A bus driver carrying a group of students aged 16 to 20 to their winter break in Prague has reported that many were smoking cannabis, drinking alcohol and breaking other rules with abandon on the journey.
Leif, who declined to give his last name because he says he was threatened by his passengers, has been a bus driver for 25 years.
“I love my job,” he told TV2 News. “But this was horrible. I am deeply ashamed of my generation's children.”
Most of the students came from Langkær Gymnasium in Aarhus. Leif said he smelt cannabis while he was driving, even though the students had been told that no smoking – not even e-cigarettes – was allowed on the bus.
Threatened by students
The driver pulled over at a rest area and called the police. None of the students would admit to smoking, and they then began to verbally assault the driver after the police left empty-handed.
“We talked about putting the suspected troublemakers off, or turning the entire bus around,” said Leif. “They threatened to take me to court or tell the press we had treated them unfairly. I decided to continue so as not to punish the students who were well-behaved.”
As the bus made its way through Germany, the situation worsened. When Leif’s colleague walked through the bus and tried to get the students to comply with the rules, he was threatened.
“Every time we tried to enforce some rules that they did not like, they shouted and swore, puffed themselves up and pushed me,” said Leif. “They said they would come after me, my mom and dad and my children.”
“They treat things like shit”
In recent years, Danish youngsters have made the Czech capital party their headquarters for their winter break. While most have behaved themselves, there have been many incidences of public, underage intoxication, property damage, violence and confiscated weapons.
Leif said it took three hours and four trash bags just to clean the bus's upper floor.
“They treat things like shit,” he said. “They just throw everything on the floor. Several of the curtains are pulled down and some of the seats are bent. They really do not care.”
READ MORE: Danish cops in Prague for winter holidays
Leif is scheduled to pick up the same group of students in a few days, and he is considering bringing some sort of guard along for the ride.
“I’m considering it,” he said. “There are two drivers, but we have other things to do than act as policemen for a bunch of kids.”
