3 Florida Teens Pummel a 6th Grader on The Bus

I admit this blog post is a tough one to start the school year.  I would rather start with something inspiring and uplifting. Unfortunately, life doesn't always give us the chance to have what we want when we want it.  This following story is that kind of example.

In July, three 15-year old teenagers viciously attacked a smaller 13-year old from behind. According to reports, these older boys tried to sell the younger boy some drugs at school. The younger student decided to tell a teacher at school. The three boys caught wind of this and decided to get their revenge on the bus. What follows is this horrific scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8CqHvoZjZs

Author's Perspective: This video leaves me with so many emotions that it is difficult to keep them straight when writing about it. I hope you are as appalled and saddened as I am. This 6th grade child did what every educator would want him to do.  He was confronted with illegal activity and he told an authority figure. What happened next is tragic and this case should be studied by every school, every educator, every politician and every student in America.

While the video should send chills down our necks, the wrongs should be spread around:
1) The Attackers are headed down a path of no-return. They are involved in illegal activity and when confronted with a threat, they mercilessly beat the crap out of a poor defenseless kid.
2) The administration should have done more to protect this child. They didn't even give the bus driver a 'head's up' about a possible situation.
3) Forty-five students were on that bus. Not one attempted to intervene to help this child. Most were in shock, but some cheered as the attack commenced. I bet some knew the attack was coming.
4) The school policy dictates that the bus driver was supposed to report the incident to dispatch and the driver "should" not intervene in a physical altercation.
5) The bus driver followed protocol, but was there more he should have done as a fellow human being? He never intervened and he never even checked on the victim's health after the beating.
6) The parents of the attackers- don't get me started here! One parent said, "He's not a bad kid. He just got mixed up with the wrong crowd." Really! My response, as a father of 4 children, would have sounded like this, "I did not raise my child this way. I am embarrassed by his actions and he will wish he was in juvenile detention after receiving the punishments I dole out. He will be providing so many hours of community service that he will feel like it is full-time job. He will be apologizing to the victim and doing everything possible to make amends - even if it takes him a lifetime to do so. He will speak at schools about the lessons he learned from this incident and the societal problems of bullying, violence and drugs. I will not rest until my son does all of these things."
7) The judicial system: Prosecutors believe that 9 months of probation is an appropriate response to this attack. Again, Really? Is this an appropriate punishment? What kind of messages does this send?

Your Turn (follow us & tweet responses to @CDandLeadership using #CDandL):
1) If you were a student on the bus, what would you have done in that situation?
2) If you were the bus driver, what would you have done in that situation?
3) If you were the judge in this case, what type of punishment would you provide?
4) If you could write school policy, what would you say that a bus driver, cafeteria worker or a teacher should do in this type of situation?