Larry

I got a question for you. Why is the first thing they do to students that get into trouble at school is to suspend them? There is no way I can justify the two students to be suspended! The two thugs should spend a long time in some kind of school detention. Where they would still be required to do their normal school work plus extra studies. If anyone needs a good education it’s those two thugs. We can spend the tax money now for education or later for their prison expense. Letting them run around on the loose unsupervised is like giving them a reward!

This is insane! Students have a right to to a safe environment on campus, in the classroom and on the bus to and from. This is the schools responsibility to ensure this happens. Even if they have to put security guards on problem buses.
They need to make examples out of these offenders. Animals like these have no place in our society.

Black, White, Purple, Green the horrible part is how some of the kids were even egging on the kid beating the other kid. Why do those kids even think they should cheer this on? Maybe they need to feel what its like to get this beating?
Who cares what color you are? Fighting, pushing, shoving but this? Where are the values of these kids? Then there's more black kids than white ? So if they are so afraid of racial why does it seem like its mostly the african american ones in trouble? Get rid of their attitudes!

I agree with the first poster.

It's great that the news is able to cover these issues, but god for sake, why all the repetitiveness. All this does is promote animosities by running it into the ground and adding more fuel to the fire, than what is needed.

Even other schools, Collinsville Students to be exact, were shown and questioned about this incident........what's the point? Why not just get the entire area in a uproar..... and I hate to say this, but then it does turn into a racial issue because by the time it gets back to the original story, it is so BLOWN OUT of proportion and the true be so stretched. And for what, news ratings.

Please for god sake, get off the self destructing soap boxes. It's a no wonder we can't advance within our communities with news broadcast such as these. Some news is NOT good news when ran into the ground. Channel 4 does a good job of doing this.

Larry, I think you did a good job covering the bus incident. What struck me was how the white boy just took it. It didn't look like he took any initiative to fight back and the black boys just kept punching him. It really sickened me to see this happen, I don't care who is doing the punching.

i would have a hard time disputing what others here have said. i know that i would not want to be this kid on the bus. if the bus driver did everything correctly, why is he suspended? we also have a strict school policy that you are not allowed to fight back, or you will be charged with assault also. Larry, you need to go back to reporting the news, and keep your personal opinion off the tv, as well as the internet. you chose to be a reporter. remember that. report the news.

Larry,

My one complaint: You keep calling it a "fight". Show me on the video where both the white kid and the black kids show mutual aggression and begin punching one another.

You can't. Instead, what you see is two kids attack and pound on the other kid while he sits there and does not defend himself. No one I know would call that a fight. It was an assault. Had a few of the kids not stepped in to stop it, he probably would have been hurt much more seriously - the idiots punching him did not know when to stop.

You are doing a dis-service to the victim and the story by calling it a fight. It insinuates blame on both parties - that is not the case. It is an assault.

Bullying? Ha ha. This incident has all the makings of being caused by racism. Unless you've been on such a bus, or in the locker room in a similar situation, perhaps you may not really understand this. Even if you haven't, you have to be pretty naive to think THAT video just shows "normal" bullying (whew!).

Ultimately, this is being handled as another PC story which does the race issue no good. If we really want to get serious about discussing the race issue, the first step is to be honest about black-on-white racism, along with white-on-black racisim. Until then, the "mainstrem media" just won't have any credibility in reporting the race problem.

Sorry Larry, you can say it's not racially motivated, in your heart of hearts do you believe it? Maybe you have to say that on television to protect you or the station, but in your gut you can't believe it. If you do you aren't the intelligent man I always thought you were. Maybe you need to report from your gut and not try to be politically correct ALL of the time. Stand up and report the story for what it REALLY is, be a hero like the young man on the bus.

Responding to the person saying that this is a hate crime: This is not a hate crime it's just 3 kids fighting. The kid was probably a quite and humble person that never bothered anyone and those two boys saw that and decided to be stupid and fight him. No matter if he was blue, purple, green or yellow, they were going to fight him regardless. So please people stop saying that this was a black/white thing because it's not. Not saying what happen was right because I agree those boys should be punished to the highest point possible, but this is not a race thing.

By the way I'm a big fan, but I think that this is a bunch of bs. If it was two white kids beating up a black kid, NAACP would be all over it, as usual. Since the two boys were black it's not race related? Are you kidding? Since you call NAACP for their opinion, why not ask Dave Duke for his opinion? By the way I'm not white, but I have enough of a brain to see that this is all a bunch of b.s. . I hope they get what they deserve.

Larry, I don't think that this incident was racial. I think that with all the recent events happening in the media (The congressman yelling "you lie" to the President, Serena Williams, and Kanye West), that some are ready to say that the next incident that happened was racial. I do believe that what happened was very wrong, I would definitely hate to be the parents of the victim or the violent students; I feel they should be punished!

