A few days ago I posted a blog in regard to some merchandise
being sold that read I ride the short bus. Since then we have covered the topic
of bullying or victimizing depending on how you look at it, and today I am digging into a topic that pertains to the bus the socially acceptable kids ride. That dang normal bus nobody takes aim at because no one on it needs a little extra help to begin the day. The thought we have buses at all that determine who is more challenged or less is amusing when you hear all the things that happen on a bus full of socially adjusted kids.
If you
rode the school bus as a kid you know it was common for the older kids sit in
the back of the bus. I guess you could have called it the right of passage for
being in a higher grade. A rank in some ways and you knew one day you would
earn your spot to, or maybe you had an older friend or sibling who you sat
with. No matter how wrong it may be it was common then and common now.
I have
heard of a young person who has taken this rite of passage to entirely new
level on the “normal” bus. A level I am a little baffled by because of how she
has gotten away with it. This person gets on the bus after school to make sure the
younger kids are not in the back row of seats. Also making sure her seat is
empty. Typical bully and even though this is just a show of power it’s not
unheard of. The part that might just
blow your mind is this person doesn’t ride the bus anymore. A driver’s license
and drives to school but still taking the time to check the bus to make sure
those seats are not taken by the younger kids. That little detail totally blew me away as to what
is fueling this ambition to hold rank on a bus this person doesn’t even ride
anymore. Takes time to check the bus and yell at whoever may be sitting in the seat of royalty and gets off the bus to drive home.
In
regard to bullies and the age of your kids your tactic has to change sometimes.
When my kids were little I could just jump to the rescue and put an end to it
but as our kids grow up we sometimes have to step out of the way depending on the
degree of the situation. I wouldn’t call this a situation parents need to
rescue anyone, other than the seat warden. So it’s up to the kids to react or
not react to the situation. Leave the seats empty and continue on or take the
seats and band together? I know what I would do or would have done back in my
school days but my school days were different and much easier. I would have
taken the seat just to see what would happen but I can’t say my desire to test
things like this in life has always worked in my favor. Then again I can also
say it has worked out for the better at times as well.
The
short bus is for kids who have a different challenge and because of that both the
kids and the bus become the target. I have to wonder though if there is rank on
the short bus or if kids who don’t ride it anymore are stepping on the bus to hold
claim to a seat with intimidation. I find that impossible to even imagine because
most of the kids riding that bus might have struggled just to get to the point
of being able to. The day is full of difficult challenges and pulling rank is
not usually one they have time for. The privilege of going to school on a bus
at all could be something they have had to physically and mentally fight for no
matter what size of the bus.
As for
the person who is guarding the seats there might just come a day someone wants
that seat more than they do. Life has a funny way of humbling us when we need
it, when we least expect it. If we are wise enough to expect it at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment