Togiola urges parents to talk to their kids
about proper conduct
Governor Togiola Tulafono is urging all local parents to talk to their children about practicing proper behavior and etiquette in public places, specifically when riding on public transportation.
The issue was raised during the Governor's weekend radio program where Togiola was surprised to discover that bus drivers were refusing to pick up high school students not because they pay a lower fare than adults – which was the assumption - but because according to the bus drivers, the majority of teenagers are very unruly and disrespectful.
Over the past year, many parents have complained that their children are not able to catch a ride on the bus because bus drivers opt to pick up adults and full-fared passengers.
(Most of the buses charge 50-cents for students, which is half of what adults pay).
However, according to some bus drivers, their decision to pass up students who signal for a ride has nothing to do with money but instead, uncontrollable behavior that includes tagging the interior of the bus with graffiti that include curse words, making out in front of the other passengers, and conversing in extremely loud voices.
Togiola, who apparently had never heard the bus drivers' side of the story, was shocked to hear their explanation, and encouraged all parents to teach their kids how to behave in public.
Last year, many local parents were complaining that the bus drivers were, in a sense, discriminating against their children.
"The bus drivers refuse to pick up my kids and their friends because they don't pay as much as others," one parent exclaimed. Bus drivers were being accused of greed and foul treatment at the time, and still today.
Now, thanks to the Governor's weekend radio program, for the first time, the complaining parents and everyone else got a chance to hear the other side of the story.
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