Offensive Words: Discharge For Teenage Girl
In Magistrates Court this morning [June 3] a 17-year-old girl received a Conditional Discharge for six months as a result of a charge of using offensive words in a public place. The teenager was said to have hurled profanity at police officers earlier this week after they asked her and others to get off a bus.
The charge stemmed from an incident on Wednesday 1 June. The teenage girl was on the bus, sitting, with others, on the back seat. The bus driver had cause to stop the bus at the East Broadway Crow Lane stop and asked the passengers seated on the back seat to get off that bus, claiming that they were behaving badly.
When no one moved, the bus driver called police and on arrival police asked the back seat passengers to move off the bus.
In her defence, the girl said that because she had not behaved badly and had caused no trouble, she believed that she was not required to move. However, police insisted that she move and when she continued to refuse, they “gripped” her. In her words, she was gripped by “a big 200lb man. I’m not even 100lbs.”
The Prosecutor’s evidence was that she had told police: “Don’t f###### touch me.” After escorting her off the bus, the Prosecutor said that she told police: “You can’t f###### touch me.”
Police escorted her to Hamilton Police Station where, answering a question put by the Magistrate, she was kept in police custody for about ninety minutes.
The girl maintained that she had not taken any part in the bad behavior that had caused the driver to stop the bus; but admitted that she was in close proximity to other people who had caused a problem.
Pointing out that all citizens must obey reasonable instructions and orders that are given by the police, the Magistrate reminded her that she was the only person who was now standing in Court and that she should, in future, think about that. The Magistrate said: “Had you gotten off the bus when directed, you would not be here today.”
Magistrate Juan Wolffe then decided that he would grant her a six month Conditional Discharge, telling her that it meant that she did not have a criminal conviction. He then gave her his advice about where, in future, she should sit on a bus.
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Ok – I’ve read this article and this line sticks out in my mind:
“Magistrate Juan Wolffe then decided that he would grant her a six month Conditional Discharge, telling her that it meant that she did not have a criminal conviction. He then gave her his advice about where, in future, she should sit on a bus.”
Fact – she should have listened to the instructions of the Police Officer – agreed.
Fact – she was given a conditional discharge – fine – no problems with that.
BUT – the Magistrate gave her advice about where she should sit on the bus? WTF?!
It doesn’t matter where she sits on a bus, Mr. Wolffe. It is that type of crap that makes young people dislike adults and the “system”. Yes, she was in the wrong for the language she used and how she handled the situation – but to indiacte that it has anything to do with the location on the bus she was sitting is just plain stupid and disrespectful.
As I continue to sit where I wanna, I wish you joy, Magistrate Wolffe
Yng Black Mind (those who know understand)
Perhaps this will express Mr Wolfe’s sentiments in a way you might agree with:
“If you don’t want to be framed, stay out the picture”… I learned the lesson well after spending the better part of my teen years and very early twenties too close to people acting up on the hypothetical back of the bus…
Put even more simply, move away from trouble and troublemakers so as not to be mistaken for one… that goes for the “back of the bus” in both the literal and figurative sense…
@ Yng Black and dumb mind…..You sound so stupid in your rant. What the judge is saying is to sit AWAY from trouble and not in reference to anything about where one is supposed to sit on the bus. Get your mind out of the 1950′s.
Ever heard this saying “If you lie down with dogs you will get up with fleas” so it was just sound words of wisdom she was being given. At least the Magistrate cared enough to warn her.
In this day and age, you only have to be seen with certain characters to be classifed as “one of them” so while yes she has every right to sit where she please, sititng far from the unruly bunch won’t get her lumped with them.
Sometimes that’s the way life is, whether we like it or not.
The young lady was on the bus before any of the trouble people got on. She had all rights to stay in her seat and continue minding her own business.
Your name should say young and dumb, dummy what he is trying to say is that she should be mindful of where she sits (with the company she is keeping) birds of a feather flock together, and yes most of the students that sit in the back of the bus are the trouble makers (I’m not saying all but the majority), I know this for a fact because I see it everyday, yes I am a bus driver…..
.
And BTW people my comment is about the teeanger acting up so don’t go trying to make it about PTB and the issues I already know that is within my company, we will save that one for another day
That’ll teach her….NOT….maybe community service , or perhaps washing and cleaning the buses might have been a better punishment? What lesson did she and her friends learn? None!
