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The bus driver UPDATE
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 101786" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>You're getting some good advice here. From what you've said in other posts about this, I know you are concerned for the other kids too, and will do what you can with them in mind also. But I do agree, you need to do this RIGHT. Witz is correct, you can't go up to other parents and tell them that there is a crazy racist bus driver on the route; but if one of the other parents expresses concerns to you, you should be able to then share your own concerns - but be careful, check. Star's advice on getting some pro bono legal advice is good. There should be a number of civil rights groups who could help you there.</p><p></p><p>Remember, when the media coverage comes out, other parents on the route will want more information. Are you going to make yourself available to them? There may be some who do not want you to make waves because they would rather have a faulty service than none at all. Or maybe they are just as racist and only see it as a similar-minded person being persecuted by thought police. You need to be prepared for this and be ready to handle it sensitively.</p><p>DO you want other parents to be able to contact you? They WILL try to contact the reporter, who can vet the calls. Or if you have legal representation, that can be a route. I've sometimes taken the risk and given my name for contact - I had to be prepared to get busy and take notes of everyone who contacted me, to be able to get back to them with any news. My recent campaign for a local Special Education class is one example. I actually set up a data base of the families contacting me (after asking their permission for them to be on my data base) and used it to send out regular emails giving them progress reports.</p><p>If other parents have similar horror stories and you have already made contact with legal representation to deal with this topic, then this could strengthen the case. So take notes and ask their permission to be contacted further by you, the reporter or the legal eagle. Do not nag if they do not want to talk to anyone but you - respect that. Although it can get VERY frustrating. But it does show you how scared people are, of speaking up.</p><p></p><p>DDD also had a valuable suggestion - plan what to say. And after the interview, do not beat yourself up over forgetting something. After any coverage is aired, you will also feel disappointed that they left out important stuff - because what WE see as important is not always what a news editor sees as attention-grabbing. I've done interviews where I had the news team in my home for three hours, and the coverage was 30 seconds.</p><p></p><p>Now, to plan what to say - do you know the technique of clustering? It's also known as mind-mapping, it's an Edward de Bono thing. I recommend it to EVERYBODY. It's a technique that also got difficult child 1 through every writing task at school (he has serious short-term memory problems that prevent him holding a sequence of thoughts in his head). I wish I had known this when I was at school. It's the fastest, most effective way to organise your thoughts. And especially with your memory problems, this is a brilliant way of adapting.</p><p></p><p>You start with a blank sheet of paper. Think of what your topic is about. In this case, "inappropriate bus driver behaviour". Put that fairly centrally on the page, since it IS the major concern. You then write down (wherever you feel it should go - you're in charge of this) the main concerns. "racist remarks"; "not belting kids in the right way"; attitude"; and so on. Any of these may be added to also, with a bit more detail. You then connect ideas and issues by drawing lines between them, so it ends up looking like a tree. Where several ideas connect to several other ideas each, it can even look like a net - and simply seeing this connectedness can give you a broader insight to the problem. A problem that is highly interconnected is often a tricky one to fix, because wherever you turn you find another connection needing to be severed (as in the boss giving this woman the sack - there could be other connected issues you haven't yet noticed, until you mind-map).</p><p></p><p>A mind map can help with essay writing too, as it keeps the writer on task with the issues. When you're talking to the media, it is equally important to stay on task and not let your own side issues distract you. Also it's common for people on the defensive to try to distract you from your aim - a mind map in front of you will limit the chance of this succeeding.</p><p></p><p>I'm trying to find a link for you that can help. Here is one, which has an example of a mind map as it's logo (or something). Ignore the rest of the advertising. <a href="http://www.buzan.com.au/" target="_blank">http://www.buzan.com.au/</a></p><p>Actually, I just read this a bit more - this bloke claims HE invented tis, not Edward de Bono. Don't care - whoever gets the credit, it's darn good. There is more info on this site about how this works, go look at it and practice the technique. I remember difficult child 1's first writing task where he used this - he had to write a story for school, about what it would be like to live on a farm, what his day would be like. and it worked brilliantly! With this, he was able to do on his own, in half an hour, what days of badgering and constant support by both parents would not have achieved as well. And he was so happy with himself!</p><p></p><p>I've since passed this technique on to friends at Toastmasters, among other places. Very effective!