Yet just look at all of the crimes that happen in the black communities that get swept under the rug (missing children, innocent people getting murdered, rapes, etc.). Do these people deserve to get the same media attention that our white counterparts get, especially when it is a child. It unnerves me that a black child can go missing, and there is so little media attention that child gets, leaving the family with questions about where is the justice and leaving them to know that the community around them does not care!

When are we as a community get the message about race? We CAN all get along, we just don't want to.

I think we should look past black and white, and address the fact that bullying has got to stop. What I really found sad was the comment made by the mother of one of the suspended students. She stated that she didn't know why her son was suspended for laughing and encouraging the beating. She made a comment to the effect of "thats just what kids do". How sad is that when a mother thinks its normal for a kid to sit by and watch someone get hit over and over again. I hope everyone of the kids shown in that video that were laughing and clapping get suspended. The two kids doing the beating should be expelled and have criminal charges brought up against them. Bravo for the kid that finally stepped in. Too bad he was the only one.

This is a very sad situation. I believe it had some racial elements to the situation. It also had some bullying elements to the situation. This will be a heated debate for a long while.

Before I continue please note - I am black, my children are black and we live in the Belleville area. I do believe this was racial. My children have been beat up on the school buses before;by other black kids, chased home called "white" and told that they thought they were better than the other black kids. My 11 year old just came home today and said "Mom can we move?" She feels the kids at the school are wild and out of control.

The video should have been shown. The parents of the kids involved in the incident should be ashamed and embarrassed. The bus drive should have done more to prevent this from happening as well. They beating went on to long for him not to see what happened, as he is now claiming.

My prayers go out to all the families involved. I also pray and hope that the adults directly involved, indirectly involved and not involved at all; except through the many blogs, comments and text messages - act responsibly and not continue the racial hate and intolerance. Don't forget this is how and why our children act as they do. They get it from home.

Dear Mr. Connors:
I am shocked once again at the way you reported this criminal beating, sadly not totally surprised since your failed interview with Carnahan, your reputaion has been scarred forever with me, and my husband will not watch you anymore, and his character is not like that: however you have struck a cord with him that he says you are no longer credible and not worth watching! Now back to your irresponsible choices concerning the student who was BEATEN, you interview the naacp for a white student getting beat up?? Are you serious?
How do you look at yourself in the mirror? Is that your definitino of being a reporter, missing all the bases,denying the truth and catering to the black delinquents who beat this kid to a pulp? Why would you not interview a credible group who actually care about not being racist and does not start up racism at every corner. Then you minimize his beating by saying there are 2400 students who make their school and parents proud everyday, what does that have to do with this senseless OBVIOUS racially motivated beating?? NOTHING LARRY NOTHING. You have stopped reporting and now are a puppeteer for the minority, and that is sad and pathetic. You owe this family an apology for minimizing and disrespecting this student for not calling a spade a spade, shame on you Larry!! You would have reported this totally differently had the situation been reversed, wake up and deliver the facts. This area has long been a racially charged atmosphere and if you had performed your job and informed your viewers correctly you would have helped this student out tremendously but no you have dishonored him!!!

Larry-hooray to you and KMOV for covering this story. It is not racial-too many people like to stir the pot and bring up race anytime there are two colors involved. It's just the result of bad kids being raised by horrible parents. I now live in Kirksville, MO. I am so sad that I don't live in St Louis anymore, and hope to get back in a few years. But things like this make me glad I'm where I'm at, where people don't throw up the race card every time a kid acts up. Throw all of the assailants in jail-that's what I say. Look at those around them laughing and being accomplices. I don't see too many innocent kids on that bus, except for the kid getting the snot beat out of him. And of course half of the people commenting are making him and KMOV out to be the enemy. Shame on all of you people. And hooray to Larry Conners and KMOV.

Larry,
I am a parent of a former Belleville West student , who was attacked by a student at belleville west during his gym class in April of this year . I think the story here should be the the school is lying to the public saying they do not put up with kids that act like this . They do if they didn't and punished the kids better instead of slapping them on the wrist and giving them a 10 day or less "vacation from school " perhaps other kids would be to scared to act like thugs, and the police are no help they will suggest that the victim not press charges because it could cause you more trouble than it is worth, I have yet to be contacted by Mr. Bob Dahm about my sons situation and it has been 5 months . My son never hit the other kid , he did the right thing , these kids know they can get away with this stuff thats why it keeps happening over and over. I think the school and there policys need to be investigated, I am sure if you went to the Belleville police department and got copies of all the police reports that come from belleville west you would have alot of reading to do , and find alot of victims that bellville west has done wrong and alot of punks still being thugs, and yes west has lots of great students of all races and is it fair to any of these students or the teachers for that matter that west keeps letting these punks back in school no its not. What will it take for district 201 to start doing the right thing . Mr. Dahm stress to the students that character counts, but I guess that doesnt apply to him.I bet if what happened to my son was caught on tape he would of returned my calls.My sons case was black and white I am not being racial, or saying it was racist , it was a black kid and a white kid , our story is more complicated with teacher doing the wrong thing also which resulted in my son going to the hospital he had a broken orbital bone , its is far to much story to blog I hope that west latest victim gets justice and the school does right by him because like I said I am still waiting for it.

