Teens on the Bus

[Patchworkturtle]

I work about 90 minutes from home, and my bus home coincides with the letting off time for the local schools, 14-18 year olds.
There's always been an issue with queue jumping, where they join their little groups of friends halfway down the queue in clumps of 4 or 5, but for the most part they're just noisy and haven't caused any problems.
Since school came back in September things have just gone down hill entirely- they now queue jump in groups of 10-12, leaving working adults at the bus station for 40 minutes despite having queued for 20 minutes or so because there are no seats, they are rude, they are boisterous, they shout obscenities pretty much the entire journey and are making some of the older passengers really uncomfortable. At 25, I figure they're just being horrid teens and haven't said anything. Yet.

Last night on my journey home I was subjected with having to sit on the top floor of the bus, and I was the only person who wasn't from this school. The bus driver said I couldn't stand downstairs because he was 'at full capacity' so I figured it's fine, I'll keep my head down and ignore them.
In the space of 90 minutes I was shouted at, pushed, shoved, had a bag thrown at me when they 'had to hide Adams bag hahahahaha!!', had drink thrown over me during an 'epic food fight!' and put up with four of the older lads at the back of the bus telling me they'd 'give me one when we got off the bus'. With headphones in I ignored them, until one boy, clearly too stupid to realise I wasn't wearing the school uniform, decided to smack me round the back of the head with a half full bottle of Sprite.
I spun in my seat and asked him what the hell he thought he was doing and his reply was 'I thought you were my mate Sally' and then proceeded to tell me I was stuck up, a skank and to 'go fuck myself'.

AIBU to contact the school and ask them how the hell the general public are expected to put up with this ridiculous behaviour every night? Last night was the first time I've been amongst it, and having spoken to the bus driver (who arranged for the cctv to be emailed to me last night - very helpful) the bus service don't want these kids on their service as they've noticed a drop in full paying adult customers who would rather wait for a different bus service.

I can't decide if I'm overreacting- would you ignore the situation or bring it up with somebody? I'm aware the school probably wouldn't do anything, but these kids are acting up with their uniforms on, and I know if I was like that wearing my work uniform I'd be instantly dismissed.

Truly disgusting. I am outraged on your behalf. Contact the school and relate the complete details as you have done here. Contact the school on every similar occasion. I agree that you should also contact the police via 101.

Contact the school, I contacted a headteacher about a local school last week when several girls where really lovely too me and my DD (3mo) and she identified and rewarded them so I'm sure the HT of this school would be happy to sort the issue.

Having spoken to the school earlier today, I admit I was nervous about getting on the same bus in case anything had been said throughout the day.
Within minutes of arriving at the station a whole group arrived (behind me in the queue as I ducked out of work 5 minutes early to make sure I was at the front!) and low and behold right before the bus pulled in they started filtering around me and the other queuers as if we weren't there I spoke up (my weakness and downfall in these situations!!) and advised there was a queue, to which the response I got was 'and you're at the back of it hahahahaha'. Got to love a smart mouth.
They say half up and half down floors tonight, lots more jostling and pushing, one of the lads was swearing and when an elderly man told him to pipe down he was called a 'cnt for his troubles by the same lad who walloped me with the bottle. I'm of the opinion that people really shouldn't draw attention to themselves in situations like that, especially repetitively, and this lad clearer doesn't know when to quit. Spent the rest of the journey listening to their moronic conversations and I managed to get his name. Along with a description I have just provided to 101, and a quick email shot off to the person I spoke to at the school earlier, I anticipate (well hope, though not holding my breath) that he gets pulled to task.

As for the cctv shock, I did ask if I needed to destroy it when I spoke to the police and they said no, I am entitled the footage within a 40 day window as I travelled on the service.

They sat upstairs and down, that should say, and the 'c' word I'm pretty sure is self explanatory, as my little asterisk turned into a link..

DD gets on a public bus and I read her the riot act at the start of every term about consideration for the poor commuters who have to share the bus with the school children. She says apart from some natural segregation of areas on the bus, the behaviour isn't too bad. I have also seen the children waiting for the bus and letting the commuters get on first. Her school head is also the type to jump on the next bus with them and give them his best scary stare throughout the journey.

