Bellingham mother upset about school bus incident
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BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- Two children were injured last Friday when a Bellingham school bus driver made a sudden stop.
The school district says it doesn't believe the driver did anything wrong, but at least one local mother disagrees.
Eleven-year old Egypt Duckett wasn't in school on Tuesday after she hurt her wrist on the bus last week. As Egypt and her mother tell it, the 6th grader was on the bus to Shuksan Middle School when the driver stopped short.
Egypt and another child were injured as they hit something and fell.
"Everybody starts flying forward because they're not expecting it," Egypt said.
The school district said there were "student behavior issues" on the bus and the driver needed to turn around and stop to address it.
Egypt's mother Tanya says there's no excuse for injuring a child.
"To me, that's aggressive behavior," she said. "If you need to stop the bus, you need to pull over and stop, not slam on your brakes, regardless of what the kids are doing on the bus."
District officials said they investigated the incident, did some re-training and reached out to parents. They also said the bus driver did nothing wrong.
Tonight, the Duckett family just hopes that training comes with tolerance and that all drivers are more kind, especially considering their precious cargo.
"If it happens again, it might be worse next time," Tanya said. "Especially with no seat belts on the bus."
On Tuesday, the district released a statement on the issue saying, "The rest of the riders reported they were fine and attended class on Friday." It went on to say, "The driver has not had prior incidents. The safety of our students is extremely important to us."
The school district says it doesn't believe the driver did anything wrong, but at least one local mother disagrees.
Eleven-year old Egypt Duckett wasn't in school on Tuesday after she hurt her wrist on the bus last week. As Egypt and her mother tell it, the 6th grader was on the bus to Shuksan Middle School when the driver stopped short.
Egypt and another child were injured as they hit something and fell.
"Everybody starts flying forward because they're not expecting it," Egypt said.
The school district said there were "student behavior issues" on the bus and the driver needed to turn around and stop to address it.
Egypt's mother Tanya says there's no excuse for injuring a child.
"To me, that's aggressive behavior," she said. "If you need to stop the bus, you need to pull over and stop, not slam on your brakes, regardless of what the kids are doing on the bus."
District officials said they investigated the incident, did some re-training and reached out to parents. They also said the bus driver did nothing wrong.
Tonight, the Duckett family just hopes that training comes with tolerance and that all drivers are more kind, especially considering their precious cargo.
"If it happens again, it might be worse next time," Tanya said. "Especially with no seat belts on the bus."
On Tuesday, the district released a statement on the issue saying, "The rest of the riders reported they were fine and attended class on Friday." It went on to say, "The driver has not had prior incidents. The safety of our students is extremely important to us."
read what others have to say about that driver, or any othe school bus driver in america, you can also write your comments and rate them at www.ratemybusdriver.com
well komo where is the video? i hear you got it. why not air it? guess it only get news if its bad. wouldnt want to show how the drivers do protect the kids and that some people will call just to complain before they know the facts thinking that thier child would never do anything wrong. well time to wake up parents its true your kids do act out when your not around and yes others have to put up with it.thats why we have the videos on the buses to protect the drivers from parent like this
I was on the bus and I was sitting on the bus with Egypt if suddenly jolted and I heard a snap in Egypts wrist so don't think u know more then me
Maybe it might be a good idea to have a bus driver and a bus attendant. Someone that can watch the children as the bus driver does the driving. It is dangerous to expect the bus driver to pay attention to the road and the children at the same time.Â
 @Jordan Most school districts would love to be able to do this. It's a budget issue. They're having a hard enough time just keeping the buses gassed up and driven in the first place.
 @mhungry I thought that might be an issue.Â
Well now the kids know to sit down and shut up, Its sad that kids had to get  MINOR injuries when some of them probably wasn't doing anything wrong. But I've been in middle school and I rode the bus. I know how horrible the kids would get.