EXCUSE ME.
#1- The young lady was not friends with the people acting up on the bus. She had just knocked off from work and was minding her OWN business making her way home.
#2- THERE WERE a numerous amount of people on the bus cursing and causing problems for the officers.
#3- THE BUS DRIVER DID NOT HANDLE BUSINESS BECAUSE THE PEOPLE THAT WHERE ACTUALLY CAUSING THE PROBLEM REMAINED ON THE BUS WHILE ONLY THE YOUNG LADY AND TWO OTHER GENTLEMEN WHERE FORCED OFF.
#4- The young lady APOLOGIZED at the station and SHOOK the officer whom arrested her hand.
#5- Yes its true youth are getting more and more out of hand and officers should do what is NEEDED, but a 200+ man gripping a less than 100 pound teenage girl like shes a GROWN MAN is WRONG. She was not doing anything wrong on the bus nor putting up any type of fight with the officers. She was silent. She ALSO was sitting inbwtween TWO other MALES who where being JUST AS stubborn. Why did the officers GRIP the young GIRL instead of the of the two MEN? She only reacted the way she did because of those FACTS. She was SINGLED OUT for NO reason while the MAIN problems where left causing chaos and REMAINED on the bus.
#6- Your judging someone from whats being read, you have NO CLUE on the character of the young lady and have NO CLUE what happened on the bus that evening.
#7- 7
Her character was clearly displayed in her response to the police officers. She simply should have kept her mouth closed and distanced herself from the situation. I think she learned her lesson.
Too often I have seen people back answer and disrespect the police who are just trying to quell a disturbance. Then the person wants to cry foul because he or she claims they were singled out when it was their own fault. They fight the police, get their ass kicked, get locked up and then (with their mommys) claim police brutality. In my times of hanging out on Front Street, I have seen it happen too often.
Just keep your mouth shut and move on if it doesn’t involve you. That’s my mantra for staying out of trouble.
AMEN… to keep ya mouth shut and move on!!! Saves a whole lot of unnecessary drama. Quite a few don’t grasp this concept, evidently.
The young lady did learn her lesson, and also kept her mouth shut. For you to judge her for her one comment shows YOUR true character. Its wrong to judge people you don’t know, you wern’t there. She responded the way she did because the officer disrespected her and she is well aware of the law but also well aware of her RIGHTS as a human being. No one, unless acting in a way to recieve, should be treated the way the officer treated the innocent young lady. Guilty of foul language -YES. Guilty of disrespecting the Law or any other individual on the bus -NO.
And how was she suppose to distance herself? It was on a bus, buses arent that big. The problem was to the back of the bus were she had been seated before the people got on and started trouble. When the bus stopped and the police officers walked on, standing in the hall, as we all know there not that wide, where was she suppose to move? what was she supppose to do? The bus had only be on the road for 5 mintues!
She got into trouble for her MOUTH and not moving OFF THE BUS WHEN DIRECTED BY THE POLICE!!!!!! She wasn’t asked to jump from a moving bus. And I’m not judging her as a bad person….just a stupid one. Stop Judging, you are obviously related to the person and will defend her every action with your tunnel vision. Look at the picture with a broader vision. If she were totally innocent then she would not be before the courts.
Ok, your right. She is not innocent, and did not plea innocent. I am not related to her. You can not call someone stupid, a bad person etc. Your commenting on a blog on Bernews that the young lady will probably not even see, its wrong to dog on her when you have no clue what type of person she may be. Yes she did get into trouble for those things, but the point being made by myself and the young lady in court was that she was not the only asked off the bus, she was NOT the only one who used foul langauge and she was NOT the only one asked off the bus so WHY is that she was the ONLY person violently gripped, and then arrested? There were other people on the bus acting out and cursing off the police officers, why was she the only one punished when to begin with – she had NOTHING to do with the problem.
You sound like the type of person who when they get stopped for speeding would complain that “everyone else was speeding and going faster than me….why you stop me?”