Let's be honest for one second here. Does anyone believe that that kid would have gotten beaten by either or both of the attackers if he were black? No? Then it's racism, and this is the marquee hate crime case. Book 'em danno.

Larry the video was upsetting; but even more upsetting were some of the comments about race. The race card gets used enough I an African American female and I'm a believer of the quote right is right an wrong is wrong, just the same thing that some Afro Americans think how the punishment should be done if it was a black child why is it different for the Caucasian, he's someones child too. I say punish they ass, and expelled them from school the rest of the year because at this point they should be cosidered to be a threat to other child that want to learn. And as for the bus driver, get him/her out of their because anyone with common sense should know how to handle that; they're called the police.

OK Larry, I watched that video 6 times carefully and I still did not catch the part you refer to in your opinion of how the police came to view this as not a hate crime. Please tell me what you are seeing that I am missing.
As many others have pointed out in their opinions, if the races had been reversed and a black child had taken the seat next to a white child and then had the living daylights beat out of him, not just by one student, but also by another while other white kids around him cheered, this would most definitely been deemed a hate crime and rightfully so.
Again, please explain to me what I am missing in this video that you and the police see that I don't. I think they call these situations "Hate Crimes" because that seems to be the basic attitude of the perpetrators.

Larry,

These are the facts. If this was a black kid getting brutally beaten by a bus load of white students it would have made immediate national headlines. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would have been in Belleville within hours comforting the poor beaten students family and assuring them the this racial injustice would be dealt with using all of their resources. A lengthy investingation would be launched and blacks across the country would be rioting.

Unfortunately the poor kid was white. The black woman that I saw on the local news tonight whose purpose was to defuse the racial tensions at the school stated that her main concern was, "who released the tape?" In her mind this should have been kept in house and dealt with annonimously. Do these double standards make anyone else sick? I am so tired of the white's being considered the racists when in actuallity its the exact opposite. The only difference is that the blacks seem to drop the race card at every possible opportunity. The president's speech last week. SC Congressman yells out "you lie" and the next day all of the African American Congressman are on the news calling it a racial attack. Milton Bradley, Chicago Cubs outfielder having a bad year blames the racist fans. I could go on and on but what's the point? Everyone knows this but it is politcally incorrect to verbalize the truth.

I hope that the young man who was beaten is fine both physically and mentally. I also hope that the people who did the beating are dealt with accordingly and not with a slap on the wrist. My opinion would be the same if the boy was white, black, yellow or green. There is no place in society for this.

As the mother of a freshman boy I was very worried for my sons safety at McClure South Berkeley Highschool. He'd been the victim of so much reverse discrimination at Berkeley Middle school, beaten with an aluminum bat in gym class, gang jumped by 6 boys in front of cameras in the hallway at school...all of this seemingly just because he was white and in a very small minority in the Ferg-Florissant school system.

I drive him to school every day because of incidents such as what happened in Belleville and Hazelwood, thug like behavior is predominant in the St.Louis area, nobody wants to say it's race against race but it is plainly put blacks outnumbering and intimidating whites, end of.

It's a disgrace that I as a tax payer dont have a safe school to send my son to but I simply do not.

He'd go to Ritenour if they had hearts and care for a nice kid who happens to be 1.5 blocks outside their district! Shame on the school districts around here.

You just don't have a clue or you try and look at these instances through rose colored glasses.
These "instances" go on every day in every school district across the country, not only in our area. They are just not reported to the media, the school administrations think they can handle it without telling anyone, and more often than not, the police are not informed. Things like this have been going on in St. Louis for years.
In 1963 when the new Northwest high school was completed on Riverview, most of the students (white), were taken out of Beaumont and moved there. They moved the Black kids from Hadley to Beaumont. The white kids left at Beaumont, except for a few of us who could and would fight, were told to get out, this is our school now. The white cheerleaders were beaten by the black girls and told to leave the school. I worked as a substitute teacher in the 90's at all the public high schools in St. Louis and saw what happens there every day. The police came through Beaumont three times a day with the dogs sweeping the halls for trouble makers. Fights broke out all day and the kids welcomed suspensions. Why do you think it is, the student population of the public schools in St. Louis is mostly Black? Because the parents of the white kids know what goes on and don't want their kids there. In 1966, why were there seperate proms, white and black, and the former O'Fallon technical high school? Which public high school in St. Louis had a riot between the Bosnian and black students? You don't know because it was not reported.
Don't sit there at Channel 4 and try to justify these instances as not being racially motivated.
Between you and your co-anchor and her "discussion about race", I don't know which one of you makes me sicker. Neither of you know anything about the race factor in St. Louis, you pretend. Go to one or any of these schools unannounced on any given day and see what is going on, just not open to the public. Take a look at or follow any school bus after school and see what goes on. Hell, we couldn't give the kids books to take home and do home work, they threw the books out the windows at cars and people. Do some real investigative reporting or just get on your Harley and ride off into the sunset looking through your rose colored glasses.

