Cia

I have to say I'm 100% with Private Tim on this stance. I expect EVERY adult that steps up to do a job at my kid's school to be able to adequately perform that job. I'd create a shit storm the likes you have never seen if kids had acted like that to my children because the person who said they could protect them, that they WOULD protect them, failed so miserably. If those pre-teens believe that they could get away with acting like that to the very person that is supposed to stop them from hurting other people, then she is no deterrent and I would hazard a guess that the incident is not the first one that has happened. Also, Steve, I hate to say it but bullying is not new. The language might have changed, the aggressors might have changed, as well as the response by people, but this is not a behavior that just cropped up in the current generation. I would dare say that if I asked that any person, of any age, has not felt bullied and harassed by someone else that no one would be able to say no truthfully. Bus monitors here have the power to pull the bus over, have the children made to move from their seats, or be faced with being removed from the bus completely RIGHT THEN. If that's the case there, she had options, she didn't use them. Did she deserve to be a victim? No. Did she deserve to have to deal with what those kids said? No. Did she put herself in that situation to stop actions like that by being a bus monitor in the first place? Yes. Did she do her job? As the video proved, no. She couldn't even protect herself. She wasn't walking down an alley at the wrong place at the wrong time. She took a job where she was responsible to keep kids from acting in an unsafe manner and to prevent issue from occuring such as bullying. The first comment made should have elicited a reprimand and a warning, at least, and she didn't even do that. Yes, she was the one hurt and it shouldn't have happened, but it did because she COULDN'T do her job. I really do hope that account allows her to retire and live life without the craptastic attitude many kids get away with today, not only for her sake, but because maybe then the school will get someone in who can actually do the job to prevent that situation from ever happening to ANYONE else.

Fortunately for Yang's sake, I know his 'talking' joke would mean just talking. Even so, once my kids are old enough I'll probably be the nutso parent that has their phones gps tagged and a keystroke monitor set on the computer, as well as required full access/passwords to any social media type website that is popular. Hell, while I was out mowing the yard earlier today they asked to access my husband's facebook account so they could play zoo. I said no because I wasn't inside of course, but kids younger and younger and learning what these websites are and wanting to be a part of the 'in' group that uses them. One of the boys I babysat this year before school had a facebook account apparently, and he was only in the first grade. I know firsthand how places and people you think you can trust aren't always all they appear. I'm an open person, but not with my kid's safety in mind. However, if they get to 13 and want to join GA, they're more than welcome. I know this site and I know the staff all work hard to protect everyone and make sure that GA is a safe place to be yourself.

Exactly. My kids are still young, 8 and 5, but I've locked search parameters and put a password protect on the computer for certain ratings on sites. They also aren't allowed on any site that has a chat feature unless a parent is in the room either. There's only so much you can do though once kids reach a certain age. *shakes head*

It is very interesting! You've created a whole new world and given us just a glimpse of the main problem. You could definitely continue this. Maybe you should Wouldn't be the first time prompts have done that with people! LOL

Two things. One, those kids should be ashamed of themselves. Their parents have some work cut out for them, because obviously they've failed somewhere and need to rectify those kid's attitude in a major way. No one should have to be bullied in a school situation. That's why there is a bus monitor at all! However, the bus monitor also failed. If they were so disrespectful of her authority, it is obvious she didn't exert it. What else had been going on that bus before? What did other kids suffer if the hooligans were willing to do that to the authoritative adult who obviously is not authoritative at all. As I understand it, the monitor is to keep children in line because the bus driver is too busy driving to do so. Possibly that is different in that school district than my children's, however she allowed the behavior to continue and escalate. While I agree it is ridiculous they said those things, she's part of the problem that allowed those kids to act out in that fashion.

I grew up in the country. We always locked our house door, but my dad is an extremely paranoid soul. Like he sleeps with a gun just above his head paranoid. I live sort of inside a city now and I always lock my house when I'm not home, or I'm home alone with the kids. I don't worry about the car itself, but we lock it if we have anything inside that is valuable or we are somewhere 'questionable'. There was a lot of theft and such that happened, even there. In the years that I've lived in this city someone tried to steal our trailer with our quads in it, then someone busted a window out of my husband's truck and stole a ton of stuff, including the stereo. Our neighbor had a set of golf clubs stolen in just an hour they were in his driveway in front of his garage door. When we go to parks and trails we see a ton of cars that don't have passes or day stubs here in the city areas. There's just not that many people that will adhere to the rule of not taking advantage of others. I don't distrust everyone without cause, but I'm not naive enough to believe that goodwill and honesty is a real motivator for most people.

I have to say that the best thing about the route of online publishing is the circle of people you meet and how they help you further your writing. My editor contacted me yesterday for the first time and the second email I had just minutes later was from her friending me on Goodreads. Can I say I have to echo Nephy's sentiments on editors, though? I just got my first professional edit back this morning and OMG. Okay, so she was REALLY nice and gave me many compliments on the story overall. She even said it was exceptionally well edited and most of her comments and edits were 'nitpicky' and just needed to perfect the story, not fix it. Then I opened the document. There were 208 comments on a 29k story!!! The first one had 7 parts to it. *dies* One comment alone told me I need to rewrite 2 different scenes completely (unfortunately I agree). If I wasn't so excited about all I'm learning from the edits I'd be in tears, LOL

You put a lot of 'you' into this story and it had a lot of suspense in parts that flowed in the overall story in a nice arc. Good job Mark!!