#1 IF YOU ARE “ASSOCIATED” WITH THE PEOPLE THAT ARE A PART OF THE PROBLEM,.,THEN IT IS HARD FOR A POLICE OFFICER TO USEE THE DIFFERENCE WHEN YOU ACT THAT WAY. HAD SHE ACTED DIFFEREENTLY THAN IF TE OFFICERS WERE WRONG THEY MAY HAD HEPED HER. OTHERTWISE ….IF IT WALKS LIKE A DUCK, QUACKS, LIKE A DUCK THEN CAHNCES ARE ITS A DUCK! EVERY NOW AND THEN A DUCK HUNTER MIGHT BE WRONG BUT CAN YOU BLAME HIM AFTER HE HEARD IT SAY QQQUUUUAAAAACKKKKKKKKK!!!!
good to hear about bus drivers handling business. Manners and respect for others is seriously lacking in the younger crowd and this can most evidently be seen on the pink and blue.
Maybe because the “older crowd” has failed to teach us manners and respect. A lot of the bus drivers themselves have no manners and respect.
This is not a Rosa Parks situation. Don’t go there.
You don’t know the situation on the bus, how seats were available. I am sue the learned Magistrate ( not reported) was aware of the numbers on the bus. It’s not printed here nor elsewhere.
My thoughts are that after reading what was the summary, he concluded that id there were empty seats anywhere and the person was not part nor affiliated with the others she should have moved.
Here endeth the lesson.
Considering what the streets of Hamilton sound like , and have for a long while , I’m surprised that this isn’t a daily occurence in Magistrates Court.
I’m thoroughly ashamed and embarrassed to be Bermudian lsitening to these school kids walking around town. The girls are even worse than the boys , but neither group tries to even be discrete about it ..It’s almost as if it’s an exhibition to see who can be the loudest and most profane idiot .
Classy …. real classy ..
This an everyday thing – very unfortunate!
A little off the subject, I witnessed 2 primary school girls find and tried to steal a bag that was left on the bus. I watched an listened to their plan on what they were going to do. We reached the terminal – I let them get off ahead of me. But as they were about to walk off I stopped them and asked if they had something to give to the driver. They realised it was over and gave the bag to the driver. These girls were P5 or P6 students – they really start young. Sad……
Hats off to you for being the “wise elder” and stopping them! Now they know to give what they find to the bus driver, since the person who forgot it is most likely going to report it lost to the bus driver’s supervisor! Would the children then prefer to be remembered as heroes or thieves?
More of us should do that, especially when we hear the children or young adults talking loud or profanely. Some people think that is the way to talk when not in the class, at work, or at home (I hope).
It is up to all of us to let them know what is acceptable in what areas, and WHY certain behaviours are not acceptable. We can all be judges in the right meaning of the word.
Kids emulate what they see and what they are allowed to get away with. There were kids in my generation that got away with a lot more than I could.
At the end of the day, the old saying “do what I say and not what I do” doesn’t fly with the kids of today. And quite frankly a lot of (so-called) parents are leading by example and their kids are just following suit!!
If I would have found myself in this situation back in the day I would not have made it court – my mom, then my dad, then my school homeroom teacher, then my school principle would have STRONGLY reprimanded me well before I saw a magistrate; and I would have been made to apologise formally to the person of authority that I disrespected. But thanks to good old ‘Ms. Shelia Cooper’ many kids go undisciplined because of the fear of being labelled ‘a child abuser” for sorting out their own.
Spear the rod, spoil the child = disfunctional future adults who then become parents themselves….And the cycle continues
BUT NOT IN MY HOUSE!!
We were well down the tubes before Shiela showed up .. trust me
It’s convenient to blame her , but not accurate .
That’s your opinion, and I respect you enough to agree to disagree with you. Being in my mid-thirties, I remember the good ole days were RESPECT was due to any and all elders, even the bum on the street. A very small minority acted out of hand but still no where near the extreme we see today.
Shelia Cooper’s child rearing influence was made public in the early/mid ’90′s – now someone tell me how old are the kids that are acting out today??????? Kids born in the mid ’80s, ’90s!
Just speaking to my experience. And I don’t blame her – Parents need to take responsibility for their own!
