Say What? Utah School Bus Driver in Hot Water for Shooting Off Her Mouth

It’s hard to work with and around kids. I had four of my own and have close family members who work in education. Considering how we tend to spoil and insulate kids from consequences these days, it’s no wonder behavior keeps getting worse. That’s not to say the adults don’t share much of the responsibility though, as there are far too many adults that simple SHOULDN’T be working with kids.

The absolute worst job has to be bus driver. Screaming kids, crappy pay, weather, crappy parents and crappy drivers. Lots of crap, mostly that they have to take off the kids. Now, don’t get me wrong, I get it. After an 8 hour plus day of learning and being cooped up, it’s only natural to want to cut loose on the bus ride home. Especially if you lived in the county like I did and had to spend about six hours a day on the bus. An exaggeration but it certainly felt like it.

Of course, that also didn’t justify acting like a “a” hole, which many kids, myself included did on the reg. I was spanked, made to sit on the front step of the bus during the route, (a lawsuit today), screamed at and kicked off. Good times. A Utah bus driver recently tried a more drastic approach to keep her charges in line. Let’s see what she did via Outkick:

A school bus driver in Utah has been put on administrative leave after reportedly being caught on video threatening to shoot kids. The female driver was reacting to the children on the bus asking her a very simple question.

“I heard her say, ‘Whoever says where are we going next,’ she will shoot whoever said it.” : Utah school district investigating report that bus driver threatened to shoot studentshttps://t.co/ivEomPFC9y

— FoxNashville (@FOXNashville) September 12, 2022

No! Wrong answer! That’s not even ok as a joke. This driver HAD to know that literally every kid has a camera phone! Just get a kid’s eye contact and make a slashing throat gesture if you need to make a point. Actually, that’s a bad idea too. It’s bad policy to threaten to smoke a kid on the bus, whether audibly or not. Probably shouldn’t do it.

According to FOX 13, a parent of a child at Dry Creek Elementary School in Lehi, Utah sent the video to the news outlet that was recorded by the child while returning home from school.

In the video, you can hear the yet-to-be-identified driver over the intercom saying “one more person says ‘where are we going,’ I’m going to shoot them.” The driver goes on to admit that she missed a stop and that she was trying to turn around.

I know I was a bad kid on the bus, but I think I’d rather sit on the top step than get capped on the ride home by a stressed out, pistol packing driver. Imagine the carnage if the kids had been asking the childhood standard “are we there yet”! The driver might’ve turned that bus around and went straight home!

Seriously, what in the hell is wrong w/people nowadays? I rode a bus in 8th grade & whenever we got too rowdy, the bus driver wouldn’t say a word. He’d just pull over, put the bus in park and look at us through his rearview mirror. That’s all it took!https://t.co/GUjOu9A4Y2

— Kim (@Blacklace40) September 12, 2022

Alpine School District’s spokesperson commented on the situation saying, “We are aware of a situation on a bus today [September 9]. The employee is on administrative leave pending an investigation. We strongly condemn any threatening action or language directed toward others.”

I guess “administrative leave” is code for “fired her ass”, because there’s no other play here for the district. I’m sure the driver was playing around (I hope), but in today’s environment, threatening gun violence where a school is involved is tantamount to yelling bomb in an airport. I don’t recommend either.