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Local parents upset over viral video of school bus bullying
Posted: Jun 21, 2012 11:13 PM by Hope Hanselman, KSBY News
Updated: Jun 22, 2012 8:14 AM
People around the country are rallying for the rights of a grandmother in New York.
Footage showing middle school students bullying the school bus monitor has gone viral.
It's already reached more than two million views on YouTube since it was published Tuesday.
The bus monitor, Karen Klein, did her best to ignore the taunting in the video. She's even refusing to press charges against those teenagers.
But local families who saw the footage say something has to be done.
Leah Minnery watched with her daughters as Klein withstood some vicious taunting.
But as far as six year-old Hannah knows, Klein did the right thing.
"Walk away, ignore them," she said.
Even Hannah could relate when the teasing got worse.
"Remember how when you got touched you didn't like that?" Leah asked her daughter as they watched. "See, look, she's getting frustrated."
Parents were surprised at the cuss words and name calling the teenagers used. And, even more surprised when no one did anything about it.
But bullying isn't what concerns them most.
"Bullying is a big thing in general, whether it's with other kids, but being respectful to elders and to adults is extremely important," Leah said.
Parents are hoping someone will step up to take responsibility.
"There has to be accountability," Joe Barss, of Visalia, said. "You have to have accountability at the house, at the school, on the bus, everywhere."
Meanwhile, Hannah Minnery learned a lesson: kindness goes far.
"I don't want to hurt their feelings or else they won't be my friend."
Klein says the teenagers in the video are still getting their fair share of punishment.
Local police say the kids and their families have been receiving thousands of death threats through phone calls and text messages.
Some of those kids were only 13 years old.
A man in Toronto also set up an online fund to send Klein on a vacation.
He's already raised more than $400,000 in donations.
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