TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - Vulgarity, violence and sex. Kids find it easily by flipping the FM dial or surfing music-sharing sites on the Web. Two South Sound school districts say no matter how much of it has permeated mainstream culture, it's definitely inappropriate on school buses. Peninsula and Franklin Pierce school districts recently equipped their buses with devices that play music they know is safe for kids at all times. Students heard the station for the first time when they returned from winter break this month.

Massachusetts-based BusRadio digitally transmits its programming from the East Coast to more than 10,000 buses and more than a million students nationwide every day.

And it's free, although some consumer groups complain the company makes its money by targeting a captive advertising audience as young as 6 years old.

Willie Painter, Franklin Pierce spokesman, said drivers like the service, which occupies kids' attention and allows the adults to focus on the road.

Annie Bell, Peninsula's transportation director, says BusRadio has been a refreshing change. Forty-five of its 65 buses get the service.

"It's something positive for the kids, especially the students who have to stay on the bus for a long time," she said.

A group of Harbor Ridge Middle School students who took the bus home Friday apparently liked what they heard.

With pop singer BeyoncDe's head-bobbing track "Irreplaceable" coming from eight speakers on the bus, the Gig Harbor students put their arms in the air and waved them to the beat.

"I bob my head once in awhile," joked driver Pam Johnson.

Eric Showlund, a 12-year-old in seventh grade, refused to join his fellow riders in the display. Still, he says BusRadio plays a lot of the stuff he already hears on the radio.

"They play a lot of American Rejects and Green Day and stuff," he said, referring to popular rock bands. "It's pretty cool."

Students can hear everything from Hannah Montana to Daughtry to Justin Timberlake without cursing, of course.

Although some songs are too explicit to play, BusRadio sometimes edits songs that contain a few unsuitable references. Instead of bleeping out the bad words, entire verses are cut.

Wesley Eberle, BusRadio spokesman, said kids can request shout-outs and songs via the company's Web site.

"We do try to play songs kids actually like," he said. "It's not Radio Disney."

Steven Shulman helped start BusRadio almost two years ago.

The idea originated through conversations at the dinner table, when Shulman's kids talked about radio stations playing material explicit in both language and subject matter.

Locally, parents and bus drivers have complained about music, talk and even commercials that could make a person blush.

"With FM radio, there isn't any type of format that's geared for the 18-minor demographic," Shulman said.

Schools that sign up have special radios installed on their buses. Every day, the company's DJs record hours of mostly music programming for elementary, middle and high school students.

The music is downloaded overnight and ready by the time drivers who can switch the programming depending on grade level make their morning runs.

BusRadio devices also offer safety features. Drivers can use them as loud speaker systems inside and outside the bus. They are linked to local 911 dispatchers and offer GPS capabilities.

The company doesn't charge schools but relies on sponsorships. It's also supported by groups like the Afterschool Alliance and the National Association of Pupil Transportation.

The business model is reminiscent of the Channel One Network, which provided video equipment to schools that signed exclusive arrangements to air the network's news broadcast and commercials in classrooms.

And like Channel One, BusRadio has generated some controversy for allowing companies to pitch their products to school-age children.

Washington D.C.-based consumer group Commercial Alert wrote Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney when his state added BusRadio to some schools in June 2006. The group argued the service would "turn school buses into a means to deliver the captive ears of children to corporate advertisers."

Eberle said all BusRadio programming, including commercials, is screened by a content advisory board. Each hour consists of 52 minutes of music, four minutes of public service announcements and four minutes of advertising.

Bus drivers are still free to tune in to FM and AM stations if they wish.

Seven school districts in Washington offer BusRadio. Before the switch, Painter said Franklin Pierce's drivers had to find stations that didn't depict violence, vulgarity, profanity, sexual overtones or drug use an almost impossible task.

The district took a variety of complaints from families, and not all of it was about R-rated themes. Non-Christian parents complained about bus drivers playing Christmas music, he said.

To help drivers, Bell said Peninsula keeps a list of eight appropriate radio stations and 15 inappropriate ones. Now, she said, the safest bet is BusRadio, which she encourages her drivers to use.

"The kids like it, especially the elementary kids," Bell said. "The high school kids, they like to play their iPods anyway."