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State Laws Punishing Parents for the Sins of the Children
Filed under: In The News, Education: Big Kids, Education: Tweens, Education: Teens
"Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin." -- Deuteronomy 24:16
Maybe, but don't go pulling that Deuteronomy stuff in Alaska, California or Florida. Your kid messes up in those states, and you're gonna fry!
The New York Times reports lawmakers in Alaska and California have new laws on the books to visit the price of tardiness, absenteeism and other sins of the child upon the parent. The Florida Legislature is considering cracking down on parents, as well.
Just take a look at standardized test scores and graduation rates. What do all the "best" schools have in common? They have involved parents.
Ah, but how do you motivate parents to get involved, you ask? There are a lot of complicated answers to that question, but the easiest one is to borrow a page from Sister Mary Dominatra over at Our Lady of Perpetual Discipline and take a few rulers to the right knuckles.
Or, perhaps the sting of fines, parenting classes and other acts of penance.
Hear that fiendish chortling in the distance? The Times reports it could be coming from teachers, happy to see the bony finger of judgment point in another direction for a change.
They're feeling a mite persecuted lately, The Times reports, with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker declaring open warfare on his state's teachers' union and politicians across the land slamming teachers for underachieving students.
Now, The Times reports, politicians are turning their hairy eyeballs on parents.
"Any kind of problem in an academic setting, and people blame the teachers," Indiana state Rep. Linda Lawson tells the newspaper. "They say things like 'If teachers were more responsive, didn't have the summers off, worked an eight-hour day.' But no one looks at the parents."
Well, they're looking now.
Lawson introduced a bill requiring parents to spend three hours each semester volunteering either in the school building or at a school-related function. She framed it as an anti-bullying measure, even though it would apply to all parents, not just the parents of bullies.
She tells The Times she wants to increase parent-teacher interaction.
"Teachers were telling us: 'We can only do so much in the classroom. We have no control over what happens with these kids at home,' " Florida state Rep. Kelli Stargel tells The Times.
Her remedy? Grade parents on their involvement in their kids' education, then post their grades on the kids' report cards. Uh-oh. Looks like someone may get his Xbox taken away. Sorry, Dad. Sucks being you.
Grading parents. Yeah, that ought to boost teachers' popularity.
"We don't feel that the teacher having to grade the parent is really going to improve that relationship," Cindy Gerhardt, the president of the Florida Parent-Teacher Association, tells The Times.
Alaska doesn't bother with grading parents. It hits them where they live -- right in the wallet. Parents get fined when their kids are habitually tardy or absent. And parents in California can face misdemeanor criminal charges for similar offenses.
Americans love to punish people, Diane Ravitch, an education historian and the author of "The Death and Life of the Great American School System," tells The Times.
"If we could just find the right person to punish," she says. "Punish the teachers. Punish the parents. It's Dickensian. What we should be doing instead is giving a helping hand."
Jesus might agree with that. From John 9:1-3:
"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him: 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.' "
Modern translation: "Geez, why do you people always have to have someone to blame?"
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ReaderComments (Page 4 of 10)
5-23-2011 @ 3:19PM
jjlreedy said...They are punishing the wrong person. If the mother and father are punished then the students will keep doing what they are doing as they don't have to answer. Sent the student to summer school or put it in jail for a week for miss so much. Make the student pick up trash off the road to paid the fine you are charging the parent. Like myself I saw my son get on the bus, and I would got to work thinking he was in school , but he would not be there,
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5-23-2011 @ 5:59PM
onekrayzangel said...I agree. and bring back the paddles in and out of school. We as parents dont have rights anymore either . We are told we are to harsh or not harsh enough. Kids are being taught now if mommy or daddy hits you call the cops and then we go to jail a spanking never hurt no one. Take away the cell phones and computers from teachers and students , bring back the paper and pens. Stop babying kids make them pay for what they do or dont do. only then will they become respectable adults.
