"http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57458238/funds-for-bullied-bus-monitor-skyrocket-over-$400k/"
(CBS/AP) A video of a 68-year-old school bus monitor mercilessly taunted by seventh graders became an international online rallying point against bullies Thursday, with funds for the Rochester, N.Y., grandmother rapidly increasing hundreds of thousands of dollars and a deluge of people demanding harsh punishment for the boys.
Police said Karen Klein does not want her young tormenters to face criminal charges, partly because of the storm of criticism leveled at the boys from the Rochester suburb of Greece after the video went viral.
Bullied school bus monitor finds online support
"They've received death threats," Greece Police Capt. Steve Chatterton said Thursday. "Their families have been threatened. We have custody of one of their cellphones, and he had over 1,000 missed calls and 1,000 text messages threatening him. And he's 13 years old. That must stop."
The verbal abuse was captured in a 10-minute cellphone video recorded Monday by a student of Athena Middle School in suburban Rochester and later posted to YouTube. The video shows Klein trying her best to ignore the stream of profanity, insults and outright threats directed at her. One student taunted: "You don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they don't want to be near you."
Karen Klein's oldest son killed himself 10 years ago.
Eventually, she appears to break down in tears.
Klein's son, Brian, told CBS News affiliate WIVB he was "overwhelmed" by the vicious incident, but he hopes to send positive energy to all the supporters who donated money and sent his mother heartfelt messages.
"One thing I would really hope that would come out of this is maybe these kids would start learning to behave and respect their elders," Brian Klein said.
"You want to jump into that bus and you want to grab those kids and say `Knock it off!' And you want to hold her," said Amy Weber, a 43-year-old independent filmmaker from the Detroit area who pledged $100 Thursday through the international crowd-funding site Indiegogo.com.
"I think we hear about bullying every day and we become a little desensitized to it. This puts it in our face" said Weber, who is making a feature film about a bully.
Klein told NBC's "Today" show Thursday that it took "a lot of willpower" not to respond to the jeers from the four boys riding the bus operated by the Greece Central School District. Klein said she was "amazed" at the support she received.
"I've got these nice letters, emails, Facebook messages," she said. "It's like, wow, there's a whole world out there that I didn't know. It's really awesome."
She said she hopes the parents will talk to their children about being "a little more respectful."
Klein did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The video logged more than 2 million views by Thursday afternoon, breaking hearts and raising passions of people who recalled bullying incidents in their own pasts. The fundraiser set up on Indiegogo.com shattered its goal of raising $5,000 to send the grandmother of eight on a "vacation of a lifetime." More than 15,000 people donated, many in denominations of $20 or less.
Funds for Klein rapidly increased throughout Thursday, with over $12,000 raised between 4:00 and 5:00 pm ET alone. By Thursday evening, the Indiegogo.com fundraiser had over $400,000 in donations and counting.
"I don't see how anyone can watch that and not be touched by it. It made me realize — and I posted on my Facebook wall — that sticks and stones may break my bones but words will still hurt you no matter how old you are," said Deana Rock, a 42-year-old marketing professional from Williston, Vt., who pledged $30.
Rock said she was moved to tears by the video and donated the money so Klein would not have to get back on the bus.
Police in the suburb of Greece had to step up patrols near the houses of the four boys and said they had received several threatening hoax calls from people. The boys had not yet apologized to Klein as of Thursday afternoon, though police said they regretted their acts and their parents are cooperating.
The district apologized to Klein and will pursue disciplinary actions against all four students.
The swell of support for Klein follows a recent surge in awareness of bullying that has brought the issue from the classroom to the stage and screen to the White House.
In September, after 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer of suburban Buffalo killed himself after complaining about being bullied about his sexuality, pop singer Lady Gaga decried the loss of another life to bullying, tweeting to millions of followers that she'd take her concerns to President Barack Obama.
This year, the White House held a conference on bullying prevention, estimating that it affects 13 million students, or about a third of those attending school. Obama said he hoped to "dispel the myth that bullying is just a harmless rite of passage or an inevitable part of growing up."
In April, the do entary film "Bully" examined the problem by following five kids over the course of a school year.
© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
These kids had their info posted all over the place and rightfully so: address, phone, email, etc. I saw it all over 4chan
on a bigger note, this "bullying epidemic" is completely made up by self-righteous gots. The only difference between now and the rest of human history is that people are able to easily record it, THAT'S IT
oh my god I want to beat the out of those little kids, what a bunch of little s
Seriously? I think it's getting worse
IDK... I bet went on in the old days that was just as bad, it just didn't get reported... now the baby boomers are using this "bullying epidemic" to write off younger generations...
That being said, those kids are complete and utter cruel brats... no excuse for their actions tbh...
