Bus Monitor Speaks

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June 21st, 2012
01:54 PM ET



.. Ella Chick reports.

Tonight on AC360: Bullied bus monitor speaks out


In a cringe-inducing cell phone video, 68-year-old Karen Klein wipes tears from her eyes as middle school students bully her relentlessly. Klein is bombarded with profane language, insults, threats and cruel taunts. The students repeatedly call the mother of four and grandmother of eight ugly, a troll, smelly and worse.

Klein is just trying to do her job; she's the bus monitor for students in Greece, New York. In the video you can see she's surrounded by the kids leaning out of their seats to harass her, and even touch her while calling her fat.

At one point, she tries to ignore them and look the other way when one of the boys jabs the backside of her arm with his finger and then a book, prompting the others to comment on her "jiggle" and "flab."

Early on in the clip when Klein is visibly shaken, she tells the boys she's crying. One of them responds, "She probably misses her box of Twinkies." The intimidation continues when they ask where she lives so they can "piss" on her door, perform sexual acts and steal from her.

The pre-teen bullies want to find out just how poor their bus monitor is so they demand to know how much she paid for her purse and if her home is a trailer. One guesses, "she probably eats deodorant because she can't afford real food." The verbal assault includes a back and forth where the kids one up each other by guessing what would pour out of Klein's stomach if they stab her.

Perhaps the most painful part of the video is what's heard last when one of the students says "you don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they didn't want to be near you." Klein's oldest son committed suicide 10 years ago, according to CNN affiliate WHAM.

After video of the degrading scene went viral, a fund raiser page was created on a website to give Klein a vacation. The original goal was $5,000 - the total surpassed $200,000 Thursday afternoon and continues to climb.

Tonight Anderson Cooper will talk to Klein about the incident, what the school is doing to investigate and the huge outpouring of support for her. See the interview at 8 and 10 p.m. ET.