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The article in question
A 17-year old junior college student has been accused of punching a bus driver in the face following a misunderstanding involving the student's girlfriend's EZ-link card, which was invalid as it had been reported as stolen or lost. The driver retained the card for investigation. Despite many witnesses who were in the bus at the time, he claimed that it was the driver who first grabbed him by the arm, causing him to flail his arms around and "accidentally hit him on his face".
The boy claims that the driver had not explained why the card had to be retained. I feel that the boy should have requested an explanation. As the bus was not crowded, it would not have been difficult to ask politely for an explanation.
The bus driver, on the other hand, probably had no chance to explain why he was retaining the card, as there were other passengers on board and buses have schedules to follow.
I feel that bus passengers have a responsibility to find out about terms and conditions outlined by the bus company before they use the bus services.
Although details on the exact happenings of the incident are unclear, it appears that the source of the commotion was the fact that the girl had attempted to use a card that had previously been reported as stolen or lost. Bus Drivers were authorized to collect such cards for investigation.
The girl, having been probably been the one to report the lost card, is likely to have had a vague idea of why the card reader was beeping when she tapped the card. It is probable that she was the one who reported the loss.
Still, whatever the story, the underlying problem was the lack of respect for authority shown in teenagers today. This generation of youth has been bombarded by the media, in particular magazines and Television, which exonerate being a rebel- rejecting authority and 'going against the flow'. It has become "cool" to break rules.
The result: A generation which shows disrespect to those placed in positions above them, disregarding laws, and basic social etiquette even, is at stake.Issues and misunderstandings like these will continue to arise unless something is done about it.
The parents of youth today must teach children from young the importance of respecting authority. It isn't safe anymore to simply blame issues and problems such as this on 'raging hormones', because even hormones can be controlled by well-inundated values and principles.
It is becoming commonplace nowadays for parents to reject their children's well-being, because of work commitments. If this generation is to grow up to be the mature, well-educated adults they are supposed to be, these parents will have to start making sacrifices. Only then do we have a hope of succeeding the current generation.
7:11 AM | link
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