Mr. Conners,
This is a very important issue. I feel for the victim and for the aggressors. The victim for being at the wrong place, at the wrong time and with the wrong people. The aggresors because they showed how quick they turn violent. What's the future like for these two kids? What can we as a community do to save them? Racism exists and it is a two way street. No matter what a white person does or says, the race card is played. I'm at the point that I watch what I say in front of my African American friends. Imagen for a second what if there was a United White College Fund? A White Ms America contest? a NAAWP? Oh my...I shudder just thinking about it.
However...what about ACORN? When are you or anyone in the KMOV news department going to report on this scandal? Is the race card being played her as well???

Mr. Conners,
I share the concerns of the community regarding the violence that erupts in schools, school buses and the bullying that's so prevalent in the schools these days. I think this is a newsworty and important topic.
Also an important topic of a greater scale still goes unreported by you or your associates. That is the scandal surrounding ACORN. Our goverment has contributed more than 50 Million dollars in the last 15 years to this organization. These are 50+ millions of OUR tax dollars. ACORN is (or was) to receive 8 BILLION (yes, no mistake here billions with a B) more of OUR money to keep funding their lies, deceptions and to continue instructing their communities on how to cheat the government and how to start up illegal businesses, such as a bordello where teenage illegal girls from El Salvador were to be used to turn tricks. Yes, I'm aware the issue of the business and the girls was a story concocted by the folks shooting the videos to see what the "community activists" had to say about it. Nevertheless, this is news. These are the type of incidents you all decide not to report to the community because you may be afraid of who you may be offending, you may upset Mr. Obama because, as we all know, or at least those of us who listen to other media outlets and not necessarily KMOV as a rule know, that our President had been an attorney for ACORN and as a "community activist", or maybe incur the wrath of the democrats in congress. I don't know which one it is but you are still at fault for not informing your viewers of what's going on in this country. I heard you say the other night Mr. Conners that KMOV's news are "fair and balanced". This term was coined by FOX News Channel and now it's used by the mainstream media as their own. You are far away from that. Maybe you folks should be watching FOX news channel and learn what "fair and balanced" really means. I commended you for your reporting on the healthcare issue and your interviews but now I see that it's all a smoke screen. Now I realize that you went VERY easy on Mr. Callahan during his interview. If you all are liberal leaning newscasters then come out and say so. Don't hide behind your smiles. Of course, just like Mr. Charles Gibson...he didn't know about the ACORN scandal...so maybe you all didn't know about it either...yes, that's the ticket!

My daughter goes to West now and after a few weeks on the bus she told me about the harassment and fear she had of continuing to ride. She was being bullied by girls because of what she wore to school and they had vulgar names for her. At first I thought she just didn't want to ride the bus but she assured me as did other parents in the neighborhood that there were definite problems and clicks. She arranged to have someone pick her up and bring her home from school and she does the same for others now that she drives.
My daughter said that fighting happens all the time--it's a way of life in school. She came from a private school so this was never tolerated and I don't remember her ever saying this happened there. I want to commend the one student who took it upon himself to stop this senseless beating. I'm hoping that the community awards him for his bravery and the only one with enough sense to know this was wrong.The children involved need to be expelled from school. If we let these children believe that violence is a way to solve a problem and then receive attention for this we will be sending the wrong message. We are not talking about 2 boys fighting --this is a brutal beating and I can tell you if the races were reversed we would be hearing more about it and it would be labeled racially motivated. We received calls from the principal about placing monitors on this particular bus but they need to be on all of them--not just this one. It's happening more than you think. Not only do the children need to be held accountable but also the parents of those children. Suspending the students is not enough for this incident--I guarantee that it will not teach these children anything.
I also heard the school is thinking of having sessions about bullying. Thinking?---thinking?--what will it take to wake them up and realize that this is a real problem that needs to be addressed now..
Why didn't I report it--my daughter was a freshman and afraid of retaliation and she was alone while I said earlier there was a larger click of girls. I visited the school on several occassions and the last time students were pushing each other into me and laughing--I was appauled at what I saw--just before school started in the main area.

Some are seeing this as a fight.But it really is an assault.For whatever reason the victim did not strike back.Has anyone interviewed him or his family? What about the parents of the perpetrators? You cannot deny that if the races of the kids were reversed there would be much outrage from Sharpton,Jackson and company.On a similar topic, calling someone racist just because they don't like where Barrack Obama is trying to take us is immature and uncivil.Many who voted for him are surely regretting it.Please stop calling him "our first black president".He is bi-racial and was raised by grandparents of European descent.

