Lisa, I do remember that happening. I think it was right as I was moving back to Orlando, but it was all over the news here also.

Here's the issue. Emma rides the bus now. It's something new to us as I've always dropped her off & picked her up from school since she went to before/after care at the school. The bus stop is at the begining of the street, we live at the end of the street, just before it turns to a cul-de-sac...probably about 15 houses down. There's also a curve in the road so you aren't able to see the stop from our house. The stop itself has a little structure for the kids to stand in/under, we call it a house.

So I take Emma down to the stop yesterday morning, already annoyed cause she can't find her homework. (she ALWAYS puts it in her backpack when she finishes, not sure what happened) As we pull up, the kids are riding bikes in circles around the 'house', as usual. I also notice that they are throwing stuff, so I tell Em, you sit in that house & don't get out until the bus gets here. (knowing it will be here any second now) I stop the car and one of the kids comes & stands right outside my window. Honestly, the kids here annoy me. They just do. This child in paticular, I can put up with him the most. He's annoying, but not as bratty as the others. So I ignore him. The windows still have morning dew on them so I act like I can't see him. Em gets out, I go to drive away & he starts tapping on my window. I roll it down & he's near tears and says that they are throwing rocks at him. Super brat kid #1 is standing behind him & goes, we aren't throwing anything! I said, someone was throwing something because I saw it. Super brat #1 says, we were just throwing rocks and he kept riding his bike into them. Come on. He must reallly think I'm stupid. The bus is coming down the main road then and I'm even more annoyed than I was before I so just told them, you aren't my children, I can't control you and drove around. Poor kid is now sobbing on the side of the road.

So I get home and later tell my mom & step dad about it. My mom has taken Em there & sees how the kids there act, so she knows what I'm talking about. My stepdad on the other hand... I don't known if he doesn't believe us or what, but it turns into a full on screaming match. Which really, he screams when he talks, so that's nothing new.

One of my points was that I don't think the kids should be there with no supervision. Granted, Emma is the youngest, but this is the elementry school bus, so the oldest is what...11?
I mentioned that my friend M lives directly next to the school & she still drops her children off, she doesn't let them walk there with no supervision and I don't see how sitting at the bus stop is any different. He went on his 'this is a different envrioment' rant (which will only make sense if you know where I live, but that's a whole other discussion right there...and for what it's worth, I disagree with that frame of thought) My mom jumped in & said she agrees with him, that it's "safe" here for the kids (again, not my thoughts but whatever) but that the bottom line is they shouldn't be there without supervision.

My mom wants to have a meeting with the parents on the street to discuss the issues. Personally, I think it's a waste of time. The kids here all act like they have no displince or supervision, ever. They act like they come & go as they please, do whatever they want & never get told otherwise. Of course my step dad wasn't happy when I said that, considering he works with all these parents, saying that I can't talk like I know what goes on in their houses. Again, I said that they ACT like that.

Anyways, that was my point. I was livid yesterday. What if they had hit him with one of the rocks & he got hurt? What if he fell off his bike avoiding a rock & hit his head on the street? What if a rock went astray & hit my child?

She was not happy this morning when I made her wait in the car until the bus got there. I told her it was that or I drive her to school each morning. That shut her up pretty quickly.