My Bus Kid Problems

[Janet]

Friday after I returned home from the bus route, I rec'd a phone call from one of my parents. Her kids are great kids and very well behaved on my bus. She was concerned because her 8th grade son had told her about another student, an 8th grade girl (Jeninifer) was sitting across the aisle with a 7th grade girl (Demaris) showing her some pills that she was going to crush and mix together and take this weekend . Another 8th grade girl (Jessica) said she wanted to take it too (they were going to snort it up their nose.) Jessica and Jennifer are best friends and live just down the road from each other.

This girl (Jennifer) that had the pills used to be one of my favorite girls when she was younger...so cute and so funny. I had worked with her mother before and liked her very much.

I called Demaris's parents. Her dad is also a bus driver and I'm good friends with her mother. I talked with her dad and asked if he would verify with his daughter what I had heard since she was sitting with Jennifer. She did...which made me very sad. I knew that Jennifer and Jessica had been getting into trouble lately and that Jessica's parents had her in counseling and that this was not going to sit will with their parents.

I called Jennifer's mom and told her what had happened. She had just dropped Jennifer off at Jessica's so was putting on her coat and going back to get her. I was so afraid something would happen to the girls. I was even able to tell where they got the pills.

Now tomorrow morning I will have to go to the high school assist. principal and tell her what happened on the bus and what action I took. I'm really afraid for Jennifer, because her mother had told me that just a couple weeks earlier, they were called to the office to pick Jennifer up from school. She and Jessica were trying to cut their wrists.

I really love these girls and I know I can't save them all, but I am so angry that kids feel the need to do this stuff. The world is getting worse all the time, so even though most schools have this problem with students at one time or another....it's just going to get worse. How can someone raise kids with hope if it doesn't seem like there is any?