I agree that some of the kids were probably behaving, some not. There does not seem to be anything in the story to support that that the bus driver suddenly stopped the bus as a punishment method. Has anyone actually heard from the bus driver involved?
i know this school all to well. and before anyone jumps to beat up the bus drivers who work very hard at making sure your kids get home safe. you might like to know a few of the things that your "good" kids do on the buses. things like light each others hair on fire. start fires on the bus. light smoke bombs off, cut up the seats, start fights write on seat. and so on. i'm not saying all the kids do this but this kind of things happen daily. when you have 75 kids on your bus you cant catch it all. but i'm betting if any of this happened in your car you would also stop quickly. not to hurt anyone but to stop this from happening as quickly as you can to make it so the rest of the kids on the bus are safe. i would rather a child get a sore wrist then have a bus go up in flames or a gun pulled on a student. maybe this mom would like to come ride the bus and help the driver out after all the teachers complain when they have 30 students try having 75 and drive as your watching them.
If this little princess was sitting back to back in the seat and behaving maybe she wouldnt have had an injury! Its funny how the moms making this all the drivers fault why doesnt she ask her daughter hiw she was sitting... Theres no way she could have got injured if she was behaving.. Think about it like that!
 @biggyg90 I don't recall anything in the story that directly says she was misbehaving on the bus.
@Zoso well then how else would she get an injury?!
@dasiaphoenix16 Stay in school, because you're going to need it trash mouth.
@Zoso @biggyg90 I was in that bus accident and Egypt is my friend and we all got hurt so shut ur trap biggyg90
Apparently, something is missing from the story since the bus driver was cleared of wrongdoing. That just does not happen unless an event of some sort happened that did not involve punishing the riders. Of course, a child can be hurt even when sitting correctly. If science is the issue, then science has proven repeatedly that belts on the buses would dramatically reduce injuries during the normal operation of the bus, including hitting bumps and sudden stops. Compartmentalization is not complete without the safety devices, a known scientific fact among engineers and researchers since the 1960's concerning the school buses. For any that want to actually understand the benefits of seat belts on the school buses can either perform a Google search for the article, "Are parents mandating seat belts for school buses?" Or find the article at this link if links are allowed:
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 @biggyg90 Ah, gee, let me think. Because she was on that bus where the driver slammed on his brakes which scientifically effects everyone on that bus? Are you for real?
i absolutely agree with the mother.  braking that hard to get the  kids attention is absolutely inappropriate. parents should not have to worry that their child will not make it to school safe. just like tanya said in the interview, if there had been a traffic related reason to slam on the brakes it would have been different story. glad komo investigates this kind of thing and kudos to tanya duckett for standing up for her children!!
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I agree, that regardless of the situation, especially if the child is sitting down, shouldn't be getting hurt. If we don't stand up for them, who will? Everyone needs to know including the kids, that they are safe going and coming from school. It's good to know our reporters are out there getting the scoop on things. We love our children and they are the next generation. We must set good examples and they must know they have a voice.
Ok, so we have a busload of kids- only 2 are injured and then only minor. The driver said there was a disciplinary issue onboard that he needed to deal with.... The article states the incident was captured on the bus video system- I'm going to hold judgement until they show that. I did note mom's statement: "If you need to stop the bus, you need to pull over and stop, not slam on your brakes, regardless of what the kids are doing on the bus." I'm willing to bet that if the disciplinary issue included her daughter being molested or raped, she would be angry that the driver didn't pull over fast enough.
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Let us not forget the pack of middleschool students who terrorized the bus monitor for over 10 minutes in New York last June. Our little darlings can become treacherous when out of our sight and showing off for friends.
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I remember when I was a kid the driver would routinely jab the brakes if kids were out of their seats or moving around. The kid(s) that gave the driver crap was given detention or suspended. Some of the bus routes were so overcrowded there would be 10 or 15 kids just standing in the aisleway holding on for dear life.
i have been informed of this happen because the drivers are trying to get the kids to shut up, i too have made a complaint of this dangerous act.
I know this family, and I can gaurentee you that if there were kids misbehaving, it wasn't this little girl! Egypt is the most well behaved 11 year old I have ever met and her mother doesn't put up with bad behavior, period. If the bus driver was having trouble with other kids misbehaving, slamming on the breaks is not the appropriate way of handling the situation. Most schools have displine procedures in place and the driver should have followed those procedures. If the driver can't control their temper, maybe they should find a different driving job.
