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Missed Parent-Teacher Conferences Could Mean Jail Time for Parents
Filed under: In The News
DETROIT (AP) _ The night Demarco Harris shot and killed a woman during a robbery on a Detroit street, his parents told police knocking on their door at 2 a.m. they didn't know where their 12-year-old was.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said that's indicative of a larger issue in Detroit, where the lack of making parents accountable for their children partly is blamed on elevated truancy and dropout rates, as well as a recent rash of violent crimes involving teens.
Worthy has a new idea she hopes will fix the problem: Jail parents for up to three days for repeatedly missing scheduled parent-teacher conferences.
"I have seen that younger and younger children are committing more violent acts and we need to look at different approaches," Worthy told reporters. "I know we need to try something different. We should not have to legislate this, but what we have been doing is not working."
She's still working on the details, but once her proposal is finished, she hopes to present it to county commissioners in August and persuade them to approve an ordinance. After that, she may take it to state legislators in Lansing.
It's unlikely to quickly become an ordinance because it would probably be challenged in court because civil libertarians say it may be outside the law. Even some teachers, who often spend several hours waiting for parents who don't show up for the conferences, are skeptical.
"I understand the prosecutor's concern, but jail time?" said Detroit middle school teacher Ann Crowley.
Worthy first considered her proposal after a spate of shootings involving students that culminated in the June 2009 wounding of seven teens at a city bus stop. The Demarco Harris' trial convinced her she was on the right track.
He had been in and out of school a lot and his parents rarely met with his teachers. Then came Aug. 1 2009 when authorities were investigating a killing.
"When police went to his parents, his parents were not able to account for his whereabouts and it was about 2 in the morning," Worthy said.
Harris, who is now 13, was convicted in May of killing 24-year-old Trisha Babcock. He was sentenced to a high-security juvenile lockup.
"We're trying to prevent any more Demarco Harrises from going down that road," Worthy said.
Under her plan, Wayne County parents would be required to pick a time and day to attend one parent-teacher conference a year. If that conference is missed, the school would send out a letter to set up another within 14 days. If the second is missed, parents get a letter about sanctions, which could include up to three days in jail.
Parents with health concerns and those whose children are performing above average could be exempt. "I'm not interested in putting parents in jail if their children are high achievers," Worthy said.
Currently attendance at parent-teacher conferences isn't mandatory, and Worthy's plan may be challenged because it could infringe on a parent's civil rights.
"A criminal justice solution is not the answer to complicated social problems," said Kary Moss, executive director of Michigan's American Civil Liberties Union. "The last thing many families in dire situations need is more punishment by the criminal justice community. There's established law already that governs child abuse and neglect, and that sets up the standard for involvement by the government in the family's affairs."
There doesn't appear to be any existing legislation similar to what Worthy wants. She didn't know of any and the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks state laws, didn't know of one. Similar proposals in Texas and Kentucky have failed.
Republican Kentucky state Rep. Adam Koenig submitted a bill last year that didn't make it out of committee. It would have required parents to attend at least one conference with teachers for each child in school. Failure to do so would have meant a $50 fine.
"I wanted to get parental involvement in the schools more attention," Koenig said. "There's a reluctance to fine parents who are often viewed as too busy. I'm of the opinion that there's a lot of people who've paid taxes to have these kids learn. Parents have some responsibility."
The 2007 Texas bill called for fining parents $500 and charging them with a misdemeanor for missing a scheduled parent-teacher conference.
Making sure Detroit students make it to school and stay there through the end of the day has long been a problem. The average student missed 46 days last school year.
Worthy's office penalizes parents and guardians for school truancy. But by the time prosecutors get involved, large chunks of classroom time already have been missed. Hundreds of cases are reviewed each year, but only 50 or so result in prosecution. Educational neglect is a misdemeanor that carries up to 90 days in jail and a fine for parents. Older students could end up in juvenile court.
Derek Muhammad, who has a son in high school, has never attended a conference with a teacher, saying it's hard to find the time while working. The 40-year-old said it's also up to students to understand what's required of them in terms of school achievement and positive behavior.
"Anytime you're talking about a penalty that will take away the parent from the child who already is in trouble, then you have a very dangerous outcome," said Muhammad, a motivational speaker. "There's anger from the student, time away from the parent and hostility toward whatever caused that, and that's the school system."
Caught in the middle are teachers, who want to help students succeed, but struggle to compel parents to have the same interest.
Former Detroit special education teacher Emily Williams said it was disheartening when 3 out of 15 parents would attend meetings.
"Sometimes I would call home. Sometimes the phone was cut off. If you send a letter home, sometimes it wouldn't get to the parents," she said.
Instead of jailing parents, Williams suggests Worthy give them community service.