5-23-2011 @ 5:45PM
TJ said...Really? I am a teacher and a parent. My children are my responsibility, not the teachers'. I am not lazy, stupid, incompetent, or ineffective as a teacher or a parent. I work full time and can not be actively involved inside my children's schools, but I can take care of most issues at home. I make sure my children eat a relatively balanced diet, not chips, fast food, and sodas only, I make sure they go to bed at a reasonable hour, do homework, study, get to school on time, go everyday, and behave. My children aren't concerned with school punishment, but they are afraid of home puishment! If my children can not ask for help at home and/or at school, if they can't behave, or get to class on time, that's their fault, but ultmately falls on me. There are horrible teachers, there are horrible parents, there are also horrible bosses. That's life get over it and get on with it!
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5-23-2011 @ 3:30PM
AnAmerican said...I venture to suggest that parents need to teach more than A,B and C.
There are more important things like values, and morals.
But, just as the ABC's, if a parent does not know them or have the values either, it becomes unteachable.
I would not mandate this, but I do suggest to all who pay taxes on a local and state level and find that @50% of your money going towards education; you may want to visit your local schools and see what is really going on.
Venture out into the "playground," and to where the meals are eaten.
You may also gain some insight into this epidemic of bullying that is so destructive all pervasive in our nation's schools.
Do you really care?
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5-23-2011 @ 3:26PM
carla said...I agree with your post. There are FAR too many lazy imcompetent teachers out there and they are the ones that are screaming the loudest. I do have to say that these FOOLS who are riding the system sadly over-power the few "good ones" that are still out there. In the Fall of 2010 I went back to college after a 20 year absence. I was shocked to find that most of the "professors" only read the material from a pre-prepared slide that was displayed on a Smart Board. Out of 4 classes that I took, only 2 of the professors actually TAUGHT. The others just read slides. I have to believe that this is the way things are headed in the school system.
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5-23-2011 @ 3:27PM
waynehaskell said...It seems odd but most of the people that my spouse (a teacher) hears complaining about bad teachers, can't get there children to school or when the child is out sick, can't be botherd to pickup homework. Most people think teachers only work while there kids are in school they do not see the parking lotsfull before school starts or still mostly full for three to 5 hrs after school is out or how many come in on the weekends, or the number of hours attending classes themselves to be better teachers. And summers off get real If I had to work as many hours (unpaid) as my wife does I would probably have to find another job just to pay for the extra gass.
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5-23-2011 @ 6:04PM
onekrayzangeL said...There is too much blame all around . i have seen wonderful teachers and parents do there best for kids. some kids just dont care no matter who is trying to help them . We as people are always quick to judge and pass the ball to someone else . we try and teach our kids to do the best they can but we as adults dont do it . just like putting the one person down for having 6 kids who cares there here she loves them and shes working to make them a good life , now if she wasnt working everyone would be yelling about that. stop badmouthing everyone thats showing our kids to bully other people. all these perfect parents and teachers get off the computer and do your jobs instead of showing our kids how to bully and blame each other .
5-23-2011 @ 3:32PM
chassci said...Why do we make the commonplace sound profound. Just remember that the best predictor of the future is what worked
in the past: Indeed, spare the rod, expect the worst.
No grief counseling, no "let's talk", no "issue resolution," no
blaming others. If the kid is wrong, slap him right. It has worked
for hundreds of years, until 10s of thousands of psych majors flooded a limited job market looking for work.
Charlie Hedbring, programsteppe.com
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5-23-2011 @ 3:34PM
Michele said...How can teachers be held accountable for a student who flatly refuses to get on task along with some explictives used by the student? They don't want to learn, they don't want to work and they cannot get corporal punishment in school. What good does suspension do? They aren't learning or studying at home either.
You can't force a student to do anything if their mind is set to do nothing but sit.
