Many people rely on public transportation to go to different places without a car. Many would count school buses as a form of public transport.
School buses are a lifesaver for those who want their kid to get to school without paying more money for gas. However, what happens when these bus drivers show predatory behaviors towards the minors they drive to school?
Ricky Williams is a fifty-seven-year-old male that used to drive a school bus for many Atlanta public schools. Recently, Williams started chatting about different sexual positions to an eleven-year-old boy on the school bus he drove.
Williams got caught on camera talking to this boy. During Williams’ arrest, he was suspended from his place of work while the police investigated him.
As if the subject matter were not bad enough, the child had special needs. Children with disabilities are three times more likely to be abused or neglected. He took advantage of the boy, who probably does not know what happened there.
People taking advantage of a naïve child is disgusting. It is gross behavior, whether just for their gullibility or something Williams’ did to this child.
That child probably did not understand the conversation. At age eleven, I highly doubt that talking to an adult they have to trust is in their minds due to them taking them to school.
Some kids form real bonds with their school bus drivers. Williams took advantage of this situation due to his position of power to the kids. Abuse of power is an assault.
For the employers of Williams, they should have done much more than just suspend him. This incident tells the other people who work with kids that it is okay to sexualize children because they only got a slap on the wrist due to the offense.
They should have fired Williams instead of just suspending him. He is in jail, but it is stupid to claim that the police arrested him for the investigation. The school district should have fired him for sexualizing a child and forcing the kid to have an inappropriate discussion that most eleven-year-olds have no business knowing at that age.
If we are to continue to make change or serve justice, there needs to be a standard and maybe Williams will set a precedent.
This incident should serve as a warning to those who are employing people to work with kids. It is not a child’s responsibility to look out for predators.
We often tell children about “stranger danger,” but unfortunately, it is more likely for a victim to know their abuser. Arming children against adults in their lives is not something that should have to happen. They are always at fault in these situations. Our most vulnerable population needs to be protected and not told what to do or not to do. Children should never be in the wrong in these types of situations.
It is essential to have these conversations with adults. Understanding the weight of sexual assault needs to start, now. We are in a time where these conversations should no longer be stigmatized. Preventative conversations may open up space for adults to seek mental help or lead to finding a predator before they enter into a job with children.
The children are at the most risk because they do not precisely understand what an older teen might. If people do not do these checks on their potential employees, we will continue to see a cycle of abuse.