If I was (and I’m not by choice, because I have a choice) a parent and my child was acting out I would still discipline them regardless. I believe in ‘I brought you in this world and I can take you out’ and respect is due no matter what. Str8 UP
If you’re in your mid 30′s you’re way too young to remember them days of strict discipline and respect. The days when the village did influence the behaviour of children …
It all began to fall apart in the early 70′s
As someone who unfortunately has to ride the bus between 4pm and 5pm, I am constantly exposed to what public school young people are like on this island when their parents aren’t around. It would shock many of you the things I hear coming out of their mouths and it’s not like i’m eavesdropping, those conversations are held loudly and with no regard to who may be around them. There is a complete and utter lack of respect and dignity that is not likely to show up once they reach adulthood. These are vipers for life.
I am actually grateful for the chance to see and hear all that I have as it has been one of the main reasons I have made the decision that I am taking my daughter off this island before she enters primary school as we are not in the position to afford private school and there is no way I will allow her to become what these young people are becoming.
You all stick around and wait for it – the writing is on the wall.
WE SHOUD DO A ONE MINUTE VIDEO ON BAD BEHAVIOUR VS GOOD BEHAVIOUR & PLAY IT EVERY DAY IN SCHOOL JUST BEFORE LEAVING, AND AT THE TERMINAL.
If the kids can get brainwashed with every other stupid thing, they can be taught something useful the same way. The good kids and peacemakers can get a smile or “thumbs up” sign from the adults. The bad behavioured can get silence or “can you do better tomorrow?”.
No need to flee, it is just as bad in other countries.
@Hearing Aid….Doesn’t change your status. Your still Bermudian, ashamed, embarrased.
It’s a cultural thing. It’s inherited, taught and accepted as normal. If this were the 50′s-60-70′s…..
Trying to remember who sold the most soap…was it Purvis or Vallis. No wonder they are so rich……..sold a lot uv soap……………
Actually, I feel very sorry for these children, very sorry. They learned it not from their teachers, but from a proliferation of family, cousins, and ‘Yah cummin dee f(*& in her ann yahy gutt no money four det chuklait bahar (dips into purse) um gunna tal yah f^%$ Mumma when she gatts home from washing tah deddies car ann doin heeze lawndree’….NAX!!!! Vat de F%$# yoo starin het………Ver yoo frum…….kuntree…….damn…dis is dee 42nd cusstumarh……HEY!!!!! Park det ting outside……………
All Westgate interns from the Regiment please use isle 4……and don’t forget the special today is Lambe…………………………………..
ALL YOU PEOPLE WITH SO MUCH TO SAY ABOUT THE PROBLEM CAN HONESTLY GET A LIFE.
If your soooo concerned why AREN’T YOU doing anything to help it? Blame their PARENTS, blame the SOCIETY, and blame YOURSELVES. You have all these smart comments, why not put them to use? I am a teenager who CAN and WILL change the future generations because I KNOW there is little hope for mines. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!
yup… you sound like a bratty teenager.
yup……you sound like an ignorant and arrogant adult.
The kind that raised us, the younger generation to have the current attitudes that you see on the bus and in other places.
YOUR generation is so quick to blame “us young people”, without even realizing that it was YOUR generation that (supposedly) raised US!
So I agree with “STOP JUDGING”, and with your “Bratty Teenager” comment, you basically proving their point.
…a bratty teenager WHO HAS TROUBLE CONTROLLING THE VOLUME OF HIS VOICE. – Austin Powers.
No, your wrong. And thats the problem, THATS the reason teenagers are the way they are. Because of people labeling and juding us. I am NOT a bratty teenager, nor a bad person. Just because some kids are, does NOT mean we all are. Give us a chance, the ones who notice the problem as well WILL make a difference. Instead of thinking we’re all the same, your the adults. Act like them
@Stop Judging
I agree – - the older generation have alwayed passed the “buck” when it comes to the problems with young people. I am older than you but still realize that I am perceived as young by some. I take responsibility for the things that I do as well as those things my kids do. I am involved in several youth based programs which include one that teaches sexual responsibility to young males. I am in the process of creating a summer tutorial program so kids don’t completely forget everything they learned throughout the year during their summer vacation.
Some of us are doing what we can – - maybe more. It boils down to individual responsibilty – - I know who I am and what I am here to do – - just do what you can – - as we can only ask that of you. BTW, you are on the right track and keep up the great work – a positive mind creates positive results!
Yng Black Mind (those who know understand)
Good work on your community efforts. More should do like you do.
More action, less talk.