I am all for protecting our children. but I am also a firm believer in the phrase there are two sides to every story. I really wish Komo would of posted a more complete article on what occurred instead of just posting the Mother's side. If the bus driver stopped hard just to get the kids attentions then I agree that isn't right and the situation should of been handled differently no matter what the kids were doing or not doing. Or did the bus driver stop hard because another car either cut them off or came within an unsafe distance of the bus that could of created an accident. I mean we don't have the whole picture and I for one would really like to have the whole picture.
Ahahahahahahaha! The bus driver brake checked the kids! That'll shut them up! Absolutely not the way to handle things but still funny. The driver is extremely fortunate things didn't go a lot worse than just a few minor injuries.
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This child is sweet, loving, strong and full of life! She still goes to school when she is not feeling good or even hurt. She always gives it her all! She was sitting down on the bus when the driver hit his brakes. Her mother made sure to ask the principal if she was sitting down and she was, so I don't care what the situation was, kids should not have gotten hurt and if it wasn't for strong people speaking out on these matters, then we are all to blame.
I really cannot believe a lot of the comments I'm reading here! So just because there were "behavior issues" with absolutely no mention of extent to those issues, which could've been kids being too loud, being a little too roudy which kids tend to do every once in a while and out of nowhere, we're gonna blame it all on bad parenting? As any real parent would know, or anyone who's actually been a kid, and I'm assume that's gonna be 100% of us, kids are going to be kids! It's so nice to know that a lot of you out there are perfect parents who have never had any problems with your kids or ever will, yet I bet those of you who have kids on the bus don't even know what exactly they do on the bus. I've been on the bus and I've experienced a lot of problems on 1 route, and rather than slam on the brakes, the driver would either pull over or turn right back into the school on more than one occasion, then address these issues, which usually worked. So yes, the parents are right to be addressing this. And funny how a lot of you are saying the parents are "overreacting" yet you are overreacting in some of your comments. Kids are going to be kids and they need to be dealt with responsibly.
@Zoso I can't beileve so many words are hurtful and there saying them to my friends Egypt is like my sister
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I am a father and now days, to get any results you have to step up and make it known. For anyone to look down at this, or think it's OK to put down a 11 year old needs a wake up call. The bottom line is...No matter how frustrated you get at our children, you must deal with it professionally. I agree with the mother and child. Next time could be worse and it seems like, all she wants is for her child is to be safe. Freedom of speech is almost gone in this country. Sad...
I also agree with the mother! For anyone not to give a damn about chidren and what they say, should not speak at all. He's lucky my kid don't ride his bus.
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I agree with the mother. I myself have dealt with many situations in my kid's school and nothing is ever done. All people do anymore is talk. This is for the adults and parents to discuss, so for all you immature, rude and non caring people who like to throw out your opinions in a negative and ignorant way, go get a life and grow up. I agree with something needs to be done regarding our teachers, bus drivers and schools. Nothing will ever change, if we the people don't stand up and make it happen! For the ones who like to put down kids and are not there to protect, regardless of the situation...Go to Hell.
i agree with the mother. i believe the bus driver knew what was gonna happen when he decided to slam on his brakes as a form of solving the problem, And to me that was a form of agressive and malicious behavior. This not the example were trying to set for our children as adults, The situtation should of been handle in a much more mature and proper way. Thanks.  Keisha Ragsdale
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If we didn't have people to speak out, then we wouldn't even have News. I agree with the mother. I also agree on showing her daughter that, in that case the bus driver did not handle the situation properly and that it is OK to speak out. I'm sure they left quite a bit out of the news and no one knows the whole story to act like they have. We as parents are here to support and protect them. Whatever the cost. I think the bus driver should be suspended until further investigation. Crazy on how easy it is to get away with things now days. Just look at our Government, the police and these schools. Makes me wonder whats coming next. I am on the mother and child's side.
