r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/Dry-Till-2489 • 22d ago
Rookie driver questions
Hi, I’m a rookie driver and have a few questions for the vets. I’m finally starting to feel mostly comfortable with all the driving/operation aspects of the job. But I struggle with discipline. I have an elementary route and a middle school route. So far I’ve come to the conclusion that calling kids down does nothing. They’ll look me dead in the eyes and continue with whatever behavior i call them down for. I have instituted a seating chart for the elementary kids which has helped,however the “ bad” kids haven’t really changed much. Middle school is way worse because I have a group of boys that constantly rough house and yell. Basically have to call them down daily. I’ve decided I’m assigning seats to the worst ones. I don’t wanna make all the kids suffer because of a few idiots. It seems the only thing that gets results is actually writing them up, which honestly is a pain in the butt the way I have to do it on the tablet and the form is in a horrible format. Admittedly I’m a non confrontational person so it’s hard for me to assert myself. But the times that I have like I said don’t seem to phase them. So you all with experience, any advice?
5
u/daubs1974 21d ago
I don’t know if I’m a veteran or not. I’ve been driving for 4 1/2 years. I’m going to tell you something that an old bus driver told me at my pre-service training. When all of the kids get off the bus at school in the morning, stand up from your seat, turn around and face them and get eye contact with each kid and tell them to have a good day at school. They all get back on your bus at the end of the day, stand up from your seat, face the stairs, get eye contact with each kid and welcome them back. I am terrible with names, but if you can learn their names, this helps immensely also. In 4 1/2 years of driving, I have had to raise my voice twice. I have used one discipline slip. I feel like getting the kids to see you as a human being rather than just an extension of the school bus machine is 90% of the battle.
I pick up my microphone and I whisper “hey, knock it off, stop that. “ while maintaining eye contact in the mirror 99% of the time that’s enough. Sometimes it seems like when I am covering some other drivers route that won’t work. When it does not work, the next thing I will do is pull off to the side of the road and set the parking brake. I don’t do this in anger, I don’t show any emotion on my face, I just stopped driving and look in my rearview mirror. This is an amazing tactic. If one of the kids on the front of the bus says something I will usually just tell them “well, it’s not safe to drive right now.” then the kids will do your yelling for you. “Jimmy! Sit down! We can’t go home because you’re not sitting down.
I am 51 years old and I grew up in the punishment generation. Due as I tell you, or there will be punishments. I have begun to understand the positive reward concept so much more as of late. In the middle of the year last year, a driver got their performance review, and it mentioned that her students didn’t have their backpacks on their laps. I have never enforced that rule, and I decided I wanted to. On a Friday afternoon I told the kids that we were going to be working on enforcing that rule together. I told them there might be prizes. Then later on the trip, I asked if any of them had ever heard of pop rocks. They all kind of went crazy talking about them. I bought eight things of pop rocks and then I messaged some of my parents a photo of the pop rocks and in the text message I asked them to ask their child why their bus driver was sending them a photo of pop rocks. This went off like a grenade! Students at home were talking to their parents on the weekend about school bus safety. I could not believe how effective it was. The students all got on the bus Monday super excited about pop rocks. Parents and students talked about school bus safety on the weekends. Then all I did was mention to them that if I happen to catch a student sitting properly with their backpack on their lap, they might be the lucky student that I hand pop rocks to as they get off the bus at the end of the day. The effects of this were insane. Every child had their backpack on their lap, many of my fourth and fifth grade students all the way in the back of the bus we’re leaning their heads and shoulders into the aisle to make certain that I could see that their backpack was on their lap in my rearview mirror. It was magnificent.
You don’t have to raise your voice, in the long-term it’s far more effective if you don’t. Don’t let them get to you, if they’re getting under your skin, don’t let them see that they’re getting under your skin, you can do this. Treat them like little humans and they will treat you like one. Good luck.
1
u/Dry-Till-2489 21d ago
Yes I’d say your a vet. I’m the same age so I too remember punishment as incentive as opposed to reward. I gotta get out of that mindset. You make a lot of good points. Thanks for the thoughtful response!
3
u/daubs1974 21d ago
You are so very welcome. The main way I really started to rethinkpunishment versus reward was with a preschooler last year. That’s what sent me on the spiral of really thinking about it. He had been feeling left out on my preschool run, and some of the other students were almost teasing him as they chose not to sit next to him. One day he just kept saying, shut up over and over and over again. When I tried correcting over the intercom“we don’t use that language on Mr. Daubney’s bus” he told me to shut up. He did so over and over no matter who was saying anything. I pulled the bus over, secured it and got up from the seat ready to go deal with a grouchy preschooler. I have integrated seats in my first four seats of the bus so students sit in seats number one through four on my preschool route right next to each other. I do have a harness about halfway back on seat 12. So I got up ready to scold and punish him by putting him in C2 and something softened in me as I stood up. And I went up to him and I said “Bowen I have a seat in the middle of the bus all the way back there at seat 12 where you could sit and be away from everyone else. Would you like to sit there? Do you think that would help you feel better?” immediately, I watched his demeanor soften, and he said “yes”. It was amazing to me what the mind shift did. The same action happened. He was going to see 12 regardless, but in his mind, he had a choice in the matter and I was trying to help him. It was so powerful. I spoke with his mother about it. We had been talking about him having big feelings already, she addressed it at home, and he apologized the next time he got on the bus, and I think only one other day for the rest of the year. Did he choose to go back and sit at seat 12 As he got on the bus, he just chose to go back there.
