The following excerpts were re-printed with permission from The Southwest Transportation Agency.
Since its inception, Washington Unified has partnered with the Southwest Transportation Agency to safely transport all students to and from school. Southwest Transportation is excited to continue a program designed to make each of its school buses a “No Bully Bus!”
Bullying is when a more powerful person (or persons) mistreats someone over-and-over on purpose. It is not hurting someone, accidentally. Southwest bus drivers undergo intense training to learn how to interact with students in a fashion that will ward off bullying behavior, wherever possible; and deal with such behavior in a positive and constructive fashion when it does occur. School bus drivers also use www.nobullybus.org to report a bullying incident on his or her route.
In addition, trained experts (including scientists) conduct comparative analysis between feedback received from students and bus drivers to make certain that perceptions of bullying activities on their bus are consistent. For example, a given bus driver may be operating under the assumption that there is NO major bullying activities taking place on his/her bus, while student riders perceive that bullying is problematic. Or, vice versa. Buses may have video monitoring devices on the bus, so that the analysis can be validated, when needed. Should a serious incident take place on a Southwest bus, the incident will be handled in a timely and appropriate fashion.
Washington Unified is committed to the safety of all students and is excited to work with Southwest Transportation to ensure your child’s bus is a “No Bully Bus!”