9:52 pm - 06/20/2012
An online fundraising effort to assist a Greece bus monitor verbally abused by students raised more than $60,000 in its first day.
The effort was set in motion by a video of 10 minutes of profane taunting endured on Monday by bus monitor Karen Klein.
Klein didn’t report the behavior and said she figured she had just ended the year on a bad note.
But one of the kids on the Greece Athena Middle School bus captured the incident on a cellphone camera. The video got pulled off of Facebook late Tuesday and was posted to You Tube. By early Wednesday, it had gone viral across the world.
In the video, Klein does her best to ignore the harassment.
“I was trying to just ignore them, hoping they would go away and it doesn’t work,” Klein said. “Trust me, they didn’t go away.”
The vile chorus included profanity, taunts, insults, jeers, physical ridicule and outright threats to Klein’s person and home.
“The kids weren’t always that bad,” she said Wednesday.
“The first we learned of the incident was by email Wednesday morning,” said Greece Central School District Assistant Superintendent Deborah Hoeft. Two similar videos of Klein being harassed were also unearthed.
District officials called in police and Klein and the bus driver.
An investigation was launched. Students were questioned by police.
“This behavior is inexcusable and a clear violation of our code of conduct,” said Hoeft. Any punishment meted out by the district would be enacted in the new school year, she said.
Greece police Capt. Steve Chatterton said that if criminal charges were filed, it would likely be in Family Court because the youths involved are juveniles. Chatterton said that some potentially serious charges would require that Klein had felt threatened. Klein said Wednesday that she did not feel threatened by the students.
A news conference is planned for Thursday to provide updates on the status of the investigations.
Klein, a grandmother of eight who lives in Greece, herself learned of the video through Facebook. She didn’t watch it until she was summoned to the bus garage.
“It was like ‘wow,’ ” she said. “I can’t believe it happened … It was just plain mean. Nobody should have to put up with that.”
She said she didn’t hear all of the taunting while it was happening because she is hearing impaired.
Mike Maynard, business agent with Teamsters Local 118, the union that represents Klein and more than 700 other support staff in the Greece schools, said he was “just as outraged as everybody else” by the video. He said it was not uncommon for kids to be “a little rambunctious” at the end of the year, but that he’d never heard of any behavior as outrageous as what was captured on the video.
“I feel terrible for Karen and wish it never happened to anyone,” he said. “No employee here should ever have to tolerate anything like that from the children.”
As the video circulates around the world — it drew more than 130,000 hits by Wednesday evening — multitudes of people have sent Klein Facebook friend requests and notes expressing sympathy and support. She also received several bouquets of flowers from strangers who were moved by the images.
An online effort on the international crowd funding site Indiegogo.com to raise money to send her on a nice vacation raised $66,000 by 9:15 p.m. Wednesday.
The site was set up by Max Sidorov, a 25-year-old Toronto nutritionist who found the video Wednesday morning on the social news website Reddit.
“I saw the video and really felt for Karen,” he said. “I have some experience with bullying from when I was young and what they were doing to her was just heartbreaking. The best thing I could think to do was start a fundraiser to send her on a vacation.”
The outpouring of support has far exceeded his expectations.
“It is just huge,” he said. “I thought it would get a few thousand dollars, maybe. But maybe she could retire on this.”
Klein worked as a Greece bus driver for 20 years and as a bus monitor for the past three. She said she’s been “kind of numb” through all the attention, and that after watching the video she thought “it must have been a miracle that I didn’t lose my temper” with the kids.
Her daughter, Michelle Hawkins of Greece, said she was appalled at how the youngsters treated her mother.
“It’s just not right,” she said.
She said her mother was scheduled to be interviewed Wednesday evening by Good Morning America and the Today show. She was scheduled to appear Thursday with Anderson Cooper on CNN and on Fox & Friends.
As for the vacation fund, Hawkins said her mother was considering a Disney cruise for the whole family. She said the response to the situation shows that being nicer is the way to go.