</p><p></p><p>Good luck with the campaign, batten down the hatches.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 101786, member: 1991"] You're getting some good advice here. From what you've said in other posts about this, I know you are concerned for the other kids too, and will do what you can with them in mind also. But I do agree, you need to do this RIGHT. Witz is correct, you can't go up to other parents and tell them that there is a crazy racist bus driver on the route; but if one of the other parents expresses concerns to you, you should be able to then share your own concerns - but be careful, check. Star's advice on getting some pro bono legal advice is good. There should be a number of civil rights groups who could help you there. Remember, when the media coverage comes out, other parents on the route will want more information. Are you going to make yourself available to them? There may be some who do not want you to make waves because they would rather have a faulty service than none at all. Or maybe they are just as racist and only see it as a similar-minded person being persecuted by thought police. You need to be prepared for this and be ready to handle it sensitively. DO you want other parents to be able to contact you? They WILL try to contact the reporter, who can vet the calls. Or if you have legal representation, that can be a route. I've sometimes taken the risk and given my name for contact - I had to be prepared to get busy and take notes of everyone who contacted me, to be able to get back to them with any news. My recent campaign for a local Special Education class is one example. I actually set up a data base of the families contacting me (after asking their permission for them to be on my data base) and used it to send out regular emails giving them progress reports. If other parents have similar horror stories and you have already made contact with legal representation to deal with this topic, then this could strengthen the case. So take notes and ask their permission to be contacted further by you, the reporter or the legal eagle. Do not nag if they do not want to talk to anyone but you - respect that. Although it can get VERY frustrating. But it does show you how scared people are, of speaking up. DDD also had a valuable suggestion - plan what to say. And after the interview, do not beat yourself up over forgetting something. After any coverage is aired, you will also feel disappointed that they left out important stuff - because what WE see as important is not always what a news editor sees as attention-grabbing. I've done interviews where I had the news team in my home for three hours, and the coverage was 30 seconds. Now, to plan what to say - do you know the technique of clustering? It's also known as mind-mapping, it's an Edward de Bono thing. I recommend it to EVERYBODY. It's a technique that also got difficult child 1 through every writing task at school (he has serious short-term memory problems that prevent him holding a sequence of thoughts in his head). I wish I had known this when I was at school. It's the fastest, most effective way to organise your thoughts. And especially with your memory problems, this is a brilliant way of adapting. You start with a blank sheet of paper. Think of what your topic is about. In this case, "inappropriate bus driver behaviour". Put that fairly centrally on the page, since it IS the major concern. You then write down (wherever you feel it should go - you're in charge of this) the main concerns. "racist remarks"; "not belting kids in the right way"; attitude"; and so on. Any of these may be added to also, with a bit more detail. You then connect ideas and issues by drawing lines between them, so it ends up looking like a tree. Where several ideas connect to several other ideas each, it can even look like a net - and simply seeing this connectedness can give you a broader insight to the problem. A problem that is highly interconnected is often a tricky one to fix, because wherever you turn you find another connection needing to be severed (as in the boss giving this woman the sack - there could be other connected issues you haven't yet noticed, until you mind-map). A mind map can help with essay writing too, as it keeps the writer on task with the issues. When you're talking to the media, it is equally important to stay on task and not let your own side issues distract you. Also it's common for people on the defensive to try to distract you from your aim - a mind map in front of you will limit the chance of this succeeding. I'm trying to find a link for you that can help. Here is one, which has an example of a mind map as it's logo (or something). Ignore the rest of the advertising. [url="http://www.buzan.com.au/"]http://www.buzan.com.au/[/url] Actually, I just read this a bit more - this bloke claims HE invented tis, not Edward de Bono. Don't care - whoever gets the credit, it's darn good. There is more info on this site about how this works, go look at it and practice the technique. I remember difficult child 1's first writing task where he used this - he had to write a story for school, about what it would be like to live on a farm, what his day would be like. and it worked brilliantly! With this, he was able to do on his own, in half an hour, what days of badgering and constant support by both parents would not have achieved as well. And he was so happy with himself! I've since passed this technique on to friends at Toastmasters, among other places. Very effective! Good luck with the campaign, batten down the hatches. Marg [/QUOTE]
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