Larry,

The coverage was appropriate and I'm glad that there was widespread circulation of the video. Belleville shoved a uniform policy down our throats a few years ago and given how much of the 2ns assailant's drawers I saw, the school administration is not enforcing it. Every child standing on the bus after the bus driver told them to "sit down" should be walking to school and/or getting a ride from parents until at least Jan 2010. Call it racist, hate crime, bullying..., it's all about viewing another person as less human than yourself and that's hateful. Keep up the good work!

Karen

I want to say that I do not believe that the School district is at any fault for this. Parents need to raise their children right!
The School / police need to take these kids out of school BUT place them somewhere for length of time to learn some respect. AND parents need to pay for someone else to teach these kids respect!
ALL of the kids who were even egging this beating on! This is not the schools fault, its the parents fault for not teaching their kids right from wrong!

Larry,
I agree with you that this should be broadcast. The more people that know about it the more that can help stop it. However, I disagree in that this was racially motivated. A bus full of black studens and one white, what else can it be. Also others are correct that if this was 2 white students beating a Black student, the NAACP would and the Rev. Sharpton would be after blood. OK, this time the colors are reversed but it is still a violation of the victims civil rights. The black students should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and expelled from the district. If the Dictrict does not come down hard now, this problem will get worse and these Black students will be the future inmates in prison. They must know what their limits are.

1. Why haven't you shown the video from the Hazelwood school bus incident??! You have exploited the video from Belleville, IL. for over an entire week!

2. If the Police determined that the IL incident was Not "racially motivated", why does the media persist in proclaiming that it was "racially motivated"?

A response would be appreciated.

Larry, I just watched your 5:00 story of the bus fight story. I am very concerned that the driver will no linger be driving those students. There are no laws to protect the driver in these situations that may require on scene personal contact. I am a high school bus driver in Illinois and I think the public needs to know we cannot protect their children!! Regardless of the circumstance the driver will more than likely lose his job, as in this case. Few will resk their job unless it is a life or death situation. Thanks

As a victim advocate, I believe that the playing of this video over and over again has no purpose except to incite racism and attempt to increase ratings. Have any one of you thought of the impact that showing this video over and over again will cause additional harm to the young man who declined to fight back? KMOV's continual coverage of this is deplorable, as is the Belleville Police Department's release of the video in the first place. Distorting the faces of the victim is a joke and KMOV should be ashamed as every student at Belleville West can identify this teen. Maybe that should be the story. In the chief's opinion, he wanted to teach others a lesson. At the expense of who? Good news for a change, I think not! I would implore your viewers/readers to look at your own lives and recount how many times you bullied someone when you were a youth or you were bullied yourself. The bottom line, there is no excuse for 1) the behavior of the students on the bus; 2) the decision of the Belleville Police Department to release the video when it is potential evidence and identifies juveniles; and 3) the media revictimizing the student over and over again. Whether it was a hate crime can only be determined by the St. Clair County State's Attorney. We should wait for the decision and if we disagree, understand that the public is not privy to all the information that is used when determining whether a crime has occured or the kind of crime. That is why we have a criminal justice system, like it or not.

Hate crimes were not legislated to prosecute blacks, they were made into law to protect blacks. This is why blacks are very seldom (if ever) charged with hate crimes against Whites. Furthermore, hate crimes laws weren’t legislated to be fair, equitable or even pro-black. They were passed into law to be anti-White. If people are just now realizing the double standard, then, they must have been hiding under a rock for at least the last ten years.

These black youths didn’t want the White boy to sit next to them because of racism, hate or because he was White? C‘mon man, blacks can’t be racist or have hate, they love White folks. Only Whites can hate and be racist. I learned that just by watching and listening to the media. Yea, that’s why I’m so antelli, intal intellag… smart.

Larry, I bet if this was your child, who took the beating,you'd have a different point of view about it.Or maybe you are afraid to speak the truth for fear of offending a "certain" race, or taking "sides". Larry you need to get out of your subdivion and move in the neiborhood where these bullies live at and see how it takes your attitude to change !

Larry,
Volatile situation is an understatement……. You may be restricted from saying some things, but I’m not.
The action of the two morons is the direct reflection on their parents/ home lives. Most of the people that wrote in about this were right the NAACP would have wanted a pound of flesh if the colors were reversed. These morons do need punished…… but to the school POLICY. Lets not push these morons down the path of hopelessness further than they already are.

