People occasionally act totally out of character. That’s why, after some terrible crime has been committed, you so often see the friend, neighbor or family member telling the reporter, “I had no idea. This is not the person I knew at all.”

Even the monitor herself said these were not bad kids.

What they did wrong has become so public, so humiliating, that they need some form of punishment that will let them feel they have atoned and can move on with their lives, hopefully having learned a lesson in not falling victim to mob rule. It should certainly begin with a sincere apology to the victim.

but, I keep thinking why is this woman a bus monitor since obviously she doesn’t have any sort of aptitude for it. I wonder how many other kids on that bus had to go through bullying because that woman was sitting/cowering in her seat doing nothing. She definately didn’t have control of that bus or the kids on it. Find something else for her to do.

When I read that the father of one of the bullies said his son has suffered enough, I find it laughable. How many days and nights will the woman they bullied have to hear those words in her head and she did nothing?
Those kids deserve every thought and action that comes their way and so do the parents for MY assumption that they were willfully ignorant to the behaviors of their children. No kid becomes a bully and stays that way unless they repeatedly get away with it, period.
The way that the majority of educators must approach children is all about political correctness and you dare say they need to be empowered? When will the parents ever be held responsible over an educator or bus monitor for God’s sake?
WC is right on.

Also, who was responsible for the training and safety of the monitor on the bus? School district does not get off the hook. She should have been empowered to have zero tolerance for abuse, and someone should have stepped in way before the video went viral.