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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBus monitor Karen Klein's tormentors suspended for year, donations on her behalf = $670,000
A radio station in Boston held an event in Karen Klein's honour on Thursday
Four US students who gained infamy after a video of their verbal abuse towards a bus monitor went viral have been suspended from school for a year.
Footage of the 12- and 13-year-olds taunting Karen Klein has been viewed some 8 million times.
The school system in the New York state town of Greece says the students must also complete 50 hours of community service with senior citizens.
Mrs Klein, 68, said she did not want the boys to face criminal charges.
She told the Associated Press last week that others should not harass or threaten the students.
"That's not the way to go about things," she said. "They're just kids."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18656095
TheWraith
(24,331 posts)Kids yelling mean shit? Big news. Punishment, sure. A year? Probably excessive.
$670,000 for being yelled at while you were working? INCREDIBLY excessive. Sorry, but there's people who endure far worse average days at work than this woman getting yelled at by asshole teenagers. But because you can't make a human-interest viral video out of somebody spending 11 hours grinding aluminum parts until their hands are numb, standing on a concrete floor in 90 degree heat, those people get ignored.
Igel
(35,191 posts)After humiliating and denigrating a 68-year-old woman because of her age, weight, sex, and emotional response, some kid put the video up on facebook so that they could exult in how crude they were to somebody else and continue to mock her.
People are subjected to that every day by little "angels". And the little angels really do think that they are angels and quite fine people.
They've been really, really miseducated. They're all over empathy when *they* want to be the subject of it. They know how to get things for themselves, all the right buttons to push. They're just too wrapped up in their little worlds to think about empathy for others.
Having empathy is to be able to be empathetic to those different from yourself. That's hard, and while I don't know what percentage of Americans were ever really commonly able to do this I know that too many of them have stopped thinking it's worth trying. "Empathy" has dropped off to top 10 qualities emulated by high school graduates and new college freshmen for the first time ever.
The suspension will be appealed and reduced. And the donations were, like it or not, donations. Not from the school district. Notions of "excessive" don't really enter into it.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Go Vols
(5,902 posts)its the parents fault for raising such little assholes.They should be accountable to some extent.
TheWraith
(24,331 posts)While it may hold some insight about those particular kids in that particular situation, in the larger scale it's no more relevant or representative than simply being the opposite end of the bell curve from a story about a bunch of kids raising money for war orphans. Trying to extrapolate a trend from one incident doesn't work, and trying to force it usually breaks down into some variant on the old saw about those damn kids today and how horrible they are. Which I guess works, if you don't mind insulting an entire generation for their age, inexperience, and people they've never met and never will. And as long as you can forget that your elders said the same things about YOU, too, and their elders said the same things about them.
HiPointDem
(20,729 posts)who had to keep working at age 68 got a nice retirement for a change.
she's looked completely glum in every picture i've seen her in up to now & said in a previous video
she didn't really believe she'd get the money -- i think that comes from a lifetime of dashed hopes and (as she did on the bus) keeping her head down & trying to get by.
she looks glowing in that photo, maybe she finally believes something good happened to her for one
of the few times in her life.
why the sour grapes? yes, there are people worse off. that was true before she got the money, so what?
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)and the airline that will fly her family to the vacation spot. So she's aware something good is coming her way.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)I'd K&R your post if I could.
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)I don't fault her for getting lucky, though. I'm really glad for her.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)MineralMan
(146,189 posts)The punishment for the kids who did this is certainly proportional to what they did. They'll be going to a continuation school, where they'll continue their education. They'll do some community service.
The money? That's irrelevant. Someone set up a fundraiser, and people donated, mostly in small amounts. It added up to a decent-sized fund, which I hope will be given to her, although I'm still concerned about that. Individuals donated as they saw fit. Nothing out of proportion there, either. Good luck to this woman. I hope her retirement goes well.
It is not a zero sum game at all. The terrible conditions faced by other workers have nothing to do with people's response to this woman. Each person is an individual, and each person's trials and issues are that person's.
aikoaiko
(34,127 posts)...of the impact the video had on viewers and their desire to do something nice for her.
She became a symbol of something greater than herself and the specific incident.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Like she hit a lottery. I'd be yelled at by kids for that kind of money.
At least it seems like she got a lot more money than Zimmerman did.
The internet going viral thing is amazing.
we can do it
(12,116 posts)and if people want to be nice and cheer up an older lady, why not?
bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Good luck!
DiverDave
(4,874 posts)And so broke I cant get my tooth fixed.
And this lady gets 650K for being yelled at?
Bring em on, I'll take it for half that
alp227
(31,959 posts)And it's WAY more complicated than "being yelled at"...the boys deliberately went beyond simple insults and went with disgusting personal attacks on her family tragedy such as her being a widow. It's disgusting how people are selectively rationalizing what the boys did such as "boys will be boys" or "insults happen in the real world". (Really, some on that other forum have done worse rationalizations.)
