The further integration of school and police
In Knoxville, parents are looking at jail time if their kids don’t go to school:
The warrants charge the parents with contributing to the delinquency or unruly behavior of a minor, a misdemeanor offense that carries a maximum penalty of 11 months and 29 days in jail, Garren said.
Each parent will be held in lieu of $1,000 bond after his or her arrest, she said. The six apprehended Thursday will be summoned to Knox County Juvenile Court on Feb. 18 and Feb. 25.
I tend to doubt that missing school is necessarily delinquency or unruly. Schools operate on a per diem basis. They get from the State and Federal government a certain dollar amount per day, per child. If a child doesn’t show, they don’t get the money. It’s not about the children, it’s about the money. If there was serious concern about children and their education, then Tennessee schools wouldn’t rank so low in education (as we say, thank God for Mississippi).
Parents of children who have 10 or more unexcused absences are sent a letter telling them to come to an “evening meeting” or face jail time. At the meetings, the parents learn about the truancy laws and the possible consequences of violating them.
So, parents are immediately threatened with jail time and the bogus charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Parents and critics say the system is inflexible. I agree. Any system that threatens arrest without any sort of verification of the facts cannot be flexible.
February 4th, 2005 at 1:12 pm
I agree with this idea 99%. Parents should absolutely be held responsible for action of their children.
February 4th, 2005 at 8:12 pm
True; a parent should be held responsible for the actions of their minor children. But the parets should not be punished for the child missing an appointment – especially when that appointment is dictated by the state instead of agreed to by both parties.
As for contributing to deliquency I’m beginning to agree more & more with Heinelin’s thoughts on the matter.
February 4th, 2005 at 8:53 pm
Given that these are public schools, perhaps a charge of aiding and abetting the escape of an inmate would be more appropriate?
Other than the money angle, I never understood the concept of forcing someone into school at the point of a gun. If they don’t want to be there, all they will do is disrupt classes for the people who do want to be there. Education does not happen by osmosis, it takes some activity on the part of the recipient.
February 5th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
You know what really bugs me about this? They are doing it the same week parents should be keeping their kids home because they are sick.I was really pissed Thursday night when I found out that they give the high school kids extra points on their final grades if they don’t miss any school. These kids have been coming to school with full-blown cases of the flu just to help with their grades!!