This young lady got lucky. The magistrate didn’t have to cut her slack.
I’m appalled that anyone would behave in a manner that caused a bus driver to have to call the cops. I’ve been a passenger on a bus where a drunk behaved in a very threatening manner to another passenger. The cops were NOT called by the driver.
I’m disgusted that anyone would disrespect the Police with profanity like this. She admitted it, she should learn. Too many people of all ages shooting their mouths off, tempers uncontrolled every day. I’m sure this is part of the rising tide of violence we see in Bermuda.
The magistrate was totally within his rights to give her advice on her future behaviour. The positioning of her chosen seat is irrelevant. It’s her conduct and the people she chooses to associate with that’s the point here. She should listen, as should all kids and adults.
Question. Before he “gripped her” was she told she was being arrested? If not she had every right to say what she said in my opinion. The Police have a habit of exciting people to do wrong by not treating them with the respect we are all do. Imagine that she could be labeled a Criminal, put on the stop list, and denied jobs and for what?!?!
No she was not, she was on the back of the bus along with 2 other people when the officer asked them to get off. NONE of the people in the back row moved, the officer turnt around and then came back and asked them to move again, none of them moved thats when the officer decided to grip the young lady
You know what, it was the POLICE that asked them to move, and noone did, I am sorry if they cannot respect and obey the POLICE. than who will they respect. And if she did as she was asked then she would not be labelled a criminal,put on the stop list or denied a job, she bought this on herself. Did she not realise that the buses run every 15 mins LOL
FOR YOUR INFORMATION. It was the last bus out of town that evening. She has not been listed as a criminal as part of her “Conditional Discharge”. &Ya ya ya ya ya respect. She understands that, yes now she knows next time to listen but the POINT IS he shouldnt have gripped her the way he did and if someone was to touch your young daughter like that you would lay into them as well. There where two other gentlemen beside her, why did he choose to pick on the small girl?
Stop Judging
As a teacher I see this type of behavior all day every day. Many of today’s youth have no respect for others much less themselves, their teachers, parents, law enforcement or their peers. This lack of respect manifests itself in various forms such as rude and disrespectful behavior, foul language, lack of ambition, inappropriate dress, laziness and the list goes on. There are many like myself who each and everyday do what we can to ‘do somehing about it’ but unfortunately we are a minority. Many do not know where the boundaries lie, just as with the young lady in the article, they feel that actions have no consequence and to make matters worse there are many adults and peers who stand up for and encourage the slackness. I do not usually comment but your tone implies that people on this forum aren’t in a position or doing any thing to help our present state of affairs so I write this note to inform you otherwise. BTW ‘mines’ isn’t a word.
Yes, I understand fully where every single person in this article is coming from. The point I am trying to make is the young lady in this situation is NOT a bad person and does see the way her peers act. She was not doing anything wrong, the police officer grip her for nothing and thats when she made her rude comment “Don’t f****** touch me”. She did not direct her comment to the officer, she said it as she was walking off the bus. She did not shout, she did not act out in any way. She was simlpy upset that the 200+ officer gripped her like a grow man. This is wrong. Well aware of how teenagers are I still do not think its right to label us all the same. Like some adults are trying to help, some of us teenagers are as well.
I used to hate when they did that. Everyone has to get off because a few rude teens were acting up. Was it really necessary for them to haul her to the police station for using a word? That law needs to be changed. Imagine if NYC cops had to arrest every person that used “offensive words”.
If the cussing or foul words are directed at the police or within earshot of the public then be assured the NYC police will lock you up. You better not resist arrest or you could end up with a cracked skull or a bullet in your backside.
The law works just fine and its up to the discretion of the arresting officer as to how much cussing he or she wants to tolerate. And Bermudians get away with a lot of cussing at the police.
Everyone on the bus was cursing and shouting. Just because the young lady was sitting on the bus the police officer asumed she was part of the problem. She curse waling off the bus because she had been gripped and ripped from her seat for no reason. After getting off the bus where people where still cursing and going on, instead of dealing with them the officer came off the bus and started arguing with the young lady. Yes the officer was doing his job and theres noting wrong with that. The young lady fully understands that and has as much respect for Bermuda Authority as any of you adults, but the point is she was disrepected and mistreated for NO reason and when she reacted she was punished. Any person would react the same.
