Busting The Bus Bully

When I was in middle school, a friend was bullied by another student on school bus rides. The bully understood well that in our school, the headteacher only fought against intimidation inside the school. His perspective was that things that happened on public transport didn’t ruin the reputation of the school.

When the harassed comrade went to see the headteacher, he said that he had no authority over school transport. (We found out later that this was false.) Indeed in France, school bus service is a public service managed by the region. (We did not know all the details at the time.)

The bursar’s assistant saw [Friend] sad on the stairs of the administrative building and asked her what was wrong. She explained, and he informed her that she could also contact the public transport company.

She followed this advice. Video surveillance on the bus proved the bullying, and the company suspended the bully from the school bus for one month — the maximum before definitive exclusion from school transport.

As his parents had to arrange to bring him to school over for a month, the bully never started again. 

But thanks to the bursar’s assistant for giving the advice while the headteacher did nothing.