Bus Driver Tapes Special Needs Child's Mouth Shut & Isn't Even Embarrassed?!
Bus Driver Tapes Special Needs Child's Mouth Shut & Isn't Even Embarrassed
Former bus driver Marjorie Jones got lucky. She won't be going to jail for duct-taping the mouth of a 7-year-old girl with special needs.
But even losing her job and facing community service and probation
doesn't seem to have convinced the 63-year-old that she did something
wrong.
Jones was convicted of child endangerment for her mistreatment of little Angelina Kio, a girl who can't speak and whose cognitive abilities are equal to that of a toddler. But when she stood in front of a judge facing a possible year in jail for the act, the woman who used to drive a bus full of children was still claiming it was all in good fun.
Her exact word? "Playful." Jones thought putting duct tape on the mouth of a child with special needs was "playful." Anyone else wonder if Jones would be thinking it was "playful" if the judge had chosen duct-taping her mouth as part of the sentence? It kind of makes her "I am sorry for what I did" sound like a non-apology, doesn't it?
Sadly, I came at this sordid story looking for an out for this woman. I didn't want to believe that someone would actually do something so cruel to another person, much less to a child with special needs.
I know it can't be easy driving a school bus, what with all those kids screaming in the background and a bunch of idiot drivers out there on the road. And Jones works for the Corinth Central School District in upstate New York, where wintertime driving can be especially frustrating. As a parent who happens to live in upstate New York, I know a good bus driver is worth as much as a good babysitter -- they're like gold.
But Jones' lack of remorse is appalling -- almost as appalling as the act that landed her in court to begin with. This wasn't a horrible mistake made in the heat of the moment by a frazzled bus driver. Her inability to use nearly two years of time to think it through, to take the criticisms to heart, proves that.
So I'm going to say it again. Marjorie Jones to lucky. She's got three years of probation and 100 hours of community service ahead of her. But with her refusal to admit duct taping a defenseless person's (honestly, Angelina could have been 27 or 47 and it still would have been wrong) mouth shut isn't PLAYFUL should have gotten her a lot more.
What kind of punishment do you think would be more appropriate here?
Thank God my son is verbal even with all his special needs. I'd hate to think of what I'd do to someone who had done that or worse to my boy.
poor lil girl :( I think the lady should have never worked around special needs kids in the first place and i think she needs to face some kind of punishment...These poor kids go through enough
I am so glad mine is verbal as well. An aide was abusing a nonverbal child on the bus and my son spoke up to me and his school about it. I then followed the bus to find out where she lived,spoke to her parents, called special education, called the school and transportation and so did her parents. That started an investigation and the bitch lost her job.
I wish legal action would have been taken. If it were my child I would have pressed charges.
Sorry proud momma moment there.
But yea it's so sad that these things happen. There is a special kind of hell for these types of people. These children have a hard enough life.
Quoting acrogodess:Thank God my son is verbal even with all his special needs. I'd hate to think of what I'd do to someone who had done that or worse to my boy.
Quoting girl_incognito:I am so glad mine is verbal as well. An aide was abusing a nonverbal child on the bus and my son spoke up to me and his school about it. I then followed the bus to find out where she lived,spoke to her parents, called special education, called the school and transportation and so did her parents. That started an investigation and the bitch lost her job.
I wish legal action would have been taken. If it were my child I would have pressed charges.
Sorry proud momma moment there.
But yea it's so sad that these things happen. There is a special kind of hell for these types of people. These children have a hard enough life.
Quoting acrogodess:Thank God my son is verbal even with all his special needs. I'd hate to think of what I'd do to someone who had done that or worse to my boy.
Now I have her parents number so if anything happens to her again I can call them ASAP.
Quoting acrogodess:
Way to go! Good thing your son recognized the mistreatment and knew to speak up against it!
Quoting girl_incognito:I am so glad mine is verbal as well. An aide was abusing a nonverbal child on the bus and my son spoke up to me and his school about it. I then followed the bus to find out where she lived,spoke to her parents, called special education, called the school and transportation and so did her parents. That started an investigation and the bitch lost her job.
I wish legal action would have been taken. If it were my child I would have pressed charges.
Sorry proud momma moment there.
But yea it's so sad that these things happen. There is a special kind of hell for these types of people. These children have a hard enough life.
Quoting acrogodess:Thank God my son is verbal even with all his special needs. I'd hate to think of what I'd do to someone who had done that or worse to my boy.
It seems to me that the elderly tend to get off the hook a lot like celebrities do. Crazy.
Quoting cjs702006:IMO she should have been thrown in jail. If I did something like that to my son, it would be considered child abuse and I would go to jail for it.
SMDH
what to do when the special needs kid is the bully?
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on Jul. 10, 2012 at 5:34 PM