What's ‘Lolita's Line'? Ontario bus driver's outfit might be a hidden risk to your child's safety
Live Events
What does Lolita's Line mean?
(You can now subscribe to our
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel
A Toronto school bus driver has been removed from service after a video showed them wearing a pink, frilly schoolgirl outfit and displaying a sign reading 'Lolita's Line' on the vehicle. A video was recorded on June 8 and went viral. It shows the driver wearing knee-high stockings and a short schoolgirl uniform.This video was filmed outside St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Elementary School in Vaughan, Ontario, north of Toronto.Bystanders questioned the driver over the outfit and the provocative sign. The driver allegedly replied, 'Yep,' and drove off when asked about the bus name.Watch:The term 'Lolita', derived from Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel about an adult man who sexually abuses a 12-year-old girl, has deeply troubling implications. While some associate the term with Japanese fashion subculture, many believe invoking it on a school transport vehicle is highly inappropriate.One person commented in the viral video, 'Hide your children! Look up the meaning of Lolita, and you will understand soon enough!' Normalizing pe d0 ph: Lia here in Woodbridge disguised as inclusivity!'A Reddit commenter said the outfit was 'not just fetish wear… but unprofessional for a bus driver to identify with a subculture that romanticizes the sexual victimization of children.' Others praised the authorities' fast action in removing the driver from service.The York Catholic District School Board (YCDSB) confirmed that the driver was employed through a third-party contractor. After the video came to light, the board removed the driver from all routes serving its schools.They said that the company 'swiftly addressed the situation,' and assured families that such conduct would not be tolerated.The YCDSB said that all school bus drivers in Ontario must complete a Vulnerable Sector Check to work with children. The board also confirmed that all child safety protocols were followed when responding to the incident.Public reaction was swift and critical. Some social media users likened the driver's attire to fetishized representations of children and condemned the behaviour as 'gross' and 'highly unprofessional.' Many parents expressed concern about the message sent to elementary school students.The bus driver is not technically fired, as the contractor, not the school board, oversees employment. However, they have been removed from all YCDSB routes and are not expected to return to any school services in the district.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
Worker gets written up for 'not smiling enough', Reddit explodes over toxic workplace culture: 'Smile for who?'
The write-up that launched a fiery comments Sexism and silent expectations in the workplace A question of morale or management control? You Might Also Like: Are long notice periods costing techies big opportunities? Reddit explodes over netizen's FAANG offer dilemma In a post that has now gone viral on Reddit's r/antiwork community, a warehouse employee's account of being officially reprimanded for "not smiling enough" has left the internet both baffled and furious. The anonymous user, who identifies as a picker working grueling 10-hour shifts in a windowless warehouse, shared the surreal experience of being pulled aside by a supervisor and handed a write-up for what was described as a poor post reads, 'I asked what it was for, he said: 'Your attitude. You don't smile or seem approachable.'' The employee emphasized that their role involves little to no interaction with others and that productivity had not been questioned. 'I work 10-hour shifts moving heavy boxes in a windowless building where we're not allowed to have earbuds, take phone calls, or speak unless it's job-related,' they wrote. 'Smile for who? The boxes?'The post quickly gained traction with thousands of comments, many accusing the supervisor of weaponizing workplace morale as a vague and subjective criterion. 'So now I guess I'm supposed to beam like a Disney mascot while hauling pallets in steel-toed boots for $16 an hour?' the user wrote, encapsulating what many saw as the absurdity of the Redditors chimed in with biting sarcasm and mock suggestions. One commenter encouraged the worker to request a formal HR meeting, complete with a smiling improvement plan, periodic check-ins, and 'mentorship from employees who smile correctly.' Another wrote, 'Definitely give him the creepiest dead-eyed smile every time you see him from now on,' echoing a sentiment of sarcastic users speculated that the situation could be tied to gender-based discrimination, with one commenter asking bluntly, 'Are you a woman? If so, I'd honestly go to HR and ask if there is a 'women must smile' policy in the handbook.' Others shared personal experiences of being told to smile in male-dominated environments like construction sites, where such expectations are rarely placed on particularly poignant comment read, 'The sexual