As a high school student myself, I deplore the coverage of this incident in calling it a "fight." Looking at the video it is quite clear the victim refuses to fight back in either beating. Whether this was due to the fact he was physically unable to do so or did not want to fight back is unknown. In my school district policy states that any student fighting, even in the protection of themselves or others will be punished. Channel 4 should cover why different school districts have policies against defending yourself. Of course, this is all mute if you call this beating a "fight"

Hate crime or not, racially motivated or not, I wasn't there, it's not my call. What I viewed was assault...plain and simple. I'm concerned there have been no charges. I personally believe it's taking as long as it has because the authorities are trying to manipulate and minimize the cahrges for fear of more violence. Forget about the politics and do what is right. The victim deserves justice not because he's white or because his attackers are black but because it's what is right.

I couldn't believe it when I watched the news on Wed. night to not only see the bus video again, but to see it FIVE TIMES during the short recap of the story! Again, and again, and again! What was the point!

Larry,
Whether or not this was racially motivated is unimportant. There are some people who just seem to have chips on their shoulders. If race isn't a reason to hate their fellow human beings, they'll find another excuse. Kids seem to be worse than adults about this. I do hope those boys who initiated the attack are prosecuted.

The part I cannot understand is why the bus driver should be in trouble. I taught in public schools in Missouri for 30 years and drove school buses much of that time. It's hard enough to keep adolescents from fighting when they're at school. However, driving that bus is a full time job. A bus driver cannot possibly control children who do not wish to be controlled and still maintain safe control over a 40,000 pound motor vehicle. And they say texting and driving a car is dangerous!

I hope it never comes to this, but it looks like the Belleville district needs a police officer riding every bus.

Larry,
The only problem I have a concern with is the double standard that is in place when it comes to race. I feel that if the bus were filled with 80% white kids and the individual victimized here was black then this would be more of a national issue and we would see the likes of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton here is Saint Louis supporting the parents of the victim with a lawsuit.
I feel that as a society and community we need to get this right for the sake of future issues, these boys need to be punished severely not only being expelled from school but given community service. A slap on the wrist here would only re-enforce bad behavior.
The severity of this act puts it in a class of more then just a "fight", this is border line riot and the other kids that were instigating this fight should be arrested for just that inciting a riot.

Larry:

If this incident had nothing to do with race, why then did you feel compelled to interview (edit) Rice, from the NAACP.

Have you interviewed anyone from a white rights group about this? Have you given them any time on the air? No. Why?

This was a racial issue, and why many deny it, just blows my mind. Also just how truthfull these school authorities are about how frequenly this type of incident occurs. I'll bet it would be a shocker. I wonder what would happen if all incidents of this nature were made public. All can think is, "Katy Bar The Door".
I believe that if every incident were reported, the school authorities and law enforcement would be very busy. Moreover, you would see more parents getting involved.

Larry,
this was not a fight, this was an attack on a student. Two black students bullying a white student, that's racist too. When I bussed from the West to South to Cleveland High in 1983, there was alot bullying on the bus and in class rooms. Of our own race (black). I had to fight everyday, sometimes I ran, but I end up getting suspended and kicked out of school because I fought back. When I attended Vashon High, I come across more bullies, sometimes I skip school and other times I would go to school hoping that I would'nt see the bullies. I even resulted to carrying a knife to school, did'nt work, soon my back was turned my purse was stolen. I caught hell in high school and on the bus, thank God I'm an adult now. But those two students should be taught a lesson so this would never happen again to any student. To the white student, stay strong, I been there before. This is America, you should be able to sit anywhere on that bus with no problem. Keep your head up.

You know I am so tired of this story. Facts, 2 kids beat up another kid. End of facts. Prosecute the kids doing the deed and we are done. No NAACP action, no White Supremist (EDIT) just justice doing what it's supposed to do. As for the expulsion, quite frankly from jail these kids aren't going to be able to go to school so who cares.

I think seriously that perhaps we are all over reacting here. Punish the kids and get them some training and mental support as well as the battered youth. Although I originally thought jail time for these idiots, I realized that perhaps they just need an attitude adjustment (EDIT) and perhaps they will pay better attention to the feelings of others.

My name is Lashanda Battle. I am the mother of Trinity Battle and aunt to Taelor Earl. On Monday October 5, 2009, my sister waited for Trinity and Taelor at their usual bus stop. As the bus approached, my sister could hear them crying before they exited the bus. The bus driver continued his route as though nothing had occurred. He did not offer an explanation, nor did he utter a word about the altercation. Anxiously, she began asking them questions to for clarity about them crying. After repetitive inquiries, they finally were calm enough to explain what had occurred.

According to Taelor, a Kindergartener, “a big girl was hit Trinity (who is also a Kindergartener).” Taelor, after seeing her cousin crying began to pray for her. The bus driver told her to shut up. As an effort to get facts about the incident, my sister sought the bus but was unsuccessful

When my sister reached my home, she told me what happened. I immediately called the school. They were closed so I decided to wait until the next morning and call. Trinity started saying that her arm was hurting so I took a look at it and noticed redness on her arm and face. I told her that I would go with her to school the next day.
Tuesday Oct.6, 2009 at 8:00AM, my mom called transportation to obtain a copy of the tape. Transportation reported, the bus driver turned in the tape and wrote up a report on what happened. They told her they were sending the tape over to the school (Lawson Elementary), and that it should be there around 1:00 P.M. that afternoon.

