Safety on the Bus

Third-grade students were troubled by bullies on the bus and felt powerless to change the situation. As a result, some children reported upset stomachs and had difficulty settling down at school, and a number of parents were driving students to school.

The students were eager to talk about inappropriate behavior such as swearing, vandalism, yelling and pushing, throwing objects, and the general lack of discipline. They made lists identifying areas of concern, talked about how they could make things better, and researched what other communities were doing. Students also role-played to discover ways to prevent bullying behavior.

Recognizing that 5th graders were often the culprits, the 3rd graders enlisted the 5th graders' help in identifying poor behavior and putting an end to it. The older children promoted the role of mediation, informed school administrators of problems, and suggested possible solutions to those problems. The 3rd graders also identified the bus drivers as an important part of the solution, and designed a project to get to know the drivers better and make them a part of the school community, with a voice in policy and discipline.

Significant changes resulted from the 3rd graders' campaign to improve bus safety. The students presented their concerns to all parties involved in a nonconfrontational way, without placing blame. In the process, they also discovered strategies for improving their own behavior. The students rewrote school policy and presented their work to the school committee, who approved the revisions. As a result of the students' efforts, the number of bullying incidents was cut in half.

Adapted from "Community Lessons: Integrating Service-Learning Into K-12 Curriculum," 2001, Massachusetts Department of Education, Massachusetts Service Alliance, and Learn and Serve America. Used with permission of Massachusetts Department of Education, www.doe.mass.edu/csl, (781) 338-3000.