"A lot (of homes) are headed by single parents," she said. "If momma is not coming home, who is going to watch the kids?"
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 6)
7-10-2010 @ 8:32PM
Mary Peck said...Breaking the cycle is the only way to set things into a different direction. The mention of boot camp has merit but then the kids get out and go back into the same environment. Taking benefits away would work, with the kids having their meals at school and even perhaps living in the "boarding-school" setting. No one in America is forced to live up to their responsibilities, and those who do, have moral codes and conscience that cause them to. This country is morally bankrupt and it needs something to turn it around. Where are we going and what are we doing in this handbasket?
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7-10-2010 @ 10:03PM
K. said..."Breaking the cycle" isn't going to occur until irresponsible kids (which, let's face it, they often are) stop spawning irresponsible kids who in turn spawn future generations of irresponsible kids. Stop subsidizing this madness at taxpayer expense--these bums have these kids because they know they'll be supported; they feel they're entitled to it. Holding them responsible for their actions is the only hope of nipping this in the bud.
7-11-2010 @ 6:57PM
tggrsmommy said...I think that if the parents should be held accountable, I like the withholding welfare idea. I also think the child should be punished with juvie for 5 days for the first violent offense, 10 days for the second, the third (depending on severity, of course) should get them in for the maximum sentence. This should wake some of these kids up, as well as the parents.
Maybe then, we might actually have some kids taking responsibility for their own actions, and maybe even ----GASP!---- their own education! Wow! What a concept! Also, let's ditch the idiot teachers who can't teach for crap and get some REAL teachers who actually know what they are doing and teaching! If you can't spell, how the hell did you get to be a teacher??? If you can't get the answers right, how the "truck" can you expect them to pass???
We need a complete overhaul of the educational system! It's gotten totally ridiculous! Bring back Dick and Jane, bring back punishment for misbehavior (we had in-school suspension), bring back teachers that know how to FREAKING teach, and let them do it! Stop putting limits on the teachers. If they can teach something in a positive way that gets kids learning, why the hell do you want to stop them? Make learning fun, again! It's the only way these kids are actually going to retain anything, because if they are bored out of their minds, they won't retain it. Stop supporting "celebrities" and their habits, and put that money towards education! Stop supporting the sports stars...they don't need the kind of money they get. Nobody does! All anyone needs is enough to live on. That's IT! Nobody needs millions of dollars at their disposal! I know, that's a different rant, entirely, but look at what the no-talents are getting paid, and look at what the educated people are getting paid (or NOT getting paid!). Our priorities are so screwed up! Oh, and one more thing...STOP GIVING THEM SO MANY DAYS OFF!!! I swear, they spend MORE time out of school than they do IN school! Every other week, it's a holiday or a work day. How can they learn if they aren't even attending school, because they're closed so often! Off my soapbox now! :/
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7-10-2010 @ 8:47PM
Dee said...So let me get this straight: The problem is that the parents aren't involved enough in the kids' lives, so the answer is to put them in jail and leave the kids completely unsupervised? What a genius plan!
Truth be told, a lot of these parents probably belong in jail anyway, and the kids are repeating the behavior they see at home, and that they're allowed to get away with due to no supervision. Parents are too disinterested or scared to discipline their kids and make them go to school. The best thing that could happen to many of these kids is to be completely taken away from their parents, never to return, and sent to boot camp. And once the kids are out of the house, the parents lose those government benefits they've been collecting. But when you take one kid, you have to take them all....you know there's never just one!
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7-10-2010 @ 8:58PM
rizoe1 said...Let's see. The kid does the crime , so let's be tough on the parents? How about the kid? Adult crime, adult price. As far as the whole welfare thing goes, no duh. Paying our welfare constituents to have more voters, I mean kids, was one of our politicians gifts to the working/ tax paying middle class.
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7-10-2010 @ 9:59PM
Laurie said...Exactly! Punishing the parents doesn't work. That just teaches the kid that there are no consequences for his/her actions.
Wow I did the crime and dad went to jail. Cool, I can do whatever i want I won't have any penalties, my parents will.
Where in this article does it mention welfare? A lot of parents of troubled kids are on welfare. But I have new for you a lot of them are not. Kids of any race, social class, or economic situation can and do get themselves into trouble.
The main problem is most parents nowadays will defend the kids no matter what they do instead of teaching them right from wrong. They are taught that nothing they do is wrong because they are above all the petty rules.
7-10-2010 @ 9:09PM
wulfking said...Since there are more bad teachers than bad parents, who will fill up the jails the fastest? Hmmm?