The girls did not ride the school bus to school that morning. I transported them myself and sought a conference with the principal, Dr.Scheller. Once inside her office, I began to explain what happened the previous day. According to Dr. Scheller, she did not have the tape nor did she have the name of the female student that attacked Trinity. Therefore, she could not go forward with an investigation. She said she was not trying to brush the situation under the rug, and that she would call me when she got the tape. We left with the belief that she would call us back once she received the tape.

Around 3:30 P.M. I still hadn’t heard from Dr.Scheller. My friend and I met my mom at the school seeking additional clarity from Dr. Scheller. A second time, Dr. Scheller denied having the tape. My mom reminded Dr. Scheller that the transportation department indicated the tape would be sent before 1 P.M. Dr. Scheller said transportation had not notified her about the tape. She then checked with the secretary to see if someone brought the tape in. (still a no). Dr. Scheller reminded me that she could not do anything earlier with no information, but she guessed she could have called the transportation depart to check on the tapes status. She called transportation. They told her that they sent the tape already thorough her E-mail, and that she needed Angel share software to view the tape. Dr. Scheller told us she didn’t have the software on her computer and that she had not reviewed any bus tapes this year.
Angel share was something new they were trying this school year. She also said it could take a while to get the help desk to set the software up for her and she would call us when she got the tape.
I signed my daughter and niece out of school early. On our way to the car my niece (Taelor) pointed out the girl who was walking towards our direction with her dad. I stopped him and informed him on what happened the day before. He started laughing. Once he saw that I didn’t find the situation funny he stopped. He said I’m not laughing because she hit your daughter I’m laughing because she came home saying a little girl hit her on the bus and that she hit her back. He thought she meant little in size only not age. His daughter appeared to be about 9 or 10.
Soon after my sister joined the conversation at the same time Dr.Scheller was coming towards us. She said that she had just finished watching the tape and that Trinity hit the girl first. I asked Trinity if that was true she said no she hit her back. Basically she said the girls were tapping each other, and the hits were not serious. Dr. Scheller began talking about Trinity standing up on the bus, and then told us about other kids running up and down the aisle screaming. Since Dr.Scheller down played the situation to horse play. The girls apologized to each other and the girl and her dad went on their way. My soul just wasn’t settled so I requested to see the tape. Dr.Scheller hesitated for a moment, but she complied.
We returned to the office and Dr.Scheller played the tape from when Trinity hit the girl back. At our request she went to the part were incident began. We saw my daughter and niece sitting together behind the bus driver. The girl was sitting across the aisle but in the row ahead. She got up and sat directly across from them. My daughter got up and stood in the aisle like the other kids. She had her hands on the seat backs on each side of her. The girl grabbed Trinity’s hand attempting to move it from the seat. Trinity yanked her hand away and put it back on the seat. The girl started saying something to Trinity. Trinity jumped at her. Then the girl got up and started hitting Trinity. Trinity then hit her in self defense. The girl kept hitting her. She would look at the bus driver to make sure he wasn’t looking, and she would hit Trinity again. Trinity started crying. Instead of the bus driver pulling over to stop them he kept driving. Then he started yelling at the kids telling them to shut up. My niece started praying for my daughter and the driver told her to shut up. Soon Trinity and Taelor got off the bus. Once they got off the bus the older girl got up and went to the back of the bus.
Dr. Scheller kept pointing out the fact that Trinity was standing up, so were the other kids. The fact still remain, my daughter was attacked on the bus. To me it seemed like Dr. Scheller did not care. Basically she was saying, if Trinity wasn’t standing up she wouldn’t have been hit.
A moment later the counselor Mrs. Thomas walked in to check on things. We were trying to figure out the little girl’s name. That’s when I remembered that the girl’s dad signed her out right after me. Mrs. Thomas left out and came back in with the secretary. After checking the list we discovered the girl’s name was Elise. Dr. Scheller stated that she would be addressing a few more situations on the bus. None of them compared to my child being attacked. Again, I felt like Dr. Scheller didn’t care that a 9 yr. old was hitting on a 5 yr. old. She didn’t take immediate action. She kept asking that we trust her in the fact that she would handle things. Meanwhile Mrs. Thomas was looking at the tape, and all you could hear her saying was “oh my”. It pained me to my soul to see my child go through that in the care of Lawson Elementary, and have the principal of all people not care.
We left the school and went to the administration office to speak with the superintendent. We were told that no one was in at the time, and that we should follow protocol. On the verge of giving up, a lady walked passed and asked us if she could assist us. We told her we were looking to speak with the superintendent. She told us she would get the assistant superintendent Dr. Sandbothe. He came out listened to our story, and said he would meet with Dr. Scheller to view the tape. Then together they would decide what to do about the situation.
