Police: Boy Falls Out Bus Window, Bus Keeps Going

Why on earth would they charge the driver with a crime.. ON wtnh there reporting the cops might file charges.. W-T-F?

...and this will teach the kid what?...that he doesn't need to have consequences..doesn't have to follow the rules. I hope the parents are held accountable and at the very least have to get involved. I am frightened that police, teachers and now bus drivers are somehow held accountable after the lifetime of negligence and stupidity parents display to create these children who have no respect; little fear and huge behavioral problems. I work with adults in the criminal justice system. The thinking process for many of these parents and children are similar to offenders. It is always someone elses fault; no cause and effect thinking and little to no regard for how their action or lack of could impact someone else;always some excuse about why they had to do it...Victim of circumstance...
Regardless, sometimes kids do stupid things-the parents are involved and attentive. Things like this need to be utilized as a lesson to this child and other kids who may have contributed. At the very least, an aplogy is owed to the bus driver and other children who could have been harmed.
Wake up CT and take some responsibility.

Wow, what powerful comments! Finally someone who sees the real picture! Thank you! I supervise 70 school bus drivers daily and some of our issues would not be issues if the parents would claim up to the discipline problems with their children. Safety of all our children is foremost in the minds of most school bus drivers. Something like this could end a drivers career. Very tramatic for him/her. Parents, pay attention to your children, teach them rules and consequences. Would you allow your child to sit like that in your car?

The buzzer would have gone off as soon as the red bar was lifted. Is this a case of an overloaded bus that the driver has no control or a driver that just doesn't pay attention to what happens behind him?

If I'm allowing general student behavior on the bus such that I don't know about a child "sitting on the back of the seat" and opening the emergency window with his feet and falling out...I would expect to be suspended from my job for a period of time. I am in effect endangering the safety, health or welfare of kids on the bus.
Of course the child should get consequences as well. But that is a seperate issue from irresponsible actions, if proved, on the driver's part.
And to supervisor from Indianapolis...sure wouldn't want you working in our school district if you feel their is no driver liability here!

I drive a school bus and soon as any emergency exit handle is moved from its closed position the alarms go off at once. If they were not working correctly on this bus then the driver should not have been driving it.

Does anyone know why the student was sitting on the seatback???

What - he drove until he "heard the alarm'? The Emergency Exit alarm is supposed to sound the instant the exit "door" is opened, so the driver should have been immediately alerted that the exit was open, and knew there was a problem, and stopped the bus. As far as the alarm working - this is something that should have been checked during a pre-trip inspection of the bus before the first route of the day. Lot's of questions here!!!

I have been a bus driver for 10 years, and I still can't see how a child could open an emergency exit door or window "with his feet" and "fall out". I question the information here, and wonder what really happened.