SPECIAL REPORT
Moving Violations: Intricasies of Child Behavior Management
By Art Gissendaner School bus drivers have a number of
responsibilities, but none are more im- portant than protecting students from themselves and from each other. Effective child behavior management is
difficult enough to establish in the static environment of a classroom, but in the con- fined, mobile environment of a school bus in city traffic, the gray areas of behavior man- agement can be much more pronounced. Te philosophies of effective child be-
havior management are fairly consistent among school districts across the country with a strict hands-off-students approach being the rule of the day. Te belief is that, if behavior is properly managed, disciplin- ary measures are unnecessary. When things go wrong, it is usually be-
cause a pre-existing conflict was brought onto the bus from home or school, or a sub- stitute or new bus driver was driving the bus. “(Students) tend to see how far they can
push the envelope with substitutes and new drivers,” says Enrique Boull’t, direc- tor of transportation for the Los Angeles Unified School District. “Tat’s why train- ing and continuity of drivers are so very important. It is important that drivers are here everyday. We must also support our drivers by listening to them and respond- ing when they say they have a problem.” Te bus driver’s primary task is to trans-
port students safely to and from school. Accomplishing that goal depends in part on how well behavior is managed. Among numerous topics included in their train- ing, bus drivers are taught to manage student behavior by: clearly explaining the rules and behavioral expectations and stressing the fact that these rules are backed by the school district; establishing a cordial relationship with students, ad- dressing them by name whenever possible; employing seating charts (required in some states or districts); identifying stu- dent leaders and reinforcing their positive behaviors to influence others, and; de-
tecting and reporting behavioral climate changes that might lead to a flashpoint. Minor behavioral
lapses are handled
with incident reports that are submitted to school administrators. Bus drivers gen- erally observe and report. In Lee County, Fla., Public Schools, they cannot even in- quire about specific disciplinary actions. “Our bus operators are only concerned
that there is a (positive) behavioral change,” says Robert Morgan, director of transpor- tation. “It is inappropriate for a bus driver to even ask what was done to a child.” Morgan and his counterparts across the
country try to correct a situation short of revoking a student’s bus privileges be- cause it might discourage a student from attending school. Physical
confrontations among stu-
dents are taken much more seriously. Surveillance cameras do not prevent in- jury. Tat responsibility is the driver’s by default, and that’s when bus drivers find themselves in a Catch-22. For example, a Lee County school bus
driver was fired last year because he “failed to control the students on the school bus and did not take the steps necessary to protect students from injury” during a fight. A bus driver in Pittsburgh who moved quickly to break up a fight earlier this year made headlines when he was accused by a parent of choking her son, even though the district’s police cleared the bus driver of any wrongdoing. When students fight, bus drivers are
trained to safely pull over, secure their area, call dispatch and wait for help. Some larger urban districts have their own police forces. Many fights end after a minute or so, but in the cases of those that continue, like one that gained national attention last fall in Belleville, Ill., the driver must deter- mine whether to intercede to prevent injury to participants as well as onlookers. “Once a driver leaves their compart- ment and enters the students’ domain,
28 School Transportation News Magazine May 2010
they open themselves up to a lot of things, and these days you never know what those things might be,” explains Armando Cuel- lar, transportation supervisor for Madison School District #38 in Phoenix. “Pull over, call for help and leave the discipline up to the school.” Bullying and sexual harassment have at-
tracted the attention of lawmakers, and educators are adopting “zero-tolerance” policies for both. Nine Massachusetts high school students were arrested in March for bullying a student who later hanged herself. Failure to report such in- cidents can result in legal action. Bus driver training is constantly evolv-
ing to remain current. Te state of Illinois and some large cities include images of gang signs in their training manuals. Many districts avail themselves of seminars and training courses that stress interpersonal skills. Student behavior management is a key component in the training for First Student, the largest provider of student transportation in North America. Organizations such as Character Plus, of-
fer training sessions on creating a positive atmosphere on the bus. Assertive Discipline is another instructional model employed by school districts to help bus drivers establish effective behavior management. ■
Art Gissendaner is a freelance writer and independent public relations and commu- nications professional based in Phoenix.
More specifics on bus driver training can be obtained by contacting your local school district or the student transportation division of your state department of education or depart- ment of public safety.
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