help dealing with the other kids on the school bus for a six year old

[TForce]

My six year old son has been riding the school bus for a year and a half now.  He loves his teachers, class, and school, but the bus is becoming a big problem.  I know the bus drivers have a lot on their plate and can't really be expected to deal with kid problems and drive safely at the same time.  I have had my son re-seated several times because other kids are teasing him, taking his backpack, etc.  Usually re-seating work for a few weeks until another kid starts bothering.  My son is a quiet, mild-tempered character.  How do I help him deal with the "trouble-makers"?  What are some good strategies so he is not the "victim"?

[hakeber]

I have a similar situation with my son.  Most Mornings we ride with him which helps because I just engage him in conversation and we actively ignore the other kids.  In the afternoons it is not so easy.

They particularly like to tease him about being from Argentina, and say things like Argentina has the ugliest football strip and Argentina's flag is hideous, just to wind him up.  (He was born in Argentina and considers himself Argentine, but we now live in Colombia) Luckily the other day Argentina beat Colombia in a football match so I quietly whispered to him that they were just upset that Argentina beat them and he said to them: "Bueno, puede ser la Argentina tiene los delantales mas feos del mundo, pero ayer te ganamos, y ustedes perdieron, entonces no me importa para nada." (Well, maybe Argentina does have the ugliest strips in the world, but last night we beat you, and you lost, so what do I care?)

It shut them up but good.

So...I know it isn't very nice and probably not the best way to go about solving problems, but it might not hurt to teach him a little bit about giving those kids a taste of their own medicine...if you think he can handle it.

The other thing I have done is lend him my mini MP3 player and let him, listen to music and give him a snack for the buss.  Generally speaking it seems people pick on my DS because his extreme reaction is amusing to them.  He reacts more vehemently when he is hungry which is usually on the bus ride home and generally first thing in the morning because he is tired.  When he has had a snack or can escape into music, he's not so easily annoyed by others and their teasing and they back off more.  When he is already strung out, tired, and hungry their teasing drives him to a frenzy and the other kids can't seem to help but push his buttons more.

So in a nut shell: Snack, relaxing outlet, working on witty zingers to shut them up.  That's what seems to be working for us, so far.

[Adaline'sMama]

to your son. I was picked on on the school bus for two years. It made me hate going to school to the point where I used to make myself sick with anxiety over it and would be so ill in the mornings that I couldnt go to school for the first hour and then my mom would have to check me in. I now know that I was subconsciously doing it so that I didnt have to ride the bus. It was the only real time I was ever bullied, but it sticks with me, even now. I hope you can figure something out. If not, is there another option for getting to school?