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7-10-2010 @ 9:11PM
Melinda said...The fact that anyone would consider jailing a parent for not going to parent teacher conferences is beyond belief. I have always been a working, single parent. My job would not allow me to take time off for a conference. They expect people to lose their jobs so that they can go to a conference? Ridiculous!
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7-10-2010 @ 9:10PM
John S said...Why not put some teeth in truancy laws. Pick up any kid on the streets during school hours. Require businesses to refuse any kid of school age during those times. I had a theater refuse entry for my sister and I, in a city we had just moved to, and weren't even registered in school yet. We were with my mother. True it was back in '52, but there should be better controls today, with the population almost doubled.
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7-10-2010 @ 9:14PM
gordon249tb said...can we make it jail time for the teachers that dont show up too? my wife went to many parent-teacher meetings and the teacher was too good to be there or had something else to do
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7-10-2010 @ 9:19PM
Ellen said...I am a teacher. We struggle to get parents to come in for a conference, return a phone call or for that matter give us a working phone number in case of an emergency. Forget about homework! Parents need to conference either in person or by phone at least once a year. Parents receiving state aid should loose their assistance if they are unwilling to make the effort to see how their child is or is not progressing.
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7-10-2010 @ 9:26PM
Dan22601 said...First we make it a crime to discipline children and call corporal punishment child abuse, then we get pissed when these kids are not under parental control. Unintended consquences and mass stupidity, but we always blame the parents. Maybe collectively we should get a clue.
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7-11-2010 @ 2:19PM
cpark said...Exactly! Children began to get the upper hand in the 1960s, when social services began to pounce on parents for spanking thier children. I know a woman whose daughter got into the whole bad crowd/drug thing. She did everything in her power to keep her daughter away from the bad kids and the drugs. Finally, social services took the daughter away and put her in a foster home. After she returned some months later, the ground rules were handed down: Mom was NOT allowed into daughter's room wthout permission, and the sole discipline allowed was grounding, but for no more than one week.
Daughter is now dead of a drug overdose...
7-10-2010 @ 9:27PM
joan said...How can you wake kids up when they do not even know what is right or wrong. With todays society I believe that parents and law makers believe that kids are born knowing. That they should be experts at age 5 and be able to vote by 10. Give me a break. Kids learn what they live. They are magnets for everything they see. Their brains are developing so fast due to TV and other influences that no one is even noticing till they get in trouble. This country better wake up before the kids hold everyone over 18 for ransome. Putting them in lock up teaches them from the wrong point of view. Teachers need to go back to old school. Teach some good old wacks here and there. And mean it.
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7-10-2010 @ 9:30PM
sarah said...I like it! We need to do something to help the youth in this country realize what it is like to be productive. They are not being taught correctly by dead beat parents. If the parent is really interested in what their children are doing then they can get past the law by setting up a good time to meet with the teacher other than the conference night. The law can be written to give the parent a different option if they can't make when they hold the conference's. Most teachers will also acommodate the parents and work around their schedules.
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7-10-2010 @ 9:29PM
Rochelle said...Dear Ms. Worthy,
Here's the reality of what you propose ...
Schools will schedule conferences at a time they know will cause undue financial burden. They will schedule conference for a time they know the parent to not be available. Families willbe torn apart and innocent children caught in the middle.
The net sum of your folly will be more families on public assistance and more chilren in an already overloaded system.
That benefits the state ... how?
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7-10-2010 @ 9:38PM
Rochelle said...JohnS,
I agree that education needs to be taken seriously by students ... but what about students for whom tradiational settings are not possible or for whom home schooling is provided? They have their rights too. Schools are legally required to meet a student's needs; this isn't a proverbial one way street. Both need to follow the law.
(an observation, not a criticsm)
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7-10-2010 @ 9:36PM
DJ said...Odd that if a dog bites a person its owner is held liable but if a kid commits a crime?
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7-10-2010 @ 9:54PM
Jack said...That is what we need to solve the problem, more gov't. The gov't will not allow parents and teachers to discipline. Wonder why the kids are running wild??
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7-10-2010 @ 9:50PM
Kay said...Wow, I am not surprised at all these excuses for not going to parent teacher meetings. Shame on all you parents who make up these excuses. I live in an area where if you are unable to make the time the teacher has alloted for you, you can reschedule to your day off, before your work or after your work. Our teachers will bend over backward to be able to talk to you, even doing it by phone. So there is just no reason for missing these meetings. My so, worked days and he has never missed one of these conferences. They are important and show your child that you are interested in them, and that you care and love them! Quit Making Excuses. When my daughter was in highschool and was sick for a few days she got behind in Algebra. She told me the teacher didn't have any time either before school or after to help her. It took one phone call and he was more than happy to help! Partly his fault and partly my daughter, but we worked it out. Just show that you care.
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