Should Parents Get on the Bus or Take It Easy?

Recently, the mother of a bullied Florida girl was arrested after she boarded a school bus and confronted the alleged bully, who happened to be the driver. Laura Booker of Sanford, FL, said requests to speak with district officials since the beginning of the school year were ignored. Meanwhile, Booker's daughter said the driver continued to verbally attack her.

This brings us to the topic of this week's Moms Talk Q&A discussion. To kick off the conversation, members of the Holly Springs-Hickory Flat Patch Moms Council offered their thoughts. You can join the dialogue and submit your comments below.

Q: Do you think the Florida mother's response was appropriate? How would you have responded?

A: "Parents with concerns or complaints that need to be addressed by the bus driver should schedule a conference with the driver through the school," according to Section VII, Page 27 of the  Student/Parent Handbook and Discipline Code. Under no circumstances should parents distract the driver by boarding the bus or complaining at the bus stop. Student safety must be top priority during this time. 

By getting on the bus and confronting the bus driver, the Florida mother not only distracted the driver, but created an unsafe environment for those students, including her own. The mother also made the students late for school. No parents in their right minds would want this situation to occur while their children were on the bus.  It's why school districts nationwide come up with these rules. The Florida mother should have been more patient and let school officials do their jobs.

Leslie Olejnik, mother of two

I think that the Florida mom had good intentions in getting on the bus at the beginning of the confrontation, but I don't believe she handeled it correctly.

I think her mama bear instinct along with the frustration of not getting it resolved in her prior attempts got the best of her.  She should have followed proper procedures and handled the sutuation in the manner that the district policy stated for her to do. If she was unable to get the problem resolved in her previous efforts, she should have kept escalating to the next person's boss until she found someone to help her.

I would have done it differently. I would have contacted the appropriate people involved but I also would have pulled my child from the bus until it was resolved. I  do my best to keep my children from  negative situations and if it were occuring in a place like on a school bus that is optional to be on, there would be no way my kid would stay on the bus.

Tammy Bester, mom of 3