That evening I took Trinity to the police station to file a report. They took her Statement then we went home. I put her to bed. Not even an hour later she began screaming out “no” “stop hitting me”. She started crying and fighting in her sleep. I had to let her sleep with me that night.
Wednesday Oct. 7, 2009 my mom called the school’s transportation department and spoke to whom she thought was the person in charge of transportation. She said, the bus driver was shown the tape and they told him to be more aware next time.
Once again I drove my daughter and niece to school. I waited to speak with Dr.Scheller to see what had been done about the incident. Dr.Scheller told me she had not had time to contact the girl parents because she had to make an appearance for Mom and Muffins, but she had that on her agenda along with an assembly between bus 31 and 35. Where they would review the tape and decide what should be done. I told her I’d be back to speak with her after school.
In the meantime my mom spoke with Mrs. Thomas because Dr.Scheller refused her call. She told her she was coming up to the school after work. She was told that actions had been taken on the girl. Elise would be suspended from the bus for five days.
To me that is not a fair consequence or punishment for attacking someone. The girl didn’t ride the bus everyday, so missing a few days was nothing. That doesn’t give leaving to ride one of the buses. Mrs. Thomas tried several times to reach Dr. Scheller on her cell phone. She either didn’t have her phone with her, or she was refusing to answer the phone. Mrs. Thomas said she felt the incident was an attack, but she didn’t know if developmentally Trinity did something wrong by her being five.
Dr. Scheller returned around 4:30. She said that the girl had been given a consequence, and that basically she was done talking about it. We asked if we could have a conference with the girl’s parents. She told us no that was cause conflicts.
We spoke again with Dr. Sanbothe after unsuccessfully trying to get Dr. Piper. Dr. Sanbothe still had not reviewed the tape.
Once again I felt like the Hazelwood School District did not care. Dr. Sanbothe, reminded me he only dealt with cases when suspension was more than ten days. Yet, the district kept sending him to speak with us. He said that if we wanted to make an appointment with Dr. Piper we need to see the secretary out front. According to the Secretary in order to get an appointment with Dr. Piper there is a process we had to follow. Dr. Sanbothe made it seem like all we had to do was set up a date and time.
I left my child in the hands of Hazelwood School Districts care everyday. She came home with bruises and no one bothered to tell me why. Dr. Scheller seemed to minimize the attack as a bus incident. The attacker got off with a warning, and note sent to the parent. I am not pleased with the girl’s consequence. I am not happy with how Dr. Scheller handled my daughter’s safety. I am not satisfied with how the bus driver handled the “bus incident”. I was told that it was his first day, but first day or not he could have stopped the bus or drove it back to the school if he could not manage what was happening. I am disappointed with the brush off treatment I got from both Dr. Scheller and Dr. Sanbothe. I will try once more with Dr. Piper, but at this point I am ready to make my case public. In hopes that someone else’s child won’t be involved in a “bus incident”.
Today is Monday Oct.12, 2009 I received a call from Dr.Sandbothe. He told me that Dr.Piper told him to call instead of her calling herself. He also stated that she felt she did not need to call. Mr. Sanbothe informed me Dr.Piper had read my letter. I asked Dr.Sandbothe if he had seen the tape he told me no. Here we are a week later and neither the superintendent nor the asst. superintendent has seen the tape.
Dr.Sandbother also let me know that he talked to Mrs. Thomas. Mrs. Thomas told him that Trinity was doing well on the bus. When in fact Trinity and Taelor only rode the bus one day last week and that was Oct.8, 2009 Dr.Sandbothe also felt offended that I felt he didn’t care in my previous letter. At the very least, he could have viewed the tape. I also told him that Dr. Piper could have at least called me herself seeing that she did read my letter. About 15 minutes later I got a call from Dr. Piper. I let her know that I still wasn’t happy with the principal’s decision. She told me that parents don’t make the punishment, which I understand. She also told me they weren’t changing the punishment they gave. She said that she got on the both Dr. Scheller and Mrs. Thomas about the informing me of the girls punishment. They are adding in a teacher’s asst. on the bus route. Her voice tone was hostile as she explained that she was trying to help me. When I told her I was going to the board of education. I told her my daughter and niece was on the bus today and the principal nor was counselor not on the bus. I told Dr. Scheller Friday Oct.9, 2009 that the girls were riding the bus in front of several witnesses. I let her know I was still going to the board of education. She said “fine” with a nasty attitude.
I would like for everyone on the board including the superintendents and Dr. Scheller to watch the tape once they are finished I want to know if that is still a “bus incident”.

Sincerely

Lashanda Battle