Lena Furuskog, a 51-year-old bus driver, has taken a drastic step in her fight to make young people respect her workplace and fellow passengers.
She drives between Nässjö, Eksjö, and Vetlanda in Sweden, and she has high school students on board every morning. In recent months, she noticed that a group of students seemed to have difficulty behaving properly on her bus.
The students have been sitting with dirty shoes on the seats and stuffing things between the seats. On Monday, enough was enough, and she had to eject one of the students from the bus.
After ejecting the student from the bus, Lena Furuskog decided to share her experience in a "Word is Free" article in Dagens.se and on social media, where the response has been overwhelming. One of the concerned mothers who contacted Lena Furuskog even suggested recording videos from the bus drivers' daily lives to raise awareness about the problem.
Lena Furuskog emphasizes, however, that the responsibility does not only lie with the bus drivers but also with the parents.
"Parents must dare to say no and make demands on their children. We should not raise their children. They must know how to behave towards people. If there are more who reason like she does, it's terrible," she said.
It also ended with the high school student who was thrown off the bus showing up again the next day and apologizing for his behavior. "I was very happy; it was a big step to dare to say sorry," Furuskog stated.
Lena Furuskog's determination has shed light on a challenge that many bus drivers and public service providers face.
