9 yr old ds drew on school bus in permanent marker!!

[mrsdaz]

My husband got a call friday evening to say that our ds has written "poo" in permament marker on the back of the school bus!! They want to stop him going on the bus and will be billing us to fix it.

He said he was dared to do it by a friend.

Cant believe he has done it and mad that he knows my husband will get into trouble for it (in the military).

What is a suitable punishment for this sort of thing? He doesnt seem to care anymore about being grounded and having his PS3 confiscated! This isnt the only time he has played up on the bus. My little boy is turning into a teenager!! Or is this a normal thing for a 9 year old to do??

I think its fairly typically silly thing for a 9yr old to do. They do get influenced by their friends, (and IME school buses are some sort of trigger for bad behaviour!)

Is it possible for him to apologise to a representative of the bus company? I'd also be looking for him to at least put some money towards the cost - either with pocket money or by extra chores to pay you back. That connects the consequences with the misdemeanor IYSWIM.

How will he get to school now if he can't use the bus? Will it bother him he can't go on the bus with his friends?

Sorry this made me giggle, I know its not funny but it's just such a wee boy thing to do.

Someone is over reacting here, he is only nine, not letting him back on the bus? It ridiculous.

I would imagine there is a fairly straight forward way to remove pen, must happen all the time.

But I agree with the chores suggestion, thats what I would do, to help pay for the cost of cleaning etc.

Thanks for your replies. It just seems its only ever my son that plays up and everyone elses is perfect round here.

I will have to take him to school now instead of him going on the boy, its only 1.5 miles away but is a pain with having the baby too..the bus was such an easy option! Not sure if he will be bothered about not going on it, he doesnt seem to be talking to me much at the moment.

My husband is going to take him to the bus monday morning and see if they will accept his apology and allow us to attempt to clean it off, i have read that hairspray gets marker off so its worth a try!

I would make your DS clean it with DH supervising to make sure he puts effort into it.
Then if it doesn't come off make him work off (household chores) the cost to pay back you and DH. He needs to earn vandalism costs the victim money to fix.

it will come off with a proprietary permanent pen removing spray and some elbow grease HOPEFULLY. BUT such cleaners may damage the paintwork.
How far is it to walk or cycle to school? Could you remove him from bus for a period.
agree he should be losing pocket money and or property to pay any bill. Sell his PS games.

My dh has worked for train companies all his working life, and they have to deal with dreadful graffiti, and have specialised solvents and cleaners to do this - and I'd be surprised if the bus company didn't have access to similar cleaners to deal with similar problems.

I would suggest a letter of apology to the school and to the bus company, an offer to clean off the offending word, and making him do chores round the house to 'earn' towards the costs that the bus company are going to charge you.

You might also want to consider lines - I know they are old fashioned, but I have used them to good effect with my dses - it is a boring and repetitive task, so no child enjoys it, plus you can make the 'line' one that reflects the message you want him to learn - for example; "I will not write on any bus, train, car or other form of transport - graffiti is unacceptable and offensive." [mean old mother emoticon]

I've come back to say that I've told my dh about this and he is in fits of laughter - and he is generally in the 'hang 'em and flog 'em' brigade when it comes to graffiti - so it clearly isn't that serious.

He agrees with Tough that it is not the sign of the first step on the road to a life of crime - more of a typical boy with his mates thing to do. A bollocking and a punishment is needed because you don't want him to do it again, but it isn't the end of the world.

Hope this helps.

poo is quite gorgeous really. agree with the letter of apology etc but am rather charmed by a nine year old writing poo. when you think of what else it could have been...

I disagree with the posters that think it's just a laugh. A new coach will cost in excess of £175000 , about the same price as a house. If the op's ds graffiti'd soneones house then I suspect it'd be a different matter. At the end of the day, it's criminal damage and I think kids need to learn that it's not ok to treat someone elses property like that.

But the coach company isn't going to have to replace the coach - in fact, you wouldn't have to replace a building that had been graffiti'd either! If the OP's son had written 'Poo' in indelible marker on someone's house, I get the clear impression that he'd have been round there quicksticks with cleaning stuff, and scrubbing at it, so she's not treating it as a laugh.

I agree that children need to learn to treat other people's property with respect, and that graffiti is unacceptable - but in the world of graffiti, this is very small beer indeed - and the OP clearly wants to nip it in the bud.

Not getting at the op at all, And completely agree with you dtgirl, letter of apology and pay for damage. Nip it in the bud now, all I'm trying to say is that if it was my coach that I'd spent a small fortune buying then I'd be seriously pissed off and would not find it even remotely amusing. And I would want the child responsible suspended from the bus.

Sorry morejuiceplease - I get what you are saying now - blame lack of sleep for my dimness, please!