This video is heart breaking and if you haven’t yet seen it, you should.
Sixty-eight-year-old grandmother Karen Klein was sitting on a bus, when she was verbally bullied by a group of school students. Karen is a bus monitor – meaning it’s her job to ride the school bus and monitor the conduct of students – but this incident spun way out of her control.
The students were facing Karen and then (within hearing range) they began to make comments such as, “Oh my God, you’re so fat,”. The video below shows Karen bursting into tears and then doing her best to ignore the children, as they continue to call her a ‘dumb ass’, a ‘fat ass’ and then threaten to throw eggs at her house. They even prod her with their school books.
Someone nearby was recording the abuse on their phone and that footage has now gone viral.
(Warning: this footage is upsetting.)
After millions of people watched the humiliating 10-minute video, two of the children caught on tape sent letters apologising for their actions. The other two students’ parents sent notes on their behalf.
When asked about whether she accepted the apologies, Karen said “not really, you know I think they can do better than what they did.”As for a punishment? “The only thing I suggested (as punishment) was possibly not letting them on the bus next year and no sports,” she said. “Those were the only two punishments that I could think of. I want them to make sure they never do this to anyone again.”
Here is Karen being interviewed by Anderson Cooper in the days after the video went viral.
But here is where this sad story gets a little better and the worst aspects of human nature and matched by the best.
You see, the response from the rest of the world to this video – that has replaced the video itself, as what everyone is talking about.
Karen’s ordeal prompted an appeal, which aimed to raise $5000 to send Karen on a dream vacation.
That appeal has already netted over $500,000.
“I can’t even talk – that is my reaction. It is unbelievable what people have done,’ Karen said.
Top Comments
This is the most horrible thing I have ever seen...it made me feel sick that these kids could be so cruel!
Last year my car was in for a service and I had to catch a bus home from from the station, which ended up being a school bus. For the half hour trip home I was in front of three or four boys who pestered, badgered and tormented me. These were primary school kids, no older than ten or eleven. It took everything I had to not smack them over the head. They prodded me with their books, like this lady was, pulled my headphones out of my ears and continually looked over my shoulder to my phone to see what I was listening to, and then would make fun of that (they wouldn't have even heard of half the stuff I listen to).
Though they didn't insult me like this lady, it infuriated me that kids this age would behave in such a way to someone older than them (I'm now twenty) and let me tell you, it took everything I had to not drag them off the bus and throttle them. I would never have done something like that when I was that age! I wouldn't be game!