Students mock bus aide until she weeps

GREECE, N.Y. (WIVB) - Police in the Rochester suburb of Greece are investigating video of a school bus aide, who was driven to tears after being tormented by students.

The video not only has folks in the Rochester area up-in-arms, there are angry comments being registered on YouTube from all over the world. The 10-minute video was taken on the last day of school. It is extremely difficult and painful to watch and we caution our viewers.

The video recorded by a middle school student has gone viral on the internet. Students on a school bus for the Greece Central School District near Rochester are seen and heard taunting, tormenting and making fun of a bus monitor.

Watch the full video below:

She is identified as 68-year-old Karen Klein, a retired school bus driver, who stepped down from her job because her hearing was failing and chose to be an aide. Besides making fun of Klein's weight and threatening her with physical harm, the students got very personal - and very cruel.

In the video, you can hear students saying, "Did you get that purse on layaway?"

To which other students respond, "No, she got it in the [swear word] garbage can at Walgreens. Probably got that from the Dollar Tree. [Swear word] Family Dollar, but you don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they did not want to be near you."

At times, the taunts drove the school bus monitor to tears, and she responded as an adult might - asking the students to be nice. Bully expert Dr. Amanda Nickerson believes it was the kindness and non-threatening nature of the monitor that the students preyed on.

"They seemed to know she wasn't going to respond. She tried to get them to be nice and use kind words, and things like that, and clearly that was not working," she said.

Greece Central Schools issued a statement concerning the YouTube video saying, in part, their security staff and Greek's Town Police are investigating, and while they cannot comment on specific behavior, especially since it involves minors, they can say students involved will face strong disciplinary action. Read the full statement from the district here.

Dr. Nickerson suggests that discipline, in this case, must be swift and severe - but admits it will be hard to do since school is out for the summer.