Stop Judging you are spot on and from reading your post I can see you were on the bus so you are speaking an informed opinion. Dont worry about the so called adults on here calling you a bratty teenager they are just upset that you proved them wrong, they go on almost every story and trash talk people because they have no lives of their own. Keep speaking up for what you believe in because you seem to be a leader and you will do good things for Bermudas young people.
truth be told, I was also trying to think of some encouraging words for STOP JUDGING but your words are so perfect – I couldn’t have said it better!
Keep fighting for what’s right STOP JUDGING!!!!!
Andre, maybe I should call you ‘Andy’. You know nothing about the law, nor were you there. If so, state so. The “gripping” is part of the arrest.
Maybe we should do it your way…….”OK, your all under arrest for offensive words et al”. I will be passing out handcuffs, please put them on and catch the next bus to Hamilton Police Station where cookies will be served. bwahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Grow up.
The thing about this story that saddens me most is that this one teenager was repremanded but the others were not. All the kids should have been escorted to the Police Station and their parents called to collect them. This should become standard protocol. It would happen quite often in the beginning, but it will eventually deter kids from behaving badly because it would cause so much inconvenience to the parents.
On another note, I know it is hard to deal with people who are disrespectful and disregard authority, but surely the cops could have handled it differently. If all this girl said was “Don’t F-ing touch me,” I don’t really see the big deal… I’m sure the cops have had worse sentiments hurled at them. It wasn’t like she F-ed them off. By all means I’m not condoning using the “F” word but I’m just saying – let’s put it in perspective.
This is the correct answer to the problem! You win the respect of all of us… thanks for saying what we are thinking should have taken place. Congratulations!
Now it would be great to have this exercised so the bus drivers can have more good days at work. Maybe this would solve the shortage of bus drivers!
Lets think about it….get reallll. She’s the only one that F$#KED off the Police, literally.
There’s a differance between and unruly crowd of children and a mouth piece…If they all acted that way, they all would have gone ‘that way’.
The end is near.
Okay, so it’s okay to curse up a storm, but just not in front of a cop? Saying “don’t f-ing touch me” is not the same and saying cursing off a cop. I think many adults would react like that if they were being wrongly accused and punished for something that they did not do. The poor girl got punished because a whole bunch of kids around her were acting up.
Now I’m not saying that what she did was the best way to react in that situation, but to punish her by taking her to court with the potential for her to have a criminal record is a bit extreme. That’s all I’m sayin!
It basically boils down to how we raise our children to respect others. I still am able to get through to my sons(25 n 18), as far as respect goes. And no, I dont have to go overboard as I offer the positive and negative of choices and decisions. I do not allow them to think of me as their ‘ace-boy’. But we still can have good laughs and realisitc talks (father to son). I maintain a level of respect with them so that they can take it and apply to thier everday situations in life. Even with some of their friends I have met, the level of respect remains. Growing up, how you spoke to an adult was heavily taught. Somewhere along the way, some of us adults, have given our children,(doesn’t matter about age) lots of leeway in how they address you as the parent and others. If respect was highly maitained there wouldn’t be as much breakdown of disrespectful behavior or defiance. The mentality of some of us in “I’m not going be that way with my children….too tough.” or “My kids can do no wrong and no one better not correct them”, has really taken the actions of discipline to an all time low. And yes, I’ve been put off the bus because of actions of others, and I wasn’t even close to the unruly ones.
Honestly, every day i read Bernews and the stuff i read is UNREAL!
With people being robbed , shot and killed in board daylight , woman and little girls being sexually harassed… don’t the police have anything else to do that arrest a 17 year old girl who used 2 cuss words???? UNREAL & what a waste of government funding ( wages for their lackey’s )
Global, instead of hammering the nail of reason and disipline, your using a crowbar to pull the nail out.
You just don’t go around F’n people off, fact. There are consequences in everyday life regardless of whom it is spoken too.
Foul language in bermuda (notice small ‘b’) is so common and accepted these days that it has become part of certain segments of the society.
4 Blocks in any major city contains the same amount of residents as Bermuda’s 20 square miles. Go figure.
It’s becoming a trend in Bermuda that authority is to be messed with as we have seen on a “Global” basis but we have not reached the point yet of civil unrest in many nations yet.
Thats another thread.