I'm usually one who will fault the teacher/parents for bad behavior, but in this situation it's on a whole new level of mean. It's one thing for kids in middle school to call someone fat, that's been going on forever, but making fun of her for having a son who killed himself is why I agree with pego. The bullying has definitely gotten worse, when I was in middle school we were s to each other but we wouldn't do stuff like make fun of someone who had a suicide in the family. The bullying also was just kid on kid stuff, we had the decency to show adults respect. CubanSucks is right that bullying being video taped and shown online makes it a lot more viewable by the general public, but I don't remember there being news stories about bullying victims committing suicide when I was in middle school.
The parents of all of those kids should be disgusted with themselves and should feel the ultimate amount of embarrassment for seeing their kids do that. If I did that and my parents were in their shoes, my life would be over
the old lady's getting like $300,000 and the boys are getting super harrassed so it's all good
I genuinely don't believe that
And as pessimistic as I am about the direction of society in general, it is nice to see the outcry of support for this woman and the amount of money raised for her.
You're one person. My anecdotes are as good as yours and I can honestly say that I never saw cruel, chronic bullying
Because it's not a news story unless you know a suicide is because of bullying, and unless you have texts and facebook like we do now it's kind of hard to make that assumption
rofl the stories I've read involve the bullying victim leaving a suicide note/the parents knowing how tormented the kid was.
You don't need texts and facebook to know the cause of suicide
I'm sure people about to commit suicide are gonna be 100% honest about their motives, if they even ever got to that.rofl the stories I've read involve the bullying victim leaving a suicide note/the parents knowing how tormented the kid was.
You don't need texts and facebook to know the cause of suicideTexts and facebook messages tell a much clearer story because they weren't meant to be seen by the parents and authorities, therefore they make for much better news.
You're also assuming 100% of suicides back in your day were even reported on the news. I don't know how old you are and when you grew up but I would put money on a bully caused suicide story being used in the news as quickly as possible these days
Lulz. Sounds like a typical day in the Basement.
Wow...what a bunch of little gots. My dad is 68 years old with an artificial hip, but he would have gone to prison for what he would have done to those kids if they spoke to him like that.
This is part of working in a psych hospital that I enjoy. We get little assholes like this all the time that think they can cuss you out or take a swing at you. Their tune changes greatly after they eat the floor tile.
I wish I were a kid today, I'ld love to whip up on some bullies. When I was a kid I never let anyone around me get picked on. We need more kids like that today.
Last edited by Avante; 06-22-2012 at 07:35 AM.
LOL!! That's the best part of getting those little gang banger twirps in the ICU, seeing the fear and the tears in their eyes as I approach them with a needle! Crying, "Is it gonna hurt?" I always loved asking them, "Man, did you cry this much when you got those tattoos??"
I thought these were kids on spurstalk...
I guess the rest of the world is ed too.
Child abuse?
We had a bully in the neighborhood who tormented us all summer when we were about 9, he was 11. If he wasn't beating up on one of us, he was destroying property up and down the street. One day he and I got into it down the street and he was kicking my ass. When it was finally done, I was walking home and noticed he was running after me, I guess to humiliate me one last time. I ran, grabbed the water hose and swung it around behind me. The metal end caught him in the face and he went home screaming. I thought it was over.
The next day he tells one of his goons to ask me to play football outside. I go outside and see all the neighborhood kids in the street in front of my house and my sister runs and tells my dad that he was hiding behind a car next door with a cut piece of water hose. My dad goes outside, calls him out and tells him to come fight fair. Well, I beat the living out of him in front of the entire neighborhood. He was crying asking for his friend to take him home. That little never ed with us again. In fact, he really never came around anymore. Good times.
Awesome. I love bully stories.We had a bully in the neighborhood who tormented us all summer when we were about 9, he was 11. If he wasn't beating up on one of us, he was destroying property up and down the street. One day he and I got into it down the street and he was kicking my ass. When it was finally done, I was walking home and noticed he was running after me, I guess to humiliate me one last time. I ran, grabbed the water hose and swung it around behind me. The metal end caught him in the face and he went home screaming. I thought it was over.
The next day he tells one of his goons to ask me to play football outside. I go outside and see all the neighborhood kids in the street in front of my house and my sister runs and tells my dad that he was hiding behind a car next door with a cut piece of water hose. My dad goes outside, calls him out and tells him to come fight fair. Well, I beat the living out of him in front of the entire neighborhood. He was crying asking for his friend to take him home. That little never ed with us again. In fact, he really never came around anymore. Good times.
Here's mine;
As a kid my dad did a ty thing to me. I had older sisters and there were always guys trying to talk to them and/or hang around them so my dad would always send me as a in' chaperone to make sure my sisters were not alone and I could call him if something happened.
