A Disturbing Video From A Cobb County School Bus

July 13, 2009

 

Watch the entire video below.

Elementary school kids step onto their bus that has become a film studio for a BusRadio commercial. The bus driver who should be preventing BusRadio’s publicity people from getting on, is instead going to star in the commercial.

Cobb County won’t let parents ride a school bus, but a BusRadio camera crew has the run of the bus. Go figure.

"All right, let’s stay seated."

Ms. Kay Ledford, a bus driver and endorser of BusRadio is having to settle young bus riders. You can hear BusRadio in the background. This contradicts the "soothe the beast" claim by BusRadio. Why this clip is in this promotional video is a mystery.

The driver hopefully isn’t paying too much attention to the cameraperson filming her. We have no idea how many people BusRadio put on this Cobb County bus. Even if it was just one person, that’s one too many.

 

"It’s a program that’s prerecorded. Has no foul language in it. The advertisements are oriented for the children. And the kids love it. I enjoy it. Things run smoother on the bus."

Ms. Ledford should be on BusRadio’s payroll. Her comment that the ads are "oriented" to the young bus riders is bizarre. That’s a negative about BusRadio, not a positive.

 

 

Bus driver Kim Chandler says everything heard on BusRadio has been "gone over and gone over" so everything is appropriate for the kids.

Ms. Chandler probably will be disappointed when she hears that BusRadio’s Content Review Board was a sham from Day One.

She says the County goes over all lyrics. It’s hard to believe this statement is true.

 

This is awful.

Cobb County’s Transportation Department enlists elementary school students to praise BusRadio’s product.

These personal endorsements are too polished to be extemporaneous.

When did it ever become OK to use a schoolchild in such a commercial way?

 

Did the parents of these students give Cobb County their informed written consent for their children to be performers in a national commercial for a very controversial company?

BusRadio can go anywhere on this Cobb County elementary school bus. They are now filming from the back of the bus.

The bus is moving. The camera is filming. This violates a lot of common sense rules for a safe bus ride.

Now the cameraperson is beside the Cobb County bus driver who is trying to drive the bus.
This has to be very distracting to the driver. BusRadio a distraction to drivers?

Every Cobb County parent ought to be a little outraged by this misuse of a school bus.

 

Bottom line: The Transportation Department of the Cobb County School District lowered their safety standards to do a school supplier a favor.

That is shameful.

There is only ONE purpose for a school bus and that is to take children SAFELY to school and back from school.

In this situation public employees on public time aided a private company. This commercial was used by BusRadio to convince other school districts to sign up for their service. This was a clear misuse of public funds.

By allowing a commercial to be filmed on a moving school bus with elementary school students on board, the Transportation Department broke faith with Cobb County parents.

 

 

See for yourself. Watch Cobb County’s partially-taxpayer-funded promotional video for BusRadio.

Cobb County’s BusRadio Commercial

The original can be seen at http://www.busradio.net/press_room.php
Go to "BusRadio helps to make the bus ride to school safer in Cobb County"
BusRadio will probably remove this after this article appears, but our copy will remain.