Blue State Blues - Maybe More Money Would Fix This
From the 1.21.05 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Hat tip: Drudge):
The article is curiously circumspect about a number of relevant facts:
1. The history of the children involved. Were these known troublemakers? I rather doubt straight-A students suddenly decided to hijack their bus for kicks. If they were in trouble often, one wonders whether punishment was meted out for smaller offenses in such doses so as to discourage the commission of future felonies.
2. What type of knife was used, and where did the boy get it?
3. Was the driver able to signal via radio or other means that something bad was happening on the bus? This is a key point given the recent chatter about al Qaeda's apparent desire to hijack a school bus in the U.S. Having some sort of countermeasures in place whereby school bus drivers can use radios, cell phones, or some other means to quickly indicate trouble and seek help seems prudent. Do you think some of the gobs of money thrown at schools might go toward equipping buses with Lojack?
4. How long will it take the parent(s) of the Boy Hijacker to sue the school district for taking his knife away?
We'll see how the followup article(s) answer these questions.
Elementary students try to hijack school bus
Friday, January 21, 2005Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Three 11-year-old boys and a 10-year-old girl tried to hijack their school bus near Punxsutawney this morning.
State police said the four hatched the plot yesterday. Just after 8 a.m. today, one of the boys pulled a knife from a book bag and held it near another student. He demanded driver Janet McQuown, 52, stop and get off the bus.
A police new release says she pulled over along Pine Tree Church Road in Oliver Township and "the knife was removed from the juvenile's possession." It doesn't say how.
The bus, with the hijackers and about 40 other children, arrived safely at Mapleview Elementary, where the unnamed offenders were taken into custody.
Two were turned over to juvenile authorities and two went home with their parents.
The news release did not immediately say what the hijackers intended to do with the bus.
The article is curiously circumspect about a number of relevant facts:
1. The history of the children involved. Were these known troublemakers? I rather doubt straight-A students suddenly decided to hijack their bus for kicks. If they were in trouble often, one wonders whether punishment was meted out for smaller offenses in such doses so as to discourage the commission of future felonies.
2. What type of knife was used, and where did the boy get it?
3. Was the driver able to signal via radio or other means that something bad was happening on the bus? This is a key point given the recent chatter about al Qaeda's apparent desire to hijack a school bus in the U.S. Having some sort of countermeasures in place whereby school bus drivers can use radios, cell phones, or some other means to quickly indicate trouble and seek help seems prudent. Do you think some of the gobs of money thrown at schools might go toward equipping buses with Lojack?
4. How long will it take the parent(s) of the Boy Hijacker to sue the school district for taking his knife away?
We'll see how the followup article(s) answer these questions.
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