At Issue: Bus Monitor Bullies

A video of a group of middle schoolers from upstate New York tormenting a elderly bus monitor has had repercussions nobody expected. The video, uploaded to Facebook by the bullies themselves, went viral, turning the tables completely on the bullies.

According to a story in the Christian Science Monitor, sympathy began pouring in for Karen Klein, the 68-year-old grandmother who was the target of the attack. With it, followed a flood of donations -- more than $360,000 and counting by Thursday evening. The site had been set up just to raise enough money to send her on a vacation, but by the time it’s finished she could probably retire.

The video (see Youtube), entitled "Making the Bus Monitor Cry," went on for 10 minutes with the group of middle schoolers cursing and taunting the woman as she sat quietly and cried. Despite it all, however, she does not want to give up her job and nor does she want the students charged. (Warning. Video contains offensive and obscene language.)

Appearing on Anderson Cooper's show Thursday evening, Klein said during the unprovoked attack that "I was trying to get it out of my mind; I was trying to make it go away."

She added that she does not believe apologies issued were sincere, but that she does not think the children are inherently "bad kids."

Question:

After watching the video and seeing what the elderly bus monitor was put through by the students, what do you think their punishment should be? Do the actions of the children come down to parenting?