Now that's a poem style I can read and get! I liked the play with the Arthurian names, it evokes the image of the setting very well. It reminded me very much of the 'moral of the story is' type of tales I would read as a kid. I liked it very much Dolores.

A truly harsh dystopian story, Andy. It was very vivid emotionally which was exactly what you needed to make the story resonate with the readers. Good job!

I liked the story, though I felt the Dad's turnaround was a bit fast. I've always had a hard time with parents that react badly and then suddenly in the space of hours do a total 180 though.

Way too obvious of him, don't you think? Just for that he doesn't get the smack!

Good to see you back Sara. Life sometimes takes over; I think we all get that. Good luck with publishing; I'm dipping my toes into that as well. I've had Shattered Glass in my kindle since last February but I haven't read it yet; maybe I'll do that later since I'm not currently reading anything.

That's funny. I've had that happen to me but the person who did it was mentally challenged and a teenager. I'd probably hit any adult male that tried to do that to me, but I'm the non-touchy sort.

I wonder if anyone who has answered has raised any children? That's where you're starting from, and while the man would have the ability to learn new things faster and easier than a child, you are changing his entire environment and almost every single conception he has. The first thing I'd do would be to take him home; then call a doctor to do a house call. Yes, some still do. His health is likely to be sketchy, and yes-immunizations would be key just as they are for any newborn infant. As was said previously, you can acclimate a person to modern society and still include things like fresh water from a well-not city water and fresh food. My best friend has a garden for veggies every year and I live a mile from a fresh produce market. We all hunt/fish for our own meat, even though I live just outside a city. That wouldn't be an issue, imo. I'm assuming he's intelligent as the average 24 year old which is a better starting point than a toddler so you first introduce him to the wonders of modern society. That starts small; you cannot expose him the world at large because up til that point he's lived in a very limited microcosm. However, he's had social interaction with people-his parents-so he does have limited skills, though those would be damaged and extremely limited. The true test comes after you've taught him about toilets-because you can't have him using whatever corner or shrub is closest and trust me, if that's what he's used to, it's what he'd do-showers, microwaves (source of all things hot to eat for many 20 something males, lol) and the things like that. That's when you have to start showing him things in the wider world. Roads, cities, vehicles, crosswalks ... you have to introduce him to everything AND explain it. The most basic skill, how to cross a road safely, would be beyond him. Taking him in a store would be VERY interesting because you have to introduce the concept that whatever you gather isn't yours. Collecting food with his parents, or his parents providing food, would leave him with the impression that if it is sitting around and he's hungry or wants it, he can have it. All those skills can be learned, however, if you take the time to do teach them. Basic human skills to survive aside, society-whatever one you live in and introduce him to-is MUCH more complicated. You cannot simply give him advice and set him free; he'd be eaten alive. Even if you explain about money and how to earn it-spend it-save it, where and how to live somewhere, help him find a job ... there is so much more to life than basic ekeing out existence. A society is a group of individuals that has come together to make a life better than what one can have alone. That has evolved over time, but at it a basic level we still depend on our family and friends, co-workers, and the people we intersect with to some level of degree or another. To do that involves placing a good amount of trust in your fellow man. Do you know how much time you'd have to spend with this person to produce a competent member of society? We're talking years. Then you say nope, I'm not your friend; I've introduced you to what I wanted to show you, so you are on your own. What would that do to their psyche? How can you expect them to become a part of a society where the very first person they met and the one who took on the role of a parent-because that is what you'd be doing-tells them that they have no emotional investment or connection to them and are done with them now that they can manage on their own? You'd undermine their entire ability to trust and reach out to people, therefore cutting them off from the world as surely as if you'd left them on their deserted island. After something like that they might be able to survive in the world at large ... but they wouldn't be living in it.

OMG, *snickers* Riiiiight.

Great article and interview! Thanks KC and Anyta.

If I was a gay man... parts of that might fit me. I'm more the cog than the driver though and I'm SO not a label whore. LOL. Still, it is funny to read horoscopes. Pretty easy to tell which one was mine from my avatar too!

Whoops! I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!! Shades of the white rabbit and all that, but Happy Birthday!!

How far can you trust a cheater? I don't think you need love for every sexual encounter, though it does make it a hell of a lot better, but how good can sex be if you don't trust the other person? Sex is one of the most intimate connections we can make with another human being, marriage is another one. The type of person who betrays that level of trust isn't anyone I would want in my bed.

Welcome Scavola, nice avatar!

Hello new members, and potential new authors!! GA is a very inclusive site, so I hope you will enjoy being a member here. ****If you want to post a story, please READ and follow every topic in the faq that Andy linked, and that you can find linked on the start page in GA Stories. Not only does it explain the mechanics of how to post at story, it explains the most commonly broken formatting and posting rules. If you break those you get a pm from me and you have to do more work, plus deal with me being cranky from you making me do more work. If the faq doesn't help, or you have more questions, please pm me through my profile, helping new authors is a large part of my role on the site. Welcome again!

*shrugs* A cheater will find a way to cheat, no matter how many or few hot guys there are around them. I'm just saying that overall, 19 isn't too young to know you love someone, or want to commit to them.

Hey, I got married at 19 and don't regret it. Living your life doesn't mean that you can't commit to someone at a young age, if it makes you happy. I've been with the same man since I was 16 and at nearly 31, I'm still happy with my life and my choice to be with him. It can work out. I think the celebrity aspect would be a much harder obstacle to their life together than their age.

Thank you Krista. Curves are NOT fat.