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I think we need seat belts now days as well. We are way to over populated and our having way to many accidents. We all know how kids can act on a bus, but it doesn't mean it's OK to be aggressive in any way as a bus driver. The problem with people now days, is that people are afraid to speak out anymore and our society is getting worse and worse, as you can see by some of the way people are talking on here. Turning the other cheek is for low self esteem and people who are weak. I agree about the school systems getting worse. Their under paid and don't have the patience to deal with the kids. Their quick to put the kids on ADD medication and call it good. There are other ways of discipline then slamming on your breaks. I am a parent and I hope our schools and drivers get better training.
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We still have not heard from the bus driver. Schools do not conspire with bus drivers to deliberately hurt kids. Something is missing that may have justified suddenly stopping the bus. http://theschoolbus-jkraemer.blogspot.com/p/snap-shot-reconditioning-school-bus.html
This article...not new. If it said 'two children hurt, parents don't over-react' then I'd feel it was worth reading.
If this kid hit her head and was in critical condition, in a coma... I think the majority of attitudes in these comments would be very different. Â And that might have likely happened if fate were not on her side.
I do not understand why parents get involved with everything. My parents would have told me to just rest my wrist for a few days and move on. They also didn't intervene when I was bullied in school. They always just told me to keep my head up and that things would get better as I got older which they were right. My parents never got involved when two teachers accused me of being a smoker because I smelled like cigarettes. They told me that I and they knew the truth that I wasn't smoking so to not worry about what another person said.
Although, like with some of the other posts, I agree with most of your opinion. One of the main reasons some parents get so involved is that some of these are actually defending their parenting skills, not the child. - "I did not raise my child that way" - therefore my child does not or did not do anything wrong. So many parents do not actually know their own kids. It would be odd to expect that parents need to be involved and supervising their kids, then to attempt to measure for them how much involvement is necessary. Some give more space, earned or not, while others keep closer watch. My sister needed very little supervision, very trustworthy. I needed a drill sergeant dogging me nearly every waking moment. Same parents, two entirely different behaved children. It is possible, although not confirmed by officials in the story that the one child was sitting and was still injured. Compartmentalization is not complete without seat belts and use enforced. In the late 1960âs and early 70âs "Series 1 and Series 2 "School Bus Passenger Protection" collision tests conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles, UCLA researchers concluded that after high back seats, next in importance to school bus passenger collision safety is the "use of a three-point belt, a lap belt or other form of effective restraint." (~ SBF Magazine). Decades later the NHTSA admitted to the need and now require high back seats as an option. Few know that 3-point lap belts are an alternative option NHTSA recommends. The original engineers were right all along. So few are aware of that reality. It is also possible that the bus driver did nothing inappropriate, as was confirmed by school officials in the story. Seems reasonable enough at this point that no injuries where intended when the driver for some reason not explained in the story suddenly stopped the bus. More about sea belts on the school buses, by a Google search for the article: Are parents mandating seat belts for school buses?
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I agree with getting seat belts put on the bus. I also agree with standing up for your children. Not enough parents are doing it now days, and now we have bullying everywhere and children committing suicide! I don't care if it is a small incident, or a large one. These are children on the bus. You people putting down children and acting out like children yourselves, please never have any children, because no adult or loving parent is going to put down a 11 year old kid and her mother for standing up for her safety! For the ones who watch the news, knows they edit everything and not everything is put out on the table for everyone to see, so judge yourself before others. I'm tired of these schools and how they are handling problems. They don't! And that is a problem. I was a school bus driver for 17 years in the state of WA and I would never stop a bus like that, just because the children are out of their seat. I think she handled it very professional. Good for her.
I like your post, in agreement with some of what you presented. I drove over two decades and what kept me afloat were the civil adults and civil kids that helped me keep kids safe. Although I did not use the brakes to discipline (self-defeating) did refuse to transport unruly children -- escorted off the bus and to the school office while the rest of us went home on schedule.
