By now you’ve probably heard about Karen Klein, the 60-something school bus monitor who was taunted by four seventh-graders. The YouTube video of the incident makes me sad, and I have so many thoughts about this story:
- I’m reading a lot of on-line comments from people who are calling the children awful names. Isn’t that behavior essentially the same as what the children did?
- The kids chose to make fun of Ms. Klein’s weight. Trust me, those of us who struggle with this issue are already well aware. We don’t need anyone’s insightful comments.
- The four kids will be spending the next year in an alternative school where they will have more structure. They also must provide 50 hours of community service to senior adults. I hope they will gain respect for seniors and the wisdom they possess. That respect seems to be lacking now.
- In his letter of apology, taunter Josh wrote about being ashamed when he saw the YouTube video of the incident. I hope he is remorseful about what he did, not just that he got caught.
- This will sound mean, but I hope the parents are embarrassed. Actually, I hope they are mortified.
and finally…
- I love a story with a happy ending. An on-line fundraising effort was created so that Ms. Klein could take a nice vacation. So far more than a half million dollars has been raised. Go, Karen Klein!
482gr8 