I've been on buses where schoolchildren have behaved 'boisterously' (to put it mildly), so I do feel for you. Although I must admit that when I've seen this happening, the teens involved were shouting and shoving at each other rather than doing that to me.

I'm quite impressed that your bus company got on to the problem so quickly - as you said, Last night was the first time I've been amongst it, and having spoken to the bus driver (who arranged for the cctv to be emailed to me last night - very helpful)

That unusually prompt response must have been very helpful indeed, and I hope it was useful for you in reporting the matter to the police straight away.

I was once a loud teenager on a school bus: we did some pretty stupid things but nothing dangerous and we weren't rude. Ironically we were the ones who used to queue in the right direction at the bus park...

But that lot on your bus, OP: you were dead right to phone the school. Good luck.

Is the bus stop fairly close to the school - if it is it might be worth asking if a member of staff could supervise - it would need to be pretty close for practical reasons of getting there after lessons etc and you may get told its not within their area of control. I know we 'police' an alley near our school regularly.

I bet the bus company would like to kick these kids off the bus, and maybe withdraw their passes too - the income they get from it cannot be worth the mess, disruption and complaints from passengers and staff.

I wonder if one of the reasons you got the CCTV footage so fast is because they want you to do lots of complaining so they have ammunition to use to either get the school to sort the kids out or to enable them to withdraw the passes.

BIL is the deputy head of a secondary who has the task of sorting out the transport amongst many of his other joys... We were chatting about this sort of thing a while ago, he said any reports of St *'s children bringing the school into disrepute would be followed up 'vigorously' (His own words were more Anglo Saxon than that, we were having a grown up dinner party and quite a lot of wine had already flowed...)

Best wishes OP, it's such a shame that the vast majority of perfectly nice teenagers get painted with the same brush as the inconsiderate little toerags you've been encountering.

What's really sad is I remember being a teenager surrounded by these sorts and I was petrified. I was picked on throughout high school, bullied from the age of about 9 by a for up of bolshy popular kids, and I never understood what their behaviour actually achieved. Even now I'm clueless- it's very confusing, and much as I'm annoyed at having risen to it, I feel it better said teen has a stern talking to now, as opposed to in 3 or 4 years time when he's out drunk wth mates and bopping people on the head with bottles in bar fights.

So sorry you had to go through all this again OP, but hopefully now that c*nt-mouth has drawn sufficient attention to his lack of brain cells he'll have the smile wiped off his smart mouth. I will bet you money that he is Known To The School - kids like that are usually PITAs in school and out.

OP, were you and the elderly man the only adults who spoke up? That is appalling.

Phone the school, our headteacher would come down like a ton of bricks on any student who behaved like this outside of school. When in uniform they are still representing the school.
Also, not relevant, but did anyone else read the title of this thread to the tune of 'the wheels on the bus'?

YANBU I was a bus stop today not near a school but there were 3 lads and they were talking really loud (not really an issue to be fair) but the amount of swearing was unbelievable every other word was F*. They were shoving each other around and I did raise an eyebrow about it thinking its was a bit too rough but maybe that's what boys do and it definitely didn't come across as though they were hurting each other.

I'd definitely phone the school!

Some boys do, Spectre.
Some girls do, too, to be fair.
First day back this month amused me because I clocked a group of girls smoking behind the church. Funnily enough, I haven't seen them there, since and they don't know me from Eve :o I guess I'd rumbled a really crap hide out, completely visible from the street.

What has happened since Patchworkturtle?

i'd contact the police and give them names and descriptions.

Phone the school and phone the police. You won't be the first person who has been assaulted.

And the boy who thought you were a girl at the school - that tells you all you need to know about how he regularly treats girls.

You will be doing yourself, the bus company, other adults, and the school and schoolchildren by insisting this be addressed.

Just caught up on the thread, Patchwork, and well done. I hope it's the beginning of getting it sorted. I think there will be a lot of people really pleased that you have acted, and given them what they need to take action, too.