instances, however, bus drivers may be faced with the decision to protect a child’s safety, or to protect their own.
North Penn School District, which also maintains an anti-bullying policy that includes incidents occurring “in school vehicles, at a designated bus stop, or during the time students spend traveling to and from school or school-sponsored activities,” only requires its teachers and other staff—bus drivers and even custodians—to take reasonable steps to intervene in bullying situations when the intervention would not threaten their own safety.
In the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, transportation supervisor Patty Diaferio says its bus drivers are not necessarily required to intervene, but are required to report incidents of bullying to the offending student’s school for further action.
“Any incidents we have on school buses, we report immediately to the schools and the school is responsible for handling the discipline of the students. Naturally the bus driver stops it while it’s going on, but as far as the discipline to the one doing the bullying that comes down at the school building level,” Diaferio said.
Diaferio did not, however, confirm whether or not its bus drivers are required to undergo specific training on bullying intervention.
Yukna believes all school bus drivers should be trained in this area.
“I think there should be specific training for this now because it’s happening more and more,” Yukna said.
For bus drivers who have not received formal bullying intervention training, Yukna offered a few tips on how to keep their school bus safe.
“I tried to do everything I could to establish a very positive atmosphere on my bus for the student. You have to make them understand how important it is to have good manners. With disruptive students, I found that giving that student a role on the bus—no matter how small it was, whether it was closing the windows or making sure the kids have their seat belts on—it helped them to refocus that negative energy and use it positively,” she said.
“For the most part that’s what it took to take care of my school bus. I couldn’t always see what was going on behind me so I needed to create a safe environment, not just for them, but for myself too.”
