Parents of an 11-year-old primary school student say he is too scared to go to school after being verbally abused by a school-bus driver.
The parents of the Overnewton Anglican Community College student said their son was traumatised after a string of incidents involving the driver since the start of the school year.
Manpreet Singh and Simran Gill told Star Weekly they were worried for their son’s wellbeing after the incidents, which involved the bus driver dropping their son off at the wrong location, refusing to accept their son on the bus and an incident of verbal abuse toward their son.
“Since my son started going on the bus, the bus driver’s behaviour was very nasty and irresponsible against him,” Ms Gill said.
She said the driver first breached his duty of care when he dropped the boy off about a kilometre from the designated bus stop twice in March.
“He crossed two main roads at a very busy time, on his own, which could very well have ended in an accident,” Ms Gill said.
“He arrived home around an hour later. He came home crying and he was very scared, extremely stressed, as he was not sure whether he was on the right way towards home.”
She said the same bus driver then approached her son last month and swore at him.
The parents said they had several meetings with Overnewton Keilor campus head Rob Huntington but Mr Singh said the school did not do enough to protect their son.
“I’m not asking them to fire him [the bus driver], I’m asking them to change the route he is on,” Mr Singh said.
He said his son no longer wanted to go to school and was very scared and timid following the incidents, even at home.
Mr Huntington told Star Weekly there was confusion with bus drop-off points at the start of the year, and acknowledged the driver did swear at the boy.
He said the school was dealing with the family’s concerns and with the bus company on their behalf.
He said the school had a long relationship with the bus company and the driver.
Mr Huntington said the driver was remorseful for his actions and willing to apologise.
“The really important thing that we’re looking to do is restore relationships.”
He said the school used highly regarded restorative practices and suggested the family and bus driver meet at a mediation session.
Mr Singh said the school had yet to approach him about a mediation session.
