>>>>>>>I've been waiting for Mike B to chime in on how disenfranchised the 3 poor sweet children were and how somehow the fault belongs to the white kid.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>The driver should be taken out and beaten publicly for not stopping the fight IMHO. Grab one of the thugs and put his head through a (closed) window and I'd bet the fight would be over.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Yes the best way to teach people not to commit violence is to beat them up...especially if they didn't jump into the middle of a fight that had nothing to do with them. Briiiiiiliant!
>>>>>
>>>>>The fight had nothing to do with them? The bus driver? The authority figure on the bus?
>>>>
>>>>Yes but keep in mind that he's the ONLY authority figure on the bus and he's in his 60's. Perhaps jumping in the middle of a fight against 3 youths and leaving no one at the drivers seat or talking on the radio isn't such a bright idea. And despite the fact these were kids they were 15, one 60+ year old man vs 3 enraged teenagers would probably not only be an act of futility but would also put the other kids on the bus in even more danger.
>>>
>>>So that is the excuse for cowardice?
>>
>>I'm gonna have to disagree to a degree. Admittedly I haven't read every detail of this thread, but a 60 year old man is going to do nothing physically in this case except sacrifice his own well-being. I do think he should have found something to do to try to defuse the situation though. I'm surprised there wasn't some sort of plan in place for something like this - maybe having the driver armed with pepper spray or a taser.
>
>I'm a couple of months shy of 56 and I'd have been in it in the blink of an eye. I think my mother would have been in it when she was in her 70's. I'll come to a kid's defense in a heartbeat.

Ok well most people don't run towards confrontations and violent encounters, particularly when they're out numbered 3 to 1 by guys younger and stronger...and frankly doing so could be easily be (and should be) considered rather stupid and irresponsible.

>Victor is the only person talking about a gun in this discussion so he can try to deflect the criticism.

My point was that nothing good would of come from having a gun involved in this confrontation.

>A taser might not be that bad an idea for drivers that have routes carrying little animals like those. A contact taser makes a pretty good point when needed, and you don't have to worry about missing.

Yes I agree with that. Only concern of course would be if it's 3 against 1 there is a chance one of the thugs is just going to take it away from you though.

>>I'm a gun-loving man but this was not the right situation for a gun.
>>
>>>>>Never get near my kids Victor.
>>>>
>>>>Yeah right. I'm sure things would of turned out better for everyone with your mentality behind it - we'd have three dead gunshot kids instead of one beat up kid.
>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/07/florida-school-bus-beatdown-goes-unnoticed-by-self-styled-civil-rights/
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>3 to 1 and the 3 each 2 years older at a critical age for growth - no discussion needed.
>>>>>>>>Also no discussion needed on some usually audible political segments now being silent.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>That said -
>>>>>>>>1) in the discussions the 13 year old was praised for having forwarded information on being offered drugs.
>>>>>>>>a) In my book the answer to drugs is to try to teach to say "No" and have it understood by potential seller in the future, ***not*** telling them to snitch (loaded vocabulary no accident here).
>>>>>>>>b) Unless the offered deal was along the lines of "give me 150$ for 2g and you won't get beaten" the situation does not add up - sellers won't offer to anybody they just happen to meet on the street (at least over here), my private guess is there is a hidden story as well.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>2) IN the discussions on whether the driver should have stepped in physically, one side mentioned the drivers should be given guns (if they were afraid/physically unable to handle 3 15y olds). Usually I am almost all on Jakes side of the argument, but such stupidity makes it easy to understand Walters arguing against all guns. In a tight situation, in a bus loaded mostly with uninvolved kids, any bullet not hitting the target and staying all inside that guy is much more likely to hit one of the uninvolved kids. Even a SWAT team likes to go in with a surprise element and they are trained to handle not only their weapons but the auxiliary stress caused by the situation. Pepper spray, a club (NOT the axe! mentioned also by one bozo) or a taser are the right tools if you need tools at all in that tight space. And this is ***not*** said in a wish to save the perps. I realize you did not voice it, but I felt "fellow european with Walter" when I heard that part of the show, even if I usually don't on that particular topic ;-)