I have a very serious issue and I need parents points of views. I am posting this in the religion section because it has to do with religion in a way, but it is beyond that as well. What happened is that my sons bus driver gave him a Christian book that had information on the church's beliefs on ***, abortion, and homosexuality. The book is about 200 pages long with no pictures. My son is only 5. Needless to say, I am not Christian, and I feel offended by this. Beyond the religious aspect, I am offended that the bus driver would give a five year old a book that contained such adult material. The school district has not fired this man. They have made every attempt at covering this up and have even attempted to get the book from me. I am going to contact a lawyer, but I was curious what other parents feel about this. I want different points of view so I can fully understand the issue without letting my emotions take hold. The bus driver had written a short note on the inside cover and signed his name, and put last Mondays date (feb 5th) I think he was planning on giving it to someone and it just happened to be my son who got it. Any opinions?

Um, WOW! Did your son find it on the bus or did the driver hand it to him?

It was behind the drivers seat, my son saw it and asked for it and the driver gave it to him. He knew exactly what was in it.

My opinion is it is inappropriate. That is for parents to teach if and when they so choose. I would go higher up, who knows what his motives were but I'd expect a meeting with, at the very least, the principal and the bus driver. I would probably also approach the school committee with it.

I have already spoken with the school district, they are no help, they are only trying to do damage control, yet they won't fire the driver, which I feel is the apropriate response to this.

Good Old Hometown Newspaper.......

And, the school committee is different from the district people. They are administration and will do damage control. The committee members are fellow parents and will probably have more of a reaction. They may not be able to do much but they will be able to let the admin know what they think and force them to face the incident at hand.

let me first start this post off by saying that i am a christian and i would be completely offended by that as well! christians should not feel they (and really do not) have the right to impose their beliefs on others. i'm sorry if this experience ascewed (sp?) your view of christians in general. (let me quickly state that there are many different denominations in christianity and alot of different beliefs) that bus driver should NOT have given your child that book. even your son was a senior in high school it inappropriate. he should have been suspended while it was looked further into if not fired. in my view this situation is unacceptable and if the school district is no help i would threaten them with calling the media. they would just hate to be in the spotlight for something like this and would probably be a bit more willing to help you. bad publicity is never good in a school boards eye. but yea, i agree. this should not be tolerated at all. your child is 5 way to young to even begin to think about *** at all. this burns me up and i'm on the other side of the country.

I would be furious. I am a Christian, but I do not believe or do I know any other Christians that would expose a child to *** or matters that relate. That was over the line.

Thanks guys, its nice to know I am not blowing this out of proportion. I am trying to leave the religious aspect out of my fight with the school board, but it is quite offensive to me that the bus driver felt the need to press his religion on the kids he drives. The school district has done NOTHING to the driver. His only punishment was to be removed from the route and moved to a new one. He hasn't missed a single day of work. I am in the process of finding the right lawyer to give me advice. I have thought about going to the media, but I don't want to come across as some crazy lady trying to make the school board look bad. Thats not what I am after. I want the driver taken away from kids, he shouldn't be around them. And I want an apology, not one person has said "I'm sorry this happened" they are just scrambling to try and cover everything up. We as parents put trust in our schools to take care of our children when we are not there. When people like this bus driver are allowed continued exposure to our children even AFTER proving to be a threat to them, it makes me scared to send my son to school. What other kinds of people is he exposed to? Perverts? Chikd abusers? How far does it have to go before the adult is punished? Its a scary scary thought. I am glad today is a holiday, because I know my son is safe for today.

Yeah, I think I would be pressing the matter as well, and in no way do I think you're over reacting. The fact that it was a christian book is the least of the matter and that alone would have upset me as a mom. Let alone the fact that it, I'm assuming, had very biased opinios on abortion and homosexuality. Because those opinions were not your own, and the driver had no right to share those opinions with a child of 5. What if you had homosexual family members, or even if you youself had been? What right does this man have to tell your son any different than you have taught him on the subject. I applaud you for standing up about it, even though I know its hard to speak out about things that so many people still in this day and age tend to be against. And lets not even get into the fact that a 5 year old doesn't need reading material WAY too advanced for him especially on the subject of ***. As the driver of a school bus, he should know the rules on giving children such material. As a PERSON he should know that it isn't his place, and isn't his child. I'm sure if he had children and you have given him a book on exactly the opposite, he would be as infuriated as you. I would definately push this. And even if the school does nothing, and in the end you don't "win" on the matter, at the the very least, when it is said and done, I would speak to the driver personally. Because I'm willing to bet that after a confrontation with a parent of one of the children he won't be so quick to stick his nose or opinions in were they don't belong and you could be saving another parent form having to deal with the same mess.

I would not like it if anyone gave my son a book like you described. As Sue pointed out very well, it's a parents choice what & when to teach their children about such things.

I would not try to get him fired, only because your son asked him for the book. I would make sure there was a strict policy that he keep personal items away from work -- since he works around young children, and such material is inappropriate.

Just my humble opinion, but I think taking it to the papers and such is a bit much - unless - this driver does not understand what he has done wrong, and the school has taken corrective action to make sure it will not happen again. IF the bus driver thinks he can do what ever he wants, and the school doesn't care - then by all means... take it as high and public as you have to... to protect your child.

I don't know how it is where everyone else lives,but where I live the school buses are privately owned so the schools don't have much say so.I agree with everyone else,it was highly inappropriate for the bus driver to give such a book to a child,especially an impressionable 5 year old.When I was in school my bus driver was a religious man but he didn't do anything like yours did,he would ask trivia questions about the Bible and pay whoever got it right $5.00.I think your bus driver should be fired and punished.Have you thought about checking at childrens services?They might be able to help you or tell you someone that could.I hope it all works out for you.How is your son handling this?Be sure to post again and let us know what happens.