Video Without Audio Taken on Special Needs Bus by Student...

If the video is as you say, I'm sure it will cause quite a stir when exposed to the media. Make sure you are up for that, sounds like you are tho.
Good luck.
The special needs bus that picks up several of my autistic minor tenants, I think that driver is a biatch too.... she sits in the parking lot honking her horn endlessly if the moms arent out there with the kids on time. I've asked her not to do that but it pretty much has fallen on deaf ears. One should not take a job working with difficult people if one does not have the attituded for it.
I bet that vid would go viral on youtube, just sayin.

I admit that I couldn't follow everything you wrote about this. No matter. I'd get that film to the local television station. That bus driver and the bus aide need to be fired. What does the aide think she is being paid for?

Make sure that there are plenty of copies of this video.

Dawn

Yelling at deaf kids, that's productive. :(

She was taking video of her friends on the bus. That is the same as taking video of a party at school or whatever. Whether it would hold up in court depends on your state laws.

Kids take video all the time. Besides adults shouldn't be doing anything inappropriate.

I read the other responses after I posted. Nothing productive would come from going to the media. I didn't catch that in your question either. I would show it to school administration and to get the serves you need for your child. There are proper channels to go through. I would imagine the transportation supervisor could handle it. After that, the administration office.

It is probably not illegal. In most states, as long as everyone is either in a public or open place. Think about it, vacationers don't get arrested when they get pictures of strangers in the background. Or how about the last high school football game you were at, you could take pictures of yourself in the stands with your kids and their friends right?

It might be a different story if the bus is considered private property or quasi-public property. It is illegal to video tape in certain places considered private property without permission.

Furthermore it would be considered illegal in most states if it was done secretly and with the intent to "entrap." Because of the risk of entrapment, very seldom is video is admissible for use in court cases and is considered illegal in most, if not all states if it were done in this way (think investigative news story- reporters get in legal trouble often with hidden video stories and often get sued even if they uncover an injustice). Besides location of where it was taped, intent on how this video was taped or will be used would be a big determiner as to whether this is illegal.

For better understanding of the legal term entrapment, read up on something called "Sunshine" laws. The laws differ state to state. While they are mostly created to deal with media cases, they are often applied in cases involving private citizens.

There are some states where buses are equipped with on board video to prevent misbehavior on the part of students and the drivers. And in some of those states, the bus company/school district has the right to tape...but not necessarily the passengers on board if the bus is privately owned.

It's very complicated and you'd probably have to have an attorney in your area do some research into this.

This is why you will find video like this very seldom is permitted as evidence in a court case, yet winds up in the media on the evening news. People wanting to shed light on something will often get frustrated and will resort to giving the video to the media. But this is a risky thing to do...once again...the media can play hard ball once you turn the video over to them and call the shots. Sometimes in cases like that, the media will get burned and the court will issue a gag order so no one can see the video. Especially if this becomes a high profile matter that goes before a court of jurors.

whether it's legal or not - who cares. You're not trying to go to court - you just want a change. Use it as leverage. Take it to the news, as Dawn said.

Doesn't matter - since your kid isn't on the video, you have very little to say about it - legally.

But Jo's right - you'll need to ask an attorney in your state.

Email this video to every single person of authority-principle, superintendent, owner of bus company,parents, etc. The outrage that it should cause if it is as bad as you say should solve all of your problems.

Many school buses have surveillance videos.
Video's protect the kids from abusive behavior of some drivers or other adults and it also protects the driver if kids are acting up and fighting on the bus.
I'm surprised the buses being contracted for your area don't have them.
You'd have to ask a lawyer about the video the girl took.
In some cases the person taking the video can get into trouble - like if a beating or fight was staged for the purpose of posting the video on YouTube.
In that case the person recording the video is a participant in the violence even if they never throw a punch.
You just have to find out what your local laws are about it.