'Hands Off, Heads Inside'

School bus drivers have to keep order, too. Learn their secrets for managing wacky behavior—and traffic—at the same time.

By John O'Neil

Illustration by Jim Star

If you've ever car-pooled the soccer team or ferried the kids on a four-hour trip to grandma's, you know the feeling. You need to focus on the road, but the kids are noisily goofing off, or getting on each others' nerves—and yours. Welcome to the world of school bus drivers, who somehow keep those gleaming yellow buses rolling safely with two or three classrooms full of students behind them.

School bus drivers deal with it all—from frogs set loose under the seats to garden-variety shrieking, poking, and arms out the windows—and they do it with their backs to the kids.

Even the seasons bring variations on bus buffoonery. Last spring, when 17-year cicadas swarmed the East Coast, some found their way into the buses, where cut-ups relished the chance to torment their insect-o-phobic peers, reports Tracie Kloc, a bus driver in Sterling, Virginia. In autumn, kids hoard acorns in their backpacks or pockets and wing them at stop signs or mailboxes, says Tampa, Florida, bus driver Josephine Alvarez. Come wintertime, it's snowballs.

When skilled drivers keep things cool on the bus, kids carry the vibe out of the bus and right into their classrooms. Here's how veteran drivers keep the peace and the wheels rolling:

Lay Down the Law

"Set down the ground rules at the beginning of the year," Sam Anderson, a driver instructor in California's Redlands Unified school district, tells new drivers. "Then there's no question a month later that they never knew to keep their feet out of the aisles, or that their hands couldn't be out the window."

The Radnor, Pennsylvania, school district, like most, has specific rules for bus behavior ("No eating or drinking," "Keep the bus clean"), which driver Chuck Thompson keeps prominently displayed in the front of the bus. Then he drives home the message by reminding students of the rules whenever one is broken. The kids catch on quickly and begin policing each other. "Many times, when there's a problem, all I have to do is look in the mirror and I hear, 'Mr. Chuck's looking!'"

Sit 'em Down

Some drivers assign seats; others let the kids decide.

"Even if assigning seats is not a requirement in your district, it's very effective," advises Teresa Barbour, a school bus driver in Smithfield, North Carolina. When students from several age groups share the ride, older students typically go in the back, younger kids up front. When students become a little too comfortable with their assigned seat—and begin to act up—it's time to change their assignment, she adds.

Alvarez runs a tight ship. She assigns seats and has added a twist for the older kids whose hormones are racing: "Boys sit on the right, girls on the left," she tells them. "And no touching—this is not your makeout place."

When a student continues to misbehave after a warning, it's time for a new seat assignment. "I use the front seat—the one right behind me—for when a kid acts up, and I'll increase the time if problems persist," says Thompson, who towers over most of his students at 6'1" and 285 pounds. "That seems to quell most disturbances."

Talk First, Write Later

Good behavior feeds on good relationships. And that starts with getting to know the kids, says Bonnie Chalfant, who drives in Erial, New Jersey, and has been at it 24 years.

"Know their names, find out their hobbies. Speak to them at their level and don't talk down to them," says Chalfant. "Even the ones who you can't seem to get through to—don't give up on them, because 9 times out of 10 everybody else has and they think you will, too."

Learning what makes each kid tick builds rapport. Then, when problems arise, talking to that kid is more likely to solve them. If not, Anderson advises drivers to write up a referral for disciplinary action—but to have one last chat with the student. Tell the kid, "Your actions today will determine whether I turn this referral in," he says. "Put it on them and let them know they can change their behavior" and avoid the punishment.

Line Up Your Allies

When it comes to the school bus, familiarity breeds respect. Because they may drive the same routes for years, bus drivers have the opportunity to get to know students, and their parents, even better. The continuity definitely helps with the kids—

students who know the bus routines can reinforce them with newer kids—and it makes parents more secure and supportive. "It raises their confidence level," says Thompson. "Their mindset is, 'There's Chuck—he's been coming through this neighborhood for a number of years, and if there's a problem, he'll handle it." And when a child acts up, talking with the parent can make a written referral unnecessary.

Catch It on Film

Video cameras are more common on buses these days, and the tapes—combined with copies of your referrals—can be critical tools for addressing serious behavior, especially when students or their parents dispute what events occurred.

Alvarez sparred last year with a seventh grader who often behaved well but was prone to sudden, serious outbursts. She wrote up multiple referrals but could not get the boy suspended from the bus route until she backed it up with three video clips to support her written documentation. His disbelieving parents couldn't dispute what the tapes showed. After being suspended from the route last year, the boy is back on the route this year—quiet and well-behaved. "He tried me to my limits, and he thought he had the upper hand," says Alvarez. "When the parents saw the video to back up what I had written on the paper, that made the difference."

If you have a camera on your bus, make sure that any time you discipline a child, you do it in front of the camera, adds Anderson, in case your actions are challenged by students or parents later on.

There's no pat formula for keeping a lid on student misbehavior on the bus, but the best drivers seem to understand kids—they know when to crack down and when to let it slide, know when a kid needs a stern talking to or a hug.

"I try to look at the kids as I would one of my own, and treat them with the love and attention they need," says Kroc, who says she was one of the "back of the bus" crowd growing up. "There are days when I can see that all a kid needs is a hug or a smile." Recently, some of the students on her bus runs gave her holiday gifts. "I didn't expect that," she says. "But I expect them to be good and to help keep the bus safe. That's all that matters."