harassment I witnessed on a daily basis went completely ignored by management/HR. And when the female employees would speak up or clap back, they got labeled as rude or difficult to work with, or bad for morale.' For many, the post has become a microcosm of how gendered double standards and unrealistic emotional labor are quietly enforced in blue-collar write-up has also sparked a broader debate around what workplace morale actually means and whether it can—or should—be tied to outward expressions like smiling. While it's true that positivity can be infectious, commenters argue that in physically demanding environments with minimal human interaction, forcing emotional expressions becomes performative, even story, first shared on Reddit, has now sparked interest across platforms and discussions around labor rights, especially in environments where conditions are already harsh and pay is low. Many are calling for better training for supervisors and more stringent policies around what constitutes acceptable grounds for disciplinary one user put it: 'They want to fire you, they are just starting a paper trail. Make sure you get a copy of this for the eventual unemployment case.'In the age of AI productivity tools and mental health awareness, the idea that warehouse workers must also perform joy on demand seems increasingly dystopian. Whether this incident was a one-off or indicative of a larger workplace culture problem, the internet has made one thing clear—people are done being told to smile for minimum wage.
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
New tool finds vast online abuse of tennis players
Tennis players last year received abuse so threatening that 15 cases were escalated to law enforcement agencies, according to a joint report released Tuesday by the Women's Tennis Association and the International Tennis Federation . The report, which covers the 2024 season, lays bare the scale of abuse directed at players on social media. It also offers a reminder that the detected abuse only scratches the surface. From January to December in 2024, an artificial intelligence threat analysis system analyzed 1.6 million posts and comments. It verified around 8,000 posts and comments sent from 4,200 accounts as abusive, violent or threatening. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like How a $49 Japanese Palm Gadget Gave Her Grip in Weeks Yukon Rewards Undo The report identified 458 players as targeted with direct abuse or threats, with five players receiving 26% of the posts classified as abusive. Ninety-seven social media accounts were responsible for 23% of all detected abuse. According to the data analysis, angry gamblers sent 40% of all detected abuse last year. Of the 10 most prolific accounts, responsible for 12% of all abuse detected, nine have either been suspended or have deleted their posts or had them removed by the relevant platform . One account sent 263 abusive messages in 2024, but has not posted any abusive content in 2025 to date. Live Events Of the 15 incidents reported to law enforcement agencies, four took place at the Grand Slam events and one at the Olympics . The other 10 were from tour events. Three were submitted to the FBI , with 12 investigated by other national law enforcement bodies. They led to individuals being barred from venues and having tickets rescinded. Signify Group's Threat Matrix service, which went live in January 2024, is designed to help protect players by detecting and filtering out abusive messages through a combination of artificial intelligence and human analysts. All players competing in WTA Tour and ITF World Tennis Tour events (and WTA and ITF players competing in the four Grand Slam events) are automatically covered by the service. A Signify Group representative said in an email that: "targeted abuse is defined by a player's handle being referenced in the content of a message or posted on their profile on platforms where accounts are not referenced directly. "Our system proactively gathers every mention of handles or comment on profiles and then analyzes the rest of the content of the message for abusive, threatening or discriminatory content. If there is problematic content sat alongside that account in a comment or post, our system flags it for review then passes to our human analyst team, who carefully review every AI-flagged message. They are then able to confirm if the flag is accurate or not." But targeted abuse is just the start. During last month's French Open, Jessica Pegula, the world No. 3, said that abuse always finds a way to enter her timeline, even if not directed at her. "These bettors are insane and delusional," Pegula wrote in the wake of her fourth-round defeat to French qualifier Loïs Boisson. "I don't allow DMs, and try to remember when to shut my comments off during tournament weeks." She added: "This stuff has never really bothered me much, but does any other sport deal with this to our level? I'd love to know because it seems to be predominantly tennis? It's so disturbing. "Every person on tour deals with it. It's so bad. Those are just really small snippets. I get told my family should