Shoolbus Driver v. The Brothers

[delakong]

I'm sure at least a couple people in the US have seen/heard about this and I wanted to see what your oppinion on it are.

Link to video---> http://www.compfused.com/directlink/784/

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. -- The mother of two boys whose fight with a substitute school bus driver was captured on videotape has questioned why the boys are charged with a felony while the driver faces a less serious charge.

Sherri Shaw said Monday that she's not satisfied with the punishment facing driver Albert Taylor. He has been charged with misdemeanor battery and could spend a year in jail if convicted.

Video



Caught On Tape: School Bus Driver Strikes Student




Mark Ernest Dickinson, 15, and his stepbrother, Corey Gene Hendershot, 13, were arrested last week and charged with assault on a school official, a felony punishable by up to five years in a juvenile justice facility, said Russell Kirshy, the family's attorney.

A bus security camera videotape of the fight has been played extensively on national television.

According to Charlotte County sheriff's reports, the fight happened Tuesday when Taylor tried to put a seat belt on Hendershot, who refused to wear it. He then told Hendershot to sit up front, but the boy refused.

When Taylor walked to the back of the bus, Dickinson got in his way and cursed at him. Taylor then slapped Dickinson and grabbed his throat, the video shows. Dickinson is seen pushing and punching the 66-year-old bus driver.

The boys' father, David Shaw, said the older teen felt he was protecting his younger brother. The father acknowledged that the boys could have been calmer, but said the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

Taylor has been suspended without pay.

AP Image
Albert M. Taylor, driver charged with misdemeanor battery after being involved in a fight with two Punta Gorda Middle School students on a bus. (Charlotte County, Fla.)

A number listed for an Albert Taylor in the area was disconnected and he could not be reached for comment Monday.

Florida began requiring all new school buses to have seat belts in 1999, but wearing them is not a requirement.

Soooooo, what's your oppinion?

[slapdash21]

oh man, i saw a bit about this on the news. not sure if i got the full story, so i wont be suprised if im contradicted. it seems like in any case like this, the adult should be held more responsible, especially when they arent just defending themself, which (i saw the video of it...crazyness) seemed to be the case here. but, the adult was much larger, and supposedly responsible for these kids, soooo...

[HG]

Also, a man in Los Angeles tried to burn his wife and kid. Not sure if he succeeded or not.

[mc]

The adult's the responsible one, but ...

I think back to the shit that my bus drivers had to put up with, and I think of the ridiculous, disrespectful, horrendous treatment they got from ill-behaved, no-class little fucks (notice I did not say, "like the boys in this case", I don't know these boys) whose parents don't have enough sense to get them to act like decent humans, and CERTAINLY not enough sense to take the blame for this kind of thing, or to lay blame on their children, even if it's due...

The father sums up his children's actions with the words, "could have been calmer"... I wonder if this was an isolated incedent, and these two little guys were totally cooperative little angels who just got a little rowdy on the bus one day... oooooooooooooor maybe not. Maybe the bus driver had PLENTY of time and experience to build up to this. I remember having torture fantasies about the kids I knew in school, they were so ridiculous. anyway, I'm gonna look up this tape... we'll see how this plays out.

[delakong]

This is the link to the video.

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/784/

Looks alot like the bus driver started the "fight" to me. He put his hands on the boy first. The story and the video do not match up at all. The boy did not get in the way of the bus driver. He was behind him yelling something about "do not touch him" or something like that when the bus driver spun around and slammed him into the seat by his neck. It escalates from there. The bus driver was the first to do anything rash. He should have left it at calling the deputy. The boys should face no criminal punishment. The bus driver should face alot more than misdemeanor assault. He's got like 200 lbs on both boys.

The boys should be punished by their parents and not by the system.

[Guest_2]

It doesn't play for me, but that doesn't matter

The adult was out of line for hitting a child

There is nothing else to even consider

[smpdustin15]

jail for the bus driver if hes 66 then he should have patience and the knowledge that stiking a kid is a no no. plus kids are like that and he fliped out and whacked that kid and assaulted him like he was a grown man. the defending anyone shit doesnt matter if the kid was hiting on that dudes mother you cant whack the shit outa a kid like that. and after the whole thing when they get back up in his face he whacks him again.

[mc]

yeah... upon review of the video, that was totally out of line. I definitely agree that he should have stopped at calling the deputy, and made those kids sit there on a stopped bus.

bad move, bus driver. don't whack kids on tape.

[max]

couldn't see it either

just paste this in your mediaplayer:

http://www.compfused.com/filedl1/25rxkgwcu/bad-bus.wmv