Julia VanOrman, president of the Greece school board, she’s been inundated with outraged messages and emails from people infuriated by the video.
She hopes the incident can serve as a teachable moment for a wider discussion on how to treat other people, children and adults alike.
“This (incivility) is a problem not just in this district but of the nation, and what are we actually doing about it,” she said. “… What are we all going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen on another bus in another school district tomorrow?”
Klein’s neighbor Caroline Putman said she heard about the video Wednesday morning, watched it and found it “disgusting.”
She’s “a very nice lady and doesn’t deserve that,” Putman said. “She’s been a good neighbor.”
She said the involved students “should never be allowed to ride the bus again.”
Klein said she didn’t want the students to face criminal charges, but would like to see them “grounded all summer, or maybe all year.”
And, Klein said, she would love an apology.
source 1
source 2
Karen -The bus monitor- H Klein To Appear on round of Talk Shows
An online fundraising effort to assist a Greece bus monitor verbally abused by students raised more than $60,000 in its first day.
The effort was set in motion by a video of 10 minutes of profane taunting endured on Monday by bus monitor Karen Klein.
Klein didn’t report the behavior and said she figured she had just ended the year on a bad note.
But one of the kids on the Greece Athena Middle School bus captured the incident on a cellphone camera. The video got pulled off of Facebook late Tuesday and was posted to You Tube. By early Wednesday, it had gone viral across the world.
In the video, Klein does her best to ignore the harassment.
“I was trying to just ignore them, hoping they would go away and it doesn’t work,” Klein said. “Trust me, they didn’t go away.”
The vile chorus included profanity, taunts, insults, jeers, physical ridicule and outright threats to Klein’s person and home.
“The kids weren’t always that bad,” she said Wednesday.
“The first we learned of the incident was by email Wednesday morning,” said Greece Central School District Assistant Superintendent Deborah Hoeft. Two similar videos of Klein being harassed were also unearthed.
District officials called in police and Klein and the bus driver.
An investigation was launched. Students were questioned by police.
“This behavior is inexcusable and a clear violation of our code of conduct,” said Hoeft. Any punishment meted out by the district would be enacted in the new school year, she said.
Greece police Capt. Steve Chatterton said that if criminal charges were filed, it would likely be in Family Court because the youths involved are juveniles. Chatterton said that some potentially serious charges would require that Klein had felt threatened. Klein said Wednesday that she did not feel threatened by the students.
A news conference is planned for Thursday to provide updates on the status of the investigations.
Klein, a grandmother of eight who lives in Greece, herself learned of the video through Facebook. She didn’t watch it until she was summoned to the bus garage.
“It was like ‘wow,’ ” she said. “I can’t believe it happened … It was just plain mean. Nobody should have to put up with that.”
She said she didn’t hear all of the taunting while it was happening because she is hearing impaired.
Mike Maynard, business agent with Teamsters Local 118, the union that represents Klein and more than 700 other support staff in the Greece schools, said he was “just as outraged as everybody else” by the video. He said it was not uncommon for kids to be “a little rambunctious” at the end of the year, but that he’d never heard of any behavior as outrageous as what was captured on the video.
“I feel terrible for Karen and wish it never happened to anyone,” he said. “No employee here should ever have to tolerate anything like that from the children.”
As the video circulates around the world — it drew more than 130,000 hits by Wednesday evening — multitudes of people have sent Klein Facebook friend requests and notes expressing sympathy and support. She also received several bouquets of flowers from strangers who were moved by the images.
An online effort on the international crowd funding site Indiegogo.com to raise money to send her on a nice vacation raised $66,000 by 9:15 p.m. Wednesday.
The site was set up by Max Sidorov, a 25-year-old Toronto nutritionist who found the video Wednesday morning on the social news website Reddit.
“I saw the video and really felt for Karen,” he said. “I have some experience with bullying from when I was young and what they were doing to her was just heartbreaking. The best thing I could think to do was start a fundraiser to send her on a vacation.”
The outpouring of support has far exceeded his expectations.
