Strategies for Managing Discipline Problems on the School Bus
School transportation directors are making use of special programs, equipment and driver policies to address discipline problems – and seeing results.
“At that age, they get rebellious, and justice is really important to them,” Farr explains. “They’ll argue and use all these deflection techniques. The driver has to rise above that and say, ‘No, this is not a dialogue, I’m telling you what’s going to happen.’”
Drivers have to become masters of keeping their cool and keeping the conversation from escalating, Farr says. “You tell them, ‘If you don’t sit down, you’ll have to sit in the front part of the bus, next to me.’ Generally, when they’re up front, the driver can see them better and can compliment them when they do something well. If reseating them doesn’t work, then you escalate the punishment,” he says.
Seat Belts Affect Behavior Changes
Operations that have installed seat belts on buses report a positive impact on discipline issues. For the past several years, Palmdale (Calif.) School District has been using lap-shoulder belt seating from SafeGuard. Transportation Director Sherilyn Thacker says the benefits of belted seating include faster loading, lower noise level and significantly reduced discipline issues. “When we did our pilot back in 2001, we put the lap-shoulder belted seats on a bus with one of our best drivers,” she recalls. “Jayne was almost at the point of quitting because the kids wouldn’t behave. After she got the bus with lap-shoulder belts, she wasn’t having discipline issues any more. And she stayed.”
Transportation Director Clifton Guillory at Beaumont (Texas) Independent School District experienced a similar response on buses equipped with belted seats. “The discipline issues are on the unbelted buses,” Guillory says. “I have not been called into even one discipline situation on the buses equipped with seat belts. Students aren’t moving around, and that makes a difference.”
Executive Director of Transportation Liz McGowan says that flexible belted seating on a Cumberland County Schools bus in Fayetteville, N.C., has resulted in strong positive feedback from parents, transportation officials and drivers. “The bus driver, Mr. Newsome, has seen a dramatic improvement in behavior on the bus,” she says. The district has taken a hard line on seat belt usage. “Either they comply, or they don’t ride,” McGowan says. “We’ve seen behavior is a lot better because students are forced to sit forward and talk to the people sitting beside them, rather than moving around in their seats and switching seats.”
Smile, You’re On Camera
Video surveillance can also lead to better behavior, or at least protect the driver in case of a false accusation from a student. Recorded footage of school bus passengers can also provide evidence
to be used in convincing parents that their student is causing problems on the bus. “A parent would really melt when you show the child cutting a seat or pulling hair,” Farr says. If vandalism occurs in a bus, video can also confirm which student to punish and which parents to charge for the cost of repairing the damage.
“We’re careful to respect the other kids’ privacy, so we’ll just go to a couple frames where their child was involved with something,” Farr explains. “We didn’t set up audio, and we did have a sticker on the front of the bus that said that one of the conditions of riding the bus in our school district is that you might be taped, so there was no problem with privacy.”
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WHEELS Program Deters Bullying on the Bus Missouri school bus drivers are receiving tools to establish a safe bus environment and deter bullying through WHEELS – a program that bridges the gap between bus drivers and schools. The program is part of a state-funded character education project, facilitated by CHARACTERplus, that involves school, home and the community. WHEELS was developed by Gina Crump, state project facilitator for the southwest region. “I started writing the WHEELS program to support kids and the issues they face on the bus, but I realized that drivers need just as much support,” Crump says. “Teachers participate in staff development all the time, but sometimes bus drivers don’t get those opportunities, so I’m [giving] them opportunities to learn from one another because everyone needs to work together to reach kids.” WHEELS promotes good character on the school bus through components that enforce Crump’s view of the bus as an extension of the school day. “The objective is to link everything to learning to show students that there are the same expectations on the bus as in the classroom,” she explains. The program’s components comprise adult role modeling; learning how to connect with students, parents and the community; and implementing “Bus Buddies” or a “Bus Task Force,” among others. With Bus Buddies, older students are paired with younger students to make certain that they behave respectfully. A Bus Task Force is a committee of students and/or a committee of parents, bus drivers and school officials that brainstorms solutions to bus-based problems, ensuring that the driver isn’t alone in tackling difficult issues. There are numerous ways for drivers to build relationships with their students. Greeting students by name and making eye contact is one approach Crump discusses in the program. “One driver mentioned that she has an ‘American Idol’ contest each day,” Crump adds. “Many students want to sing, and it builds morale on the bus.” Drivers can also connect with parents by attending students’ extracurricular activities, if they are invited. This enables parents to interact with drivers in a different setting. Crump noted that WHEELS is most effective when as many transportation officials as possible participate in the training. Such was the case when Crump led a WHEELS session for Missouri Association for Pupil Transportation conference attendees in July. She concluded the session with a lesson on school bus bullying – what it looks and sounds like, and ways to intervene if a problem arises. “We had transportation directors, drivers, driver trainers and a school board member in the audience,” Crump says. “The discussion was invaluable.” Those who are interested in learning more about WHEELS may contact Crump at (417) 861-5769 or crumpg@centurytel.net. |
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Act Quickly to Manage Unruly Children James Kraemer, manager of www.2safeschools.org, recommends that when a bus driver encounters an unruly student, he or she should follow the prescribed steps as set out by the transportation department’s discipline policy. Persistence from the student should result in a call to dispatch explaining that students are not following directions and may have to be returned to school. “This approach, based on my experience, virtually ended the necessity to return an unruly child to the school,” Kraemer says. “The unruly child is usually adequately self-restrained long enough to complete the route. Any potential escalation from the group eases away quickly, as the focus becomes nearly exclusive to the misbehavior. When that is resolved, interest in an escalation is contained.” |
Claire Atkinson is senior editor of School Bus Fleet magazine.
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