Well one dude was always trying to get with one of my sisters but I was always there so he in' hated me. He was probably 17 or 18 and I was 10 or 11.
One day he comes to my school and waits for me (elementary)...
Well he pretty much humiliated me and I limped home and got depressed and didn't talk for awhile. (he roughed me up and I was too small to make a dent)
Ten/eleven years later I had just gotten out of the military and was working for the local sheriffs dept. in the jail... and guess who the is being booked in to my floor?
Yup. Mr. (I beat up children) Bully himself. He was a career criminal being booked for another burglary/theft charge...stood probably 5'7'' and a buck forty soaking wet. (he looked so much more imposing when I was 11)
I took him into the storeroom to get him a mattress and other essentials.
He hadn't even recognized me yet. I got right in his face and towered over him and looked him right in the eye and asked him, "remember me?"
He about his pants.
I told him. I am not surprised to see you in here, if you need anything or anyone gives you -just come talk to me. He nodded and didn't say a in word till he got to his cell and says....thank you.
It was priceless. He's probably still in some correctional facility somewhere.
BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We had a bully in the neighborhood who tormented us all summer when we were about 9, he was 11. If he wasn't beating up on one of us, he was destroying property up and down the street. One day he and I got into it down the street and he was kicking my ass. When it was finally done, I was walking home and noticed he was running after me, I guess to humiliate me one last time. I ran, grabbed the water hose and swung it around behind me. The metal end caught him in the face and he went home screaming. I thought it was over.
The next day he tells one of his goons to ask me to play football outside. I go outside and see all the neighborhood kids in the street in front of my house and my sister runs and tells my dad that he was hiding behind a car next door with a cut piece of water hose. My dad goes outside, calls him out and tells him to come fight fair. Well, I beat the living out of him in front of the entire neighborhood. He was crying asking for his friend to take him home. That little never ed with us again. In fact, he really never came around anymore. Good times.
At that stage of life that was a great great feeling, wasn't it? No need to answer.
Karma is a . I wish I could have seen the look on his face, scared less.Awesome. I love bully stories.
Here's mine;
As a kid my dad did a ty thing to me. I had older sisters and there were always guys trying to talk to them and/or hang around them so my dad would always send me as a in' chaperone to make sure my sisters were not alone and I could call him if something happened.
Well one dude was always trying to get with one of my sisters but I was always there so he in' hated me. He was probably 17 or 18 and I was 10 or 11.
One day he comes to my school and waits for me (elementary)...
Well he pretty much humiliated me and I limped home and got depressed and didn't talk for awhile. (he roughed me up and I was too small to make a dent)
Ten/eleven years later I had just gotten out of the military and was working for the local sheriffs dept. in the jail... and guess who the is being booked in to my floor?
Yup. Mr. (I beat up children) Bully himself. He was a career criminal being booked for another burglary/theft charge...stood probably 5'7'' and a buck forty soaking wet. (he looked so much more imposing when I was 11)
I took him into the storeroom to get him a mattress and other essentials.
He hadn't even recognized me yet. I got right in his face and towered over him and looked him right in the eye and asked him, "remember me?"
He about his pants.
I told him. I am not surprised to see you in here, if you need anything or anyone gives you -just come talk to me. He nodded and didn't say a in word till he got to his cell and says....thank you.
It was priceless. He's probably still in some correctional facility somewhere.
Its amazing how big people seem to be when we're young. My freshman year of high school, some losers hijacked our lunch table in the cafeteria and when they finally stopped being assholes, they left the table but one of the guys took my backpack, unzipped it and rolled it across the cafeteria floor and of course everything spilled out of it. He was part of a gang so my friends and I didn't even bother to do anything, I just shamefully got my and sat down with my friends and we ate.
Similar situation as yours. I'm in San Antonio about 10 years later visiting my family and friends. My dad is out in the front yard with some of his buddies and they are throwing a few back, listening to some classic rock and I'm sitting there having a few with my pops. One of my dad's buddies pulls up and he and some younger guy get out of the car. My dad's buddy recognizes me and right away comes to shake my hand/man hug and ask how I was and then he introduced me to the guy. It was that same mother er who embarrassed me at lunch 10 years before. As a freshman, I was about 5'3", 135. Now, I'm 6'1" and weigh about 215. This guy was probably no bigger than 5'6" and weighed about 130. He was tatted all over and looked like . He came to shake my hand and I told him to off and reminded him of how he pulled that on me in high school. I asked him if he wanted to try that again in front of these guys and he just told that guy he came with that he was leaving and walked his scrawny ass home. That guy was nothing without his "gang". Pussy
Nope...try perfectly legal restraint. I figure that someone who works in a prison would have at least a little knowledge on the subject.
Relax. Just pointing out something that others usually get their panties all twisted about.
Fyi, you gotta be careful posting full articles
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