“It is just huge,” he said. “I thought it would get a few thousand dollars, maybe. But maybe she could retire on this.”
Klein worked as a Greece bus driver for 20 years and as a bus monitor for the past three. She said she’s been “kind of numb” through all the attention, and that after watching the video she thought “it must have been a miracle that I didn’t lose my temper” with the kids.
Her daughter, Michelle Hawkins of Greece, said she was appalled at how the youngsters treated her mother.
“It’s just not right,” she said.
She said her mother was scheduled to be interviewed Wednesday evening by Good Morning America and the Today show. She was scheduled to appear Thursday with Anderson Cooper on CNN and on Fox & Friends.
As for the vacation fund, Hawkins said her mother was considering a Disney cruise for the whole family. She said the response to the situation shows that being nicer is the way to go.
Julia VanOrman, president of the Greece school board, she’s been inundated with outraged messages and emails from people infuriated by the video.
She hopes the incident can serve as a teachable moment for a wider discussion on how to treat other people, children and adults alike.
“This (incivility) is a problem not just in this district but of the nation, and what are we actually doing about it,” she said. “… What are we all going to do to make sure this doesn’t happen on another bus in another school district tomorrow?”
Klein’s neighbor Caroline Putman said she heard about the video Wednesday morning, watched it and found it “disgusting.”
She’s “a very nice lady and doesn’t deserve that,” Putman said. “She’s been a good neighbor.”
She said the involved students “should never be allowed to ride the bus again.”
Klein said she didn’t want the students to face criminal charges, but would like to see them “grounded all summer, or maybe all year.”
And, Klein said, she would love an apology.
source 1
source 2
I and many other in my generation wouldn't dare to talk to an adult that way.
idk
Students Involved:
Luis Recio
Wesley Helm
Brandon Teng
Joshua Slesak
The only thing that these kids need is a nice ass whoopin'. Taking the Xbox away and no Computer time doesn't work with these kids and is a stupid discipline tactic in the first place.
My eldest niece was coddled this way and she turned out EXACTLY like these kids and is a horrific person. My brother and sister in law used time outs and all the shit therapist recommend. It turned her into a monster.
When she's pissed off she talks to my sister in law and brother in such a foul way.
/my two cents
It's disgusting. Seriously.
Edited at 2012-06-21 04:46 am (UTC)
kids are cruel little fuckers.
I was bullied hardcore (and the worst of it was on the bus) all throughout middle and high school.
and it's terrible because I doubt any will feel any real remorse. I've got anxiety and nervous disorders now because of it and it will never come back to haunt them.
if I had more than $2.50 in my bank account, I'd donate to her in a heartbeat.
Edit: It's over $100,000 now!
Edited at 2012-06-21 06:05 am (UTC)
and here go hell come if they experience it themselves. BECAUSE I WILL BE THE FOOL RAISING HELL AT THEY SCHOOL.
id take away everything that my kid loved
and then make them volunteer for the less fortunate everyday until they graduated from high school. maybe then they'd learn some compassion.
If my hypothetical kids ever did that I would feel like a failure as a parent and a person. And it would be over my dead body that they'd ever treat someone that horribly.
ugh, some kids are such assholes and it's even worse when there is a group mentality.
Just think about how many times she has had to endure this. I'm so disgusted, I can't even.
And omg at the fact that they haven't apologized yet.
Sad that some people never grow out of that phase.
I was bullied on the bus. 1 started because I was listening to Hilary Duff and a guy called me a faggot everyday when he heard I liked Hilary Duff. He would go so far to where he would say "raise your hand if you think _____ is gay" and the whole bus would raise their hands. I was mortified. I'm straight btw and obv. there's nothing wrong with being gay. Just people being stupid.
Literally every child in middle school is an asshole. I was bullied constantly, but at the same time, I also bullied constantly. I think it's just a result of being old enough to learn new ways to be mean (and curse, etc.), but too young to have developed any sense of compassion/empathy.
Edited at 2012-06-21 02:54 am (UTC)
Edited at 2012-06-21 03:06 am (UTC)