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I would like to hear the bus drivers side of this. It's so easy to just present one side and draw conclusions.
about 15 years ago my son lost his bus priviledges. He swore to me he did nothing wrong. I went to the school district bus barn and watched the video for myself. OMG what an eye opener. Middle shcool aged kids are horrible on the bus. I don't know how the driver managed to keep control at all. Asking the kids to stay seated did nothing, raising her voice did nothing. Kids told her to shut up and drive that they didn't have to listen to her. As for my sweet angel he was guilty as charged and needed to be off the bus for a week. He took the community transit for a week and hed to earn the money for it by extra chores. I don't want to see any child hurt and I will not put this mother down for being upset that her daughter is hurt but maybe she should watch the video from the bus she may find out her daughter acts differently around friends on the bus. The good news is by high school the behavior gets better.
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What reckless driving actually looks like. Seat belts are definitely needed to help prevent injuries when operating a school bus like the driver in this video: http://youtu.be/SAj6Wgi8bP4
I'm shocked by all the negative people on this thread. Why is it so bad for a mother to stand up for her children? Tanya did exactly what she thought was right. It's sad to see all the name calling and assumptions here, especially towards the children.
It isn't wrong for a mother to stand up for her children. But so many parents think their children can do no wrong so defending a child who is in the wrong is not teaching them anything. If this child got hurt from falling forward due to standing, which I bet is against bus rules, then this child was in the wrong.
Key word IF. We weren't on the bus nor are we the parent in this situation. All I am saying is this; it's ok for a parent to stand up for their child when they beleive it's warranted. And their actions should be without people who know nothing of the situation making childish assumptions and name calling.
 @kg1979 And it seems that you are making assumptions that child may not have been at fault. Clearly no one here is completely innocent nor completely guilty.
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Wow. It's embarrassing to know I live in America and people talk like they are regarding the safety of our children. If things keep going the way they are, we are doomed. You people act like you don't even care what happens to our children, or other people's children. You can tell who is caring parents on here and who isn't. You guys are probably the type of parents who don't care where or what your children are doing. This country is getting used to so much crap happening right in front of our eyes, that you attack a 11 year old girl who you don't even know. Sad. My daughter and I have had several problems with the school system and going in to talk never did anything, so good for her, for sticking up for the children on the bus and putting it out there. That is what this country needs. More people to stand up and speak out!
Well, thank you for speaking up on behalf of the parents not doing so. Is that it? Nothing more? Terse is Okay, provided in kind returned is acceptable as well. Are you volunteering to ride the buses and be bullied by the kids? Would you drive a school bus and experience what a hostile workplace can be like while trying to drive? Have any issue with hostile parents attacking without any more facts than some presented here critiquing the child and the parent. Anything to mention concerning calling for parents to help the bus drivers keep kids safe? Are you ready to advocate for seat belts on the buses? Are you ready to support removing from the bus any child refusing to follow directions? Nothing at all about these issues? That's Okay, you have a right to your opinion, just as does everyone else concerning this story's issues.
About unruly behavior:Â Â http://theschoolbus-jkraemer.blogspot.com/p/snap-shot-reconditioning-school-bus.htmlAbout seat belts on the school buses: http://theschoolbus-jkraemer.blogspot.com/p/are-parents-mandating-seat-belts-for.html
this was an intended reaction from an adult with painful abusive consequences for the children, in my book that is abuse, was it an unavoidable stop ie jaywalker ect then that is a different story, when the driver chose to stop abruptly and knowingly launch students down the aisle then that needs to be handled in the right manner fire the driver,
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The bottom line is, that we are talking about children here and their safety. Regardless if some of the kids were out of their seat, we don't want them getting hurt. Some of you are talking like you have no children and do not know what it takes, or how it feels to be a parent.. Thank God it wasn't a worse incident, because what it sounds like to me, is that it takes a horrible incident for some of you to wake up and act right. I don't have the time to drive my 3 kids to and from school. I am a single Dad and work two jobs, so I need to know my children are safe on the bus and in the school. Back off, because this mother finally spoke out and it's because of strong parents, who end up fixing and making our schools a safer and better place for our children.