get cancer and die from people on here on a regular basis. Absolutely crazy." Bettors and angry fans will name players in abusive comments after a loss, even if they do not message or tag them on social media when doing so. The normalization of this kind of abuse has become a major issue for the sport, and is the natural next step for people who have been blocked or cannot message the targets of their abuse directly. The International Tennis Federation and the WTA and ATP Tours share match data with providers linked to sports betting. Income from those deals goes toward the funding of the tours. Pegula, who sits on the WTA Players' Council, said on Tuesday: " Online abuse is unacceptable, and something that no player should have to endure. I welcome the work that the WTA and ITF are doing with Threat Matrix to identify and take action against the abusers, whose behavior is so often linked to gambling. "But it's not enough on its own. It's time for the gambling industry and social media companies to tackle the problem at its source and act to protect everyone facing these threats." Caroline Garcia, the French former world No. 4 who will retire later this year, opened up about the damaging effects of social media abuse at the U.S. Open last August. She wrote on Instagram that unhealthy betting accounted for most of the abuse, and emphasized how damaging it was to players who were already emotionally destroyed after a defeat. "If someone decided to say these things to me in public, he could have legal issues," Garcia wrote. "So why online we are free to do anything? Shouldn't we reconsider anonymity online?" A Betting and Gaming Council representative told BBC Sport that the organization does "not tolerate abuse on social media, which has no place in betting or sport." In a statement, the organization said: "It is vital social media companies take swift action against users, remove offensive content and work more closely with BGC members on measures to further strengthen safer gambling. Each month, around 22.5 million people in Britain enjoy a bet, on the lottery, in bookmakers, casinos, bingo halls and online, and the overwhelming majority do so safely and responsibly." Meta, which owns social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, did not immediately respond to a request to comment. Jonathan Hirshler, the CEO of Signify Group, which developed the Threat Matrix service, said that the fact that a lot of the abuse came from a small number of accounts "means that we are able to be even more focused working with the platforms to ensure successful take down, support the tennis bodies to drive law enforcement intervention for the most egregious accounts and work with event security teams to ensure prolific abusers are unable to attend tournaments." The threat of online abuse can also tip into real-world threats. At the French Open, Clara Tauson of Denmark and Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic confronted bettors who abused them from the stands. And in March, at a practice session during the Miami Open, Iga Swiatek was confronted by someone who has regularly abused her online. The tournament gave Swiatek additional security after the incident, which a representative for the five-time Grand Slam champion described as "a direct transition from verbal aggression online to harassment in the real world."
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Time of India
Delhi: Fugitive drug supplier wanted in 567 kg cannabis case arrested
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel A cab driver by day and drug courier by night wanted in a high-profile narcotics case involving the seizure of cannabis worth over Rs 56 lakh in Rajasthan was arrested from Delhi's Uttam Nagar, an official said on Saturday. Sanjeev Kumar Shah (32), carrying a reward of Rs 10,000 on his arrest, was wanted in a case registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Sawai Madhopur district last avoid arrest, Shah frequently changed his locations and lived under the radar sometimes, working as a cab driver in Delhi-NCR to mask his illegal operations, the police said."In July 2024, the police at Rawanjana Dungar in Rajasthan seized 567 kilograms of cannabis, worth over Rs 56 lakh, from a mini-truck during a highway checkpoint operation," a senior police officer with the truck, a car used to escort the vehicle was also people were arrested at the spot, but Shah, who was allegedly piloting the truck using another vehicle, managed to escape, the officer the Rajasthan Police named Shah as an accused in the case and declared a reward for his police received a tip-off that Shah would be visiting the Uttam Nagar area on June 18 and laid a trap near the Uttam Nagar Metro Station, where Shah was the interrogation, Shah revealed that he was born in Begusarai, Bihar, and had later moved to Delhi with his father, who worked in a gas studied up to Class 11 in Janakpuri and then worked in a jeans design factory before switching to driving Gramin Sewa was also previously involved in another NDPS case in Haryana's Nuh district, where 313 kg of cannabis was recovered in May 2022.
