Dad jailed for daughter's failure to get GED
Categories: Just for moms, Teens & tweens, Just for dads, Divorce & custody, Education
Back when my daughter was in high school, she went through a school-skipping phase. Blissfully unaware, I would send her off to class and she would immediately head in the other direction. This situation was brought to my attention by the helpful folks in the truancy office, who informed me that if she didn't get her butt into class, they would arrest me! Fortunately things didn't go that far and nobody went to jail. But for a father in Fairfield, Ohio, his wayward daughter's refusal to complete her education did land him in jail. Brian Gegner is serving a six-month sentence because his daughter Brittany failed to get her General Equivalency Diploma (GED) after dropping out of school. But here's the twist - Brittany is 18-years-old and a legal adult.
Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered Gegner to jail on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor because he failed to follow a previous court order requiring him to ensure his daughter got her GED. Court administrators admit this type of punishment is rare, but say that despite the fact that Brittany is an adult now, her case remains active because she was a juvenile when the problems began.
It seems that Brittany wasn't even living with her father during the time when she was skipping school. "They probably should have punished me if they were going to punish anybody," said Brittany's mother Shana Roach. "Because she did live with me at the time, but because he had the custody, that's why he's being punished."
To add even more ridiculousness to this story, consider the fact that Brittany is currently in school, studying for her GED. Even Brittany thinks her dad is getting the shaft. "It's like I should, if anybody should be punished for this," she says. "I would way rather me go to jail than my Dad."
Do you think the judge made the right call?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ame s 5-14-2008 @ 5:17PM
Ironic, isn't it? If dad had whipped Brittney's butt when she first started skipping school, he would have been jailed for that, too.
I had a couple of not-close friends in high school whose parents couldn't have controlled them without physical violence or having the authorities remove them from the home. Neither happened, and both of these women are now living crappy lives and raising children in their own image.
I think Brittany should be the one in jail.
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Anthony 5-14-2008 @ 5:38PM
You think this is nuts! Check out the stories over on http://detentionslip.org >> all the craziest in real life education news..
YIKES!!!!
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eugene 5-14-2008 @ 8:45PM
hilarious. Parent fails to get his kid a high school education, he goes to jail. Thousands of teachers fail at the same task and they get guaranteed raises.
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Angel 6-09-2008 @ 5:58PM
I cant believe that our justice system takes up so much time and taxpayer $ to even handle sucha a case. They should be more focused on other more important things. 2ndly we dont konw what the situation was when that girl was 16...but as I undertand it once you turn 16 you cant sign out of school and drop out with or with out a G.E.D. With things like spanking your kids these days count as abuse...how can you expect to control a child with out the necessary tools? You dont have to spank, but parents need to be taught or informed of other methods to control their kids. They should also not be held accountable for something so trivial as not taking a G.E.D. If someone wants to fail at life and work 2 jobs full time then let them...that is how we as a nation are failing everywhere else.
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bob 7-07-2008 @ 11:27PM
I think it's time that the Family Court systems's get a complete overhaul. On some issues they go to extreme and other issues they show complete bias and mishandling. In my recent case both of my daughters wanted to live with me at the time they were 15 and 11, they told this to the judge twice. My youngest daughter also told the judge she was hit by her mother. I have been recently handed a verdict of less time with my girls for the reason of "the mother needs to assert her parental authority". This came from a Stueben County judge in New York. This system needs some reform.
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