Brave 6th Grader Calls Out Bus Driver Involved In A Hit And Run And Her Letter Is Going Viral

As parents, we strive to raise our children to be successful in many areas of life. But more than anything, we want to raise them to be GOOD people. Kids these days often get a lot of flak for being self-absorbed, but one student’s thoughtful & courageous deed reminds us that empathy is still alive and well.

A student’s anonymous letter reporting a hit-and-run incident quickly went viral on social media as people admired her tremendous act of consideration.

College senior Andrew Sipowicz’s car was dented last week in a hit-and-run then he saw a letter on his car.

As he assessed the damage done to the driver’s side of the car, he noticed something else: a hand-written letter of explanation written by an anonymous student who had witnessed the accident.

The student, who only identified herself as a sixth-grader at Houghton Academy in Buffalo, NY, had been a passenger in the school bus that has struck Sipowicz’s car.

Her detailed letter reads as follows:

This student not only had the conscience to realize what had happened was wrong, but had the courage to identify her own bus driver as the perpetrator of the damage:

She was trying to pull off and hit the car. She hit and run.

She took action in a situation that many others wouldn’t.

The bus driver KNEW she had hit the car, but simply ignored it and continued driving. The student, however, knew it was wrong. And she decided to take action because someone needed to; the incident was not being properly handled by the adult in charge of the situation.

She not only took the time to write the letter once she arrived home, but returned to the scene to leave it for the car owner.

Her letter is an act of bravery. It’s also an act of compassion. Her empathy is clear in a single word included in the letter:

Sorry.

The sixth-grader apologizes for the actions of the bus driver. She sensed that what happened is now a unjust problem for the car owner, and felt bad for this wrongdoing. 

If you have ever had your car damaged in a hit-and-run incident, you know how frustrating it can be to have to dig into your own pocket to pay for someone else’s carelessness. If car owner Andrew Sipociwz is the typical poor college student, the cost of repairs would undoubtedly been a draining experience, both emotionally & financially.

But thanks to the bravery of this thoughtful child, the bus company identified in the letter offered to cover the full cost of the repairs, and will be terminating the careless bus driver responsible.

This sixth-grader did something that some adults wouldn’t do. She saw a wrong being committed, and took action to help make it right. She didn’t have to; she could certainly have maintained a “not my problem” mentality. If she was my kid, I’d be so damn proud to be raising a thoughtful, responsible human being.

Sipowicz was so impressed by the anonymous student’s good deed that he shared pictures of the letter on Twitter. And obviously countless others were equally impressed by it as well; the tweet has quickly gone viral, earning an impressive 269K retweets and over 1.2 MILLION likes.

Shoutout to the anonymous 6th grader for saving me a couple thousand (Bus not drawn to scale) pic.twitter.com/7aNK10xSwX

— Andrew Sipowicz (@Andrew_Sipowicz) November 20, 2018

Others are weighing in on the student’s Good Samaritan deed as well.

When Philadelphia news channel Fox 29 posted a picture of the letter on their Facebook page, readers were quick to share their admiration of not just the student’s actions, but her parents in raising such an awesome kid:

The student was later identified (not publicly) by her handwriting; the school is presenting her with a citizenship award to celebrate her good deed. Heartwarming, isn’t it?

It’s important that her letter is being shared, because her actions should be acknowledged. It isn’t easy to speak up when we witness a wrongdoing; even adults occasionally struggle to muster up the courage to do so in difficult situations.

We all want our kids to be healthy, successful people. But if we can raise them to be considerate, empathetic citizens like the fantastic sixth-grader above, then we’ve done our job well.