The ABC reports today that an ACTION bus driver kicked 15 students from Telopea Park School off a bus.
Apparently he was not pleased with their behaviour, though there is no indication of whether the behaviour was criminal or dangerous to the driver or other passengers.
It seems that in survey after survey in Australia’s capital cities, anti-social behaviour by some passengers is a chief complaint among public transport users.
So is bus travel for students really a right that can’t be negated by their behaviour?
Shouldn’t the safety and enjoyment of fellow passengers be paramount?
Was the driver wrong, or was he just teaching them an important lesson?
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I remember way back in the 80s, after repeated appalling behaviour en masse, all students at Daramalan College were prohibited from using Action buses around school time. As a frequent traveller on these buses at the time (with small children) I along with many others were thrilled at the decision by ACTION. Eventually the ban was lifted, but it took quite a while.
I once had a whole busload of students evicted from a bus simply because I gave the driver the finger as I got off. Technically, they have a right to do so (ie. evict), but it’s kinda complicated. Duty of care comes into play – passengers should be able to expect that the service they pay for provides them with the service they pay for and be able to get to their destination safely. If there’s no safety risk to either the driver or passengers, drivers should not have the right to evict.
And yes, I wasn’t very popular the next day (although the principal kinda gave me a knowing grin as he dressed me down).
Looking back, I am amazed that this never hapenned on a school bus I was on.
Impossible to say without knowing what the behaviour of the students was like.
there’s no ‘d’ in privilege…
without being privvy to the details it is impossible to make a call on this matter. that said, manners seems to have gone the way of dials on telephones and wind-up windows on cars. i was on a bus earlier this week when the driver, at a bus stop, got out of his seat andf walked to the rear of the bus and demanded a passenger up the back cease consuming a beverage, made him leave the bus and dispose of the open can. passenger wasn’t to pleased, from his mutterings as he passed me each way back to his seat sans offending can, but the signage on buses is clear.
perhaps more drivers should send more of a strong signal and behaviour would improve, to the benefit of the commuting public?
but then, kids need to get home and be kept from dangerous environments, so it’s a tough call. still a gang of fifteen shouldn’t be harassed by lonely loonies…
About 20 years ago when I was in high school the Action driver got the poops with the kid repeatedly pushing the bell (this was an old bus where you could do that). Instead of kicking us off he just chucked a u turn and took us back to school. Headmaster was not impressed. Button pusher was suspended.
Priviledge.
Is that in the Brindabellas?
sneakers said :
Marist?
I just had 5 young men moon me from the back seat of a action bus not even 10 minutes ago – my children were confused. If you want to use the bus, then try and control yourself so that the driver can just drive, and not have to keep checking on what your doing. Failing that – People control your teenagers – i don’t like seeing their buttcheeks and ball sacks.
In my school days, there was one bus driver who was notorious for his lack of patience with unruly students. He didn’t just kick kids off for bad behaviour, he drove the bus back to the school and [i]then[/i] kicked everyone off and drove back to the depot for a cuppa (I assume). The nearest proper bus stop was a 15 minute walk away, and everyone got home an hour or more late as a result.
Of course, after a couple such incidents the kids became self-policing, shushing those who spoke too loudly, and savagely beating those who threw balled-up paper across the aisle. You’ll never see a better-behaved group of 50-odd teens in your life.
There’s probably a lesson in that somewhere.
Marist? Bwahahahaha
Holden Caufield, you are a funny guy.
Holden Caulfield said :
“It’s your turn in the barrel.”
I do remember an article years ago, where a driver put up with as much as he could, but a shoe flying past his ear caused him to do a 180 and take the little snotts back to the school.
Recall being on a country NSW train, out of Sydney to somewhere west of Dubbo, years ago. End of school term. Mobs of marauding boarders from some of Sydney’s finest making like idiots. Dumped at out of the way rural siding about 2 am on a freezing night. But there was discipline in those days, when you could take a trip around the world, buy a new suit and still have change from a shilling.
Vanessa said :
That was St Edmund’s – or did it happen to Daramalan as well?
I wish the drivers were this hot on behaviour all the time. The commuter buses are usually ok as everyone on there works and knows how to use a bus and treat other people. The buses in the day times – especially form the city out to Woden can be populated with ferals who drink and swear and generally make the trip feel longer than it actually is. I wish school kids would move their bags off of the seats, not put their feet on the seats, and remember when they file down the aisle of the bus that they have bags the size of a small car on their backs that could take someone’s head off.
Having said that about pasengers, I also wish the drivers would’t drive erratically, speed and listen to their sh*t radio stations so loud.
If my child would ever behave obnoxiously on a bus, I’d be thrilled if she would be kicked off. Natural consequences, there should be more of it.
astrojax said :
Seeing as we are playing the grammar game 🙂
TheDancingDjinn said :
ssshhhh, it’s ok. We know you liked it. 🙂
MERC600 said :
Memory is gettin a bit shot, but am certain it was Darra.