Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 16, 1993 TAG: 9309160069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Some kids would "throw clay and gum," Shepperd, 13, said. "I had three or four pieces of gum on my clothes one day. I've had clay in my hair."
Poff, also 13, said he has been hit with spit balls - and spit. "They put all kinds of things down your shirt, pour Coke on you," Poff said. Much of the time last year, he avoided riding the bus because of crowding and rowdiness.
So far this year, things have been better. For one thing, Poff and Shepperd are a year older and a grade higher in the pecking order.
But another reason may be a small black box and red light that are affixed at the front of the bus, just above the rearview mirror. The box holds a small video camera that can record - and discourage - misbehavior.
"I think it's nicer for the younger kids," said Shepperd, now an eighth-grader. "So they don't get picked on - like we did last year."
Botetourt is one of more than 20 school divisions in the state using video cameras on buses as disciplinary tools.
Botetourt soon will have camera boxes on all 51 of its school buses. It has 11 cameras, which rotate from bus to bus. The box hides whether or not a camera is on the bus on a given day.
The county may buy more cameras. It has spent about $20,000 so far on the cameras and boxes.
School officials say they're worth the price, because the high-tech setup allows bus drivers to spend more time watching the road and less time worrying about what's going on behind their backs.
"The kids don't know whether it's there or not," said Linda Waugaman, a bus driver for nine years. "When the light comes on, they figure the camera's on. You're going to have a few that act up now and then. As far as doing bad stuff, they're watching it pretty close."
It makes for a more laid-back ride for drivers and riders. That's important in a spread-out county where school kids can spend as much as two hours a day riding the bus.
On Monday, Waugaman's afternoon run - carrying kids from Botetourt Intermediate and Lord Botetourt High School to the Rainbow Forest Lake area - was uneventful.
The only misbehavior happened as the bus idled at a bus stop. One beefy high-school student snatched a Cincinnati Reds hat off the head of a much younger kid who was getting off at the stop. The bigger boy threw it out the window and told the smaller kid to go get it.
Charlie Van Lear, assistant principal at Lord Botetourt, said the cameras already have been used in a few cases to document foul language and other problems. So far, the wrongdoers have been given warnings, and the cameras have not been used to suspend any pupils from school or kick them off the bus.
Shepperd, who rides Waugaman's bus this year, said he "pretty much" assumes that the camera is running whenever he gets on the bus, "just in case."
Not all pupils believe the camera has much of an effect.
"It's just a black box," said Sarah Pendleton, an eighth-grader at Botetourt Intermediate. "If you get in trouble, you get in trouble."
Van Lear said the cameras' influence on behavior will grow as they are used more frequently to document misbehavior and punish rule-breakers. "The real credibility will come when the parents say, `My child wouldn't do that,' and then you show them the video: `Well, yes they did.' "
by CNB