As for your fired from work case, you may file an appeal with the EEOC or tell your story to a local media outlet and gain publicity.
DiverDave
(4,874 posts)but I just could use some of that kinda love about now, is all...
And, yeah, I have a lawyer and he tells me it perfectly legal to fire me. It happens all the time.
I would have PAYED for my insurance out of the meager funds I get, but they have no way to do that, they just fire ya.
And getting workmans comp is no 'vacation', as some on the right yell at me.
I barely have enough to pay our bills, and forget trying to take my kids on any type of vacation.
Or buy my wife anything nice.
Like, you know, flowers or something...I do pick wild flowers when I come across them.
It is bitterly,BITTERLY shaming as I've always provided for my family...
Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)Things like this probably happen a lot more often that people realize. But to send a message that society does not accept bullying especially of senior citizens by children is a very good thing. This decision also recognizes that these children are not unredeemable and they will have a chance to make something of themselves in the future. Perhaps Mrs. Klein did kind of luck out when it came to financial side of things. But so what? How is that a bad thing? I'm less fortunate than many and more fortunate than most. I'm not going to begrudge those hard working souls who have an unexpected turn of great fortune. Mrs. Klein has been working for $15,500 per year at a thankless job and now she can enjoy a first class vacation and a comfortable retirement. Not everyone is so fortunate. But that is no excuse to begrudge those who have such serendipity.
Most importantly, it raises to public consciousness the whole issue of bullying and hopefully will serve at least to some extent as a deterrent to potential bullies out there.
Mosby
(16,158 posts)FedUpWithIt All
(4,442 posts)"That's not the way to go about things," she said. "They're just kids."
Hopefully, now all the involved parties can move on with their lives. The story made note that the boys and their families agreed to the suspensions without a hearing.
alp227
(31,959 posts)Would it be appropriate to bring up this incident?
lunatica
(53,410 posts)If you run for public office everything you've done is fair to bring up. Good, bad or indifferent.
alp227
(31,959 posts)In this country, you can find educated people in the workforce who actually raise a fuss over the fact that Obama ate dog meat during his childhood in Indonesia, during which Obama was 7 or so. Should we start asking for political candidates' high school diaries next and point out in campaign ads: " Candidate) wrote something mean about another student 25 years ago in high school!"
On the other hand there are truly concerning stories that would make thinking people question Romney's character, such as the dog-on-the-roof story or how he forcibly cut another student's hair in high school.
JI7
(89,172 posts)of bullying like Romney. or will he do mostly good things in which case people are forgiving.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Wasn't he the one who told the world about it in his book?
The usual suspects may want to make something out of it, but it just doesn't really get any traction. But we know about it.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)but I've been bullied and tormented my whole life. I just wish somebody had videoed themselves doing it and sent it viral.
Seriously, I am glad that she has enough to be able to retire. Nobody should have to be taking that shit ever, but certainly not after a certain age. At some point, you should be able to retire with a little dignity...
Are_grits_groceries
(17,111 posts)Last edited Wed Jul 4, 2012, 08:04 AM - Edit history (1)
This country has an epidemic of bullying that is driving some to commit suicide. Kids can be incredibly cruel. Unfortunately, it's too often characterized as yelling, insulting and poking. It is much more than that if you are on the end of it and nobody will help.
I wouldn't send them to juvie. If they aren't hard core bad before, they will be when they leave. It's my undertanding that they will be taught in an alternative setting. They won't be larking about on the streets.
As far as the parents go, sometimes even the best kids with good parenting can get swept up in the moment by peer pressure. Peer pressure can be incredibly strong especially when there is a large group. I have seen this first hand.
Bullying won't stop, but it has to be confronted continually. Social media has made it worse with video postings, etc.
hicklespickle
(1 post)This has gotten everyone up in arms about bullying in general and I'm concerned that if Rockstar release Bully 2 in about 2013 or 2014 then this will affect it's release because when the original game was announced many people tried to have it banned without any solid information about the game and bullying is a lot worse these days than about 7 years ago in 2005. The first game turned out to be not that bad at all but most non gamers got their information about the game solely from the morons who campaigned against it and so probably think that the game is as bad as it was originally thought to be. I do however think that these kids are idiots and should be punished for such callous bullying.
ret5hd
(20,433 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)The son of a friend of mine committed suicide because of bullying in school. He was only 15 years old. He was bullied because he was overweight.
ret5hd
(20,433 posts)if with me, well, ok. no fight there.
but if with hickspick, well, he is sayin' we should ignore the situation because some game he likes might be rejected by the public.
XanaDUer
(12,939 posts)The economy and walk away with even more money, I am a-okay with "bullied old grandma" taking the money and running. As for those abusive little SOBs? Too bad. Thanks to their actions backfiring on them, she can retire. Good for her. Every now and then one of the lambs escapes the slaughterhouse.