"The Challenge"

Middle Students are a tough crowd on the School Bus. Every Middle School Teacher and Bus Driver will tell you that. Most parents will even agree that when their child has hit middle school age, things started to become more difficult. Not just the challenges of school but the overall. They don't belong with the little ones anymore but they also don't belong with the big ones yet. They are trying to find themselves, manage to find the way through puberty, figure out where they belong, where they fit in, the changes are coming at them from all sides. It is an even bigger challenge after being under "lockdown" for a year and a half, not having gone to school, surrounded by others who go through the same stuff, and for some, the "fitting in" part has been more so acting out of character than anything else.

The Middle School Students have always been my biggest challenge on the school bus. Maybe even more so because of the neighborhoods, I drive for Middle School but that's a different story for another day. So back to the beginning of it all... Middle Schoolers are at an awkward stage and let me tell you, the bus runs are often tough on me, my ears, my patience. I can deal with the fact that now and again a cuss word flies by me but this year, it has been out of control. Up until I had an Aide on the bus for a few days who helped me sort the kids out and bring some kind of calm in the bus, the entire run was a riot. Kids standing on seats, in the aisle, fighting, screaming and hooting and so much more. I swear I wrote more "Bus Conduct Notifications" in a week than I had in the years I've driven a school bus. It was sad. What was even sadder, was the fact that I felt like I wasted my time writing them up every day because the school didn't do a thing! It was discouraging on all levels. Like, we, the bus drivers who hold the lives of 30 + children in our hands each day don't matter. As a driver, you also get to the point where you don't care anymore what goes on behind you, you learn to "zone out" and just concentrate on the road and what's going on outside of your bus because of the saver and faster you can get them to school and out of the tin box, the faster quiet returns. It takes enough concentration out of you to drive a 40 ft bus in tight areas that you can't have your eyes in the rearview mirror non-stop too! Sad to say but true! I only have one set of eyes, no eyes have grown in the back of my head since I have become a bus driver either. I truly was happy when things calmed down some thanks to the help of the aide however when she left one thing returned. The mouth!

The cussing slowly crept in again. Now and again at the beginning but with time it got more and more again. It got tiresome again too. I would tell them time and time to wash their mouth out with soap or remind them to get their mouth under control again or I would bring the aide back again. It worked like a charm.

I came up with an additional plan last week. I told them on Friday that we only had a 3 day school week the upcoming week since it was Thanksgiving week and that it was my birthday that week as well and I had just ONE WISH for my birthday and they all could make this one wish come true. The ears perked up and when I said to them, that the one wish I had was for the 3 days we would be traveling to and from school, there would be no cursing on the bus they agreed to it. I thought yea ok, by Monday that is out the window and actually considered bringing a soap pump on the bus to offer it up for when the potty mouth returned.

But then things came different than expected. A fifth-grader dropped a curse word and all the other kids lost their marbles on the student. Saying things like "You didn't pass the challenge!" and "Remember Ms. Anja said...." as well as a "Ms.Anja, (the student's name ) failed your challenge!!"

Now I feel challenged in another way... I told them it was a wish, they took it as a challenge. I may have to come up with another couple of challenges for them ;) Got any ideas? Let me hear them! As the old saying goes "it takes a village to raise a child" and I am part of their village. Positive Challenge Ideas are greatly appreciated. Let's challenge them to be better humans and make the world a bit of a better place!

*I do love my kids even if they are a challenge for me from time to time. Deep down, they are all wonderful kids!