Listen to kids bully bus monitor
01:58 - Source: CNN

On tonight’s “AC360˚,” Anderson Cooper interviews bus monitor Karen Klein about the verbal abuse she endured, at 8 p.m. and 10p.m. ET.

Story highlights

NEW: Two accused boys and the father of a third one apologize and express regret

NEW: "When I saw the video, I was disgusted and could not believe I did that," one boy says

Funds pour in for the grandmother of eight

Klein does not want to press criminal charges, police official says

CNN  — 

A profanity-laced video of middle school students in upstate New York verbally abusing a bus monitor is sparking an outpouring of support as strangers worldwide rally to her side.

The incident occurred in Greece, near Rochester. Klein is a bus monitor for the Greece Central School District and the harassers hail from a district middle school.

One comment from a boy aboard the bus was especially painful, she said. He told her that she does not have family because “they all killed themselves because they didn’t want to be near you.”

Klein’s eldest son took his own life 10 years ago, according to CNN affiliate WHAM.

The verbal abuse continued unabated for about 10 minutes in the video recorded by a student with a cell phone camera and posted on YouTube on June 19, where it has had more than 8 million views.

Recorded by a student with a cell phone camera Monday, the brazen bullying went viral and spurred international outrage.

When a bullied kid grows up

The incident occurred in Greece, New York, near Rochester. Klein is a bus monitor for the Greece Central School District, and the harassers hail from a district middle school.

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Klein said children misbehaved occasionally, but Monday’s incident was unlike any other she had experienced.

Despite the incident, she said she does not believe her harassers are bad kids.

“Not deep down. But when they get together, things happen,” she said.

As the intimidation unfolded, she tried to disregard the harassment and didn’t hear everything that was uttered, she said.

But she said it hurt deeply.

At one point, she said, she told two children, “I am a person, too. I shouldn’t be treated this way.”

Klein said she kept looking out of the window, counting down the seconds to when the students would get off the bus.

“It was one of those things, I didn’t know what to do,” she said.

No charges have been filed because Klein has decided she does not want to press criminal charges, according to Greece Police Capt. Steve Chatterton.

He stressed that the investigation is continuing and the bus monitor could change her mind.

“I’ve gotten e-mails from the United Kingdom (and) from all over the United States saying prosecute, prosecute,” Chatterton said. “I feel it. I feel it. But we have to follow the law. We can’t tailor the law to meet this case because of public outrage.”

The police captain said the four students pinpointed in the video, all of them seventh-graders, spoke to police voluntarily and without lawyers present.

Outrageous moments caught on camera

“As one father put it, his son is sitting back, waiting for his punishment,” Chatterton said. “No one has denied accountability and they’ve taken responsibility for their actions.”

CNN’s “AC360” received statements from two of the accused middle schoolers and the father of a third student apologizing for their behavior.

“When I saw the video, I was disgusted and could not believe I did that,” one boy named Josh said. “I am sorry for being so mean and I will never treat anyone this way again.”

A teen named Wesley said he regretted his actions and “would be really mad” if someone had done the same to a family member.

“If your friend says to bully somebody, please don’t do it,” said the father of Luis, another of the seventh-graders. ” We apologize to Ms. Klein. We’re deeply sorry.”

The video prompted an outpouring of support and a fundraiser by international crowd-funding website indiegogo.com that had gathered nearly $600,000 by Friday.

Max Sidorov, who started the fundraising campaign, said the video struck a chord with him because he is a bullying victim and the first thing that popped into his mind was to raise money to get her away from the environment.

Some of the students who taunted her in the video later apologized and expressed regret for their actions.

Southwest planned to provide Klein and nine others with an all-expense paid trip to Disneyland in Southern California. Klein said the outpouring of support is overwhelming.

“I don’t feel like I’ve done anything,” she said after learning of the Southwest offer on CNN. “It’s awesome.”

The school district said its bullying team and the local police are conducting an investigation.

“We have discovered other similar videos on YouTube and are working to identify all of the students involved,” the school district said.

Teen says bullies beat him, sues New York schools

It did not elaborate on whether the additional videos are related to Klein’s case, though school officials say they were all apparently posted by the same user.

“While we cannot comment on specific student discipline, we can say that students found to be involved will face strong disciplinary action,” the school district said.

The students and their family members have received death threats, according to Chatterton.

“We have custody of one of their cell phones, and he had over 1,000 missed calls and 1,000 text messages threatening him. And he is a 13-year-old,” the police captain said. “That must stop.”

Klein said she’s not pushing for criminal charges, but wants the boys to be punished.

She suggested a few disciplinary actions – such as a ban from the bus and athletic activities or community service. But most of all, the grandmother of eight said she hopes this is the end of it.

“I want to make sure that they never do this again, to anybody,” she said.

What would you do with a mean kid?

Gotta watch: Teacher turns table on bully

CNN’s Stephanie Gallman, Darrell Calhoun and Randi Kaye contributed to this report.