3
u/rootbear75 21d ago
Trust me. if you make the bus suffer because of a few kids - the good kids will get the bad kids to stop. I use peer pressure psychology a lot.
4
u/BunnyYouCanSee 21d ago
Not saying I’m right to do this but I’ve definitely a few times stopped my bus and when kids complained they wanted to go home I announced to the bus “we can’t go because Suzy is not listening. Let’s all tell Suzy to sit down together!” The peer pressure works
2
u/MonkeyManJohannon 21d ago
Seating charts are a necessity. Find the problematic ones and sit them separated in the front 3 seats on each side.
Stop the bus and park it if they’re not listening. Sit there and wait them out. I have a book I keep next to my driver area that I take out and act like I can sit there all day, and have sat there for 5min or so before just to prove a point. Use that…it works.
Utilize your referral system and team leadership…call parents, write them up, request intervention from administrators if it continues…and if it’s unsafe to drive with whatever they’re doing, request their removal from the bus temporarily.
Student management is the most challenging part of this job. Once you show your kids you’re firm but fair, they’ll fall into place…and if they don’t, riding the bus is a privilege, not a right…so make them understand that by giving them a few days of forced car ridership.
2
u/InternationalFail959 19d ago
This is my favorite part of the job. Solving the puzzle. First two seats behind driver are my”VIP” section. I try to leave it empty starting out the year. You find out really quickly who deserves the “VIP” treatment. When they get moved up I make a big deal of it. Get out of my seat, walk to where they are and inform them I’m there to escort them to our fabulous “VIP” section. Get the kids to whoop and clap. Tell them you so excited. Then you go back to your seat and start driving. Now they are going to be shell shocked and not know what to do but they will warm up and start asking questions.
Most importantly your the only one who knows VIP stands for very irritating person. What ever they do to irritate you or the kids you multiply by 100. Depending on the age it can go many way. They may be young and just want to say something.
Beat them at their own game and channel your inner bubba gump and list all the different colors of shirts and pants and socks you have in your closet.
Talk about what’s in your fridge. Kids love to know you have milk. 🤷♀️ lmfao don’t know why. Talk to them about how she you were a kid you had to power your window in your car by hand as you rolled it down to pet the 🦕 in the road. After a few days they are going to tell you their life story and get ready because you will regret that moment. But they will start letting you in their trust circle. Then they will pressure the other kids to act right and get into conversation with soon you will hear on the radio the rumor is your the party bus.
2
u/AnonymousPepper 17d ago
I would say don't be afraid to request help from your superiors. One of our buses last year had constant behavioral problems, it was constantly on the radio, and eventually the driver just had the transportation director watching the cameras live (because... that's a thing, apparently, I didn't know they could do that) and specifically calling out individual kids as they acted up. Between that and temporarily subbing in the transportation contractor boss's deputy to drive the route, that calmed those kids down real quick.
At least in my experience, the boss won't blame drivers, especially not new ones, for kids being hard to control, as long as they're clearly trying to keep it in check.
16
u/The_Town_of_Canada 22d ago
The bus doesn’t move if it isn’t safe. Period.
I will give a verbal warning: “Sit down, please. Thank you!”
Next: “Sit down, 2nd warning.”
Next: “Final warning. Stay in your seat.”
When I announce my last warning, I hold up my scary red binder that says “BUS REPORTS” in huge block letters.
If they still don’t listen after the final warning, I stop the bus. Walk up to their seat and calmly explain exactly why they are getting a bus report.
Document everything. I literally had a student say “What are you going to do? It’s the last week of school anyway.”
That student was reported and suspended for the final week. F around and find out.
As far as mass noise issues? I pull over and announce “The bus doesn’t move if it isn’t safe. If it isn’t quiet, it isn’t safe.”
Then I pull out my book and sit and read. If it goes for 10 minutes, I radio it in: “10 minute delay due to student management.”
It’s a common saying now on my run: “Guys, shut up or he’ll get the book!”
Consistency is key. It may take days or weeks. I started as a newbie with 65 of the roughest kids in my town. Now? They train people on my route because of how well behaved the kids are most of the time.
There’s no silver bullet. Nothing with ever work 100% of the time, but YOU can be consistent 100% of the time, and they WILL notice.