A mother in Tennessee has been arrested and is facing charges after causing damages to a school bus and allegedly hitting the bus driver with a baseball bat repeatedly. Jasmine Moton reportedly showed up at the school bus in response to a call from her child, a student at Lucy E. Campbell Elementary School.
According to the Memphis Police Department, Motonâs son asked the bus driver to let him off at a different stop and the bus driver said the policy didn’t allow that. The child proceeded to call his mother and she arrived shortly afterward, News Channel 3 reported. Moton reportedly broke a window on the school bus as well and bruising and swelling to the bus driver’s arm, and she was arrested on Monday, Yahoo! News reported.
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The boy called his mom after the bus driver wouldnât let him get off at a new stop.
The incident took place May 24, when students were leaving Lucy E. Campbell Elementary School on the school bus, per News Channel 3. A student asked to be dropped off at another stop, but the bus driver denied the request. According to Memphis police, this is when the student called his mother, Moton.
The boy's mother reportedly showed up with a baseball bat and smashed the window, and then she allegedly hit the bus driver.
Moton showed up shortly after the phone call. She reportedly had a baseball bat and broke the passenger side door and then went to the bus driver’s window when the driver opened the door to let Moton’s child off the bus. Police said Moton repeatedly hit the driver in the arm with the bat and then drove away, News Channel 3 reported.
Court documents showed that the bus driver had to go to the hospital because of swelling and bruising on his right hand and arm, per the news outlet. The cost of repairs for the damages done to the school bus will be $1,500.
The boy's mother was arrested and is facing charges.
The mother was arrested Monday, according to jail records, per Yahoo! News. She was charged with aggravated assault as well as burglary of a vehicle and vandalism, the news outlet reported.
She is scheduled to appear in court July 18, according to News Channel 3.
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People have had strong reactions to the motherâs alleged actions.
Readers of the Yahoo! News story did not condone the motherâs violent actions, and many pointed out that the bus driver was simply following the rules.
âThe drivers are not allowed to let children off at another stop without some type of permission slip. Even when I was in grade school in the 60s we couldn’t,” one person commented. “I only was allowed to ride a different bus or get off at another stop when I had to go to Camp Fire Girls meetings.â
âThere are specific scheduled stops to get on or off; and no other stops, except in an emergency are authorized,” someone else wrote. “If she didn’t like it, she should have picked the kid up at school.â
Others pointed out that situations like this one are why school districts don’t have enough bus drivers.
âThis is precisely why there’s a shortage of bus drivers in the US right now. These kinds of stories seem to be becoming more and more common,” another person commented. “There are protocols in place to safeguard children. The bus driver is legally obligated to follow said protocols. I hope this mother is punished to the fullest extent of the law.â
Some bus drivers even weighed in on the conversation.
âAs a K-5 school bus driver the only way a student can get off at another assigned bus stop is by having an authorized note from the parent given to our bus route coordinator, with us it’s the assistant principal, that day by the parent for documented purposes,â a driver shared.
