In March, a group of five girls in Lorain, Ohio, jumped a 16-year-old after she got off the school bus. In December, a 16-year-old boy was beaten up on his bus for refusing to join the Bloods street gang of Earle, Ark. Are both instances of gang violence?
In the first case, the instigator was considered a “bully,” and in the second, the attackers belonged to a gang. Regardless, both beatings were described as severe. STN’s calls to Earle School District were not returned.
Mike Dorn, executive director of Safe Havens International and former police chief for Bibb County Public Schools in Macon, Ga., said despite the media’s focus on bullying, gangs are also a “serious” problem. He noted that the main difference between bullying and gang activity is that the latter is almost always illegal, involving physical attacks, weapons, drugs and vandalism.
“Gang activity is intimidation of a group of people,” Dorn said. “Say on a school bus, they take over the back of the bus, so you’ll see no students sitting in those rows except gang members. They’re sending the message: We run this bus, not the driver.”
While urban centers like Chicago, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Los Angeles are known for gangs, Dorn said they are infiltrating schools in other areas.
“Topics like gang violence will go by the wayside in the public eye, but they are still problematic for many school districts,” he continued. “There are many who have been successful in addressing it.”
How? Dorn’s strategy for combating gangs can be summed up in three words: surveys, training and collaboration. Past experience has taught him that student, parent and staff surveys can arm school officials with vital information. For transportation staff, this information may prompt them to install video cameras on school buses or create seating charts.
“Beyond the surveys, it’s your drivers,” Dorn said. “Train the employees how to recognize things that may be possible gang activity.”
During Safe Haven’s two-day training, bus drivers learn how to be more alert and identify suspicious behaviors, such as carrying a gun.
“Close collaboration with local law enforcement also gives you the ability to predict future violence and to warn transportation managers and bus drivers,” Dorn added.
Taking a Stand Against Violence
Kenneth Trump of National School Safety and Security Services, whose bus-driver training also includes a module on gangs, identified two new challenges that may compromise schools’ ability to protect students. The former supervisor of the Youth Gang Unit for Cleveland City Schools said cell phones allow gangs to mobilize more quickly than ever.
“Texting can be used to call in reinforcements, so they’re at the bus stop when kids get off the bus. In the past, it might have taken another day to get their crew together,” said Trump.
The second challenge is equally widespread: limited funds. Because of dwindling budget dollars, many school districts can no longer afford on-site safety training and must rely on DVDs to do the job.
“Transportation directors are handcuffed in terms of budget resources for that training, so it’s not their fault per se. It’s the question of leadership in school districts,” he said.
Both safety consultants concur that despite budget woes, student safety must always be the top priority. Dona Beauchea, corporate safety training manager for First Student, emphasized that bus drivers must be proactive, rather than reactive, in preventing violence.
“You only hear about it if it becomes very dramatic, but it’s happening every day in America in every town, whether rural, urban or suburban,” Beauchea said. “Children who are members of gangs do it for several reasons, and one is so they don’t become a victim. They just want to be accepted.”
First Student recently joined forces with The Bully Project and plans to address both bullying and gang violence during its anti-bullying campaign this fall.
“The movie Bully will bring national awareness to the impact that words and actions have on a child’s self esteem, sense of worth and sense of security,” said Maureen Richmond of First Student. “We are proud to support its message of action and hope.”
Beauchea recommended that school bus drivers get to know their students and enlist their help when creating bus rules. Drivers also have a duty to check bus stop areas for questionable activity.
“We have zero tolerance, and they are to report it to school district and document it. It doesn’t matter whether it’s identified as bullying or gang violence,” she said. “We need to continue to take a stand.”
Reprinted from the May 2012 edition of School Transportation News. All rights reserved.