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5-23-2011 @ 5:35PM
cheripy said...The educational system needs to be reformed. And I mean that literally. The US used to have the best education in the world. Then it was taken over by idiots and changed over the last 100 or so years. Teachers are taught by teachers, so during this time, as the quality of education has suffered, so has the quality of the teachers. If we would only return to the system we had then, we would be much better off. The purpose of primary education should be only to provide a child with the basic tools needed to be able to learn any subject he is interested in. If a person knows how to learn, they will learn with or without good teachers. A good teacher is one who respects the students' rights as people, and commands their respect through her ability to communicate and interact with them, and who understands his/her responsibility is to the student, not the school administrators. And a good parent will recognize a good teacher by communicating with the child and seeing that the child is indeed learning to learn. If this is not happening, the parent's responsibility is not to take over the teacher's job, but to ensure the school gets the teacher re-trained or replaced.
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5-23-2011 @ 3:42PM
Chris said...Simple answer, bring back trade schools. We need brick masons, iron workers, electricians and welders. Ever try to get a plumber or AC guy to your home in less than 3 days? Not every kids is going to have or want the pressure of a white collar job so let's prepare them for blue. The trade school washouts will end up flipping burgers, in jail or scrubbing toilets. A percentage of any population just can't adjust to an academic environment.
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5-24-2011 @ 3:27AM
isisreptiles said...Amen to that! The schools are all about pushing everyone into college, even those who clearly do not belong there.
5-23-2011 @ 3:48PM
Dago said...Just another way for Teachers to pass the buck ! My son has 5 teachers in Freshman class and 3 of them should not even be teaching.
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5-23-2011 @ 3:44PM
Julia said...I'm not getting up any earlier than I already do to only sit in traffic and be 5 mins late getting my son to school. If it rains or snows, there's traffic; possibly and accident. Do I yell and scream at the civil servants trying to clean up the mess and raise my blood pressure and get them to sign a late pass for me to give to the school or do I arrive 5 mins late? That's living in CT. Living in NYC, the trains stop for sick passengers and signal problems daily. You could be between tunnels for up to an hour. Do I go to the MTA and ask for a late pass? Yes these occurances happen daily. Should I be charged? I don't think so. If Connecticut or NYC starts that they will have alot of counter claims.
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5-24-2011 @ 7:57AM
singledad said...Why is it when students do good its the teacher and school that get the credit,when they fail its the parents that are to blame?If I felt I could teach better than a accredited teacher I would have kept my kids home and schooled them myself.While parents are at work the kids attend school, and if the teacher does there job right the kid goes home knowing how to complete the assignments.If the kid does not know the assignment,the parent is expected to do what the college educated teacher could not do(Teach). So when the child fails at school who should be held accountable the working parent or the working teacher?
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5-23-2011 @ 3:48PM
G. Preuss said...If parents do not take an interest in the childs education - they should be held responsible - they should know what the child is doing at all times!!!!
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5-23-2011 @ 3:45PM
both said...I think that if a child is out alot and not attending school or not doing the homework then its the parents. If a child goes to school everyday and does the work and does his best and isnt doing well then its the teacher. Its not black and white!
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5-23-2011 @ 3:51PM
Russ said...If you try to do this,,,, it wont matter how well intentioned you are. Low income individuals and their preacher/mentors will scream racism no matter if you try to help them or not. Social giveaways are all that matters, results? well,,,, if we can get something for them,,,, maybe,,,,, what ya offerin?
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5-23-2011 @ 4:19PM
Clairo said...Parents are the reason if their children don't get to school ON TIME and ready for learning in a respectable manner. It is the job of the teacher to make sure they learn and NO CHILD should [if the teacher is doing their job WILL EVER LEAVE WITHOUT LEARNING something positive that helps them not only with the subject matter in life].
I lived out of the school district, a parent was mad at me for not passing her --disrespectful-disruptive-and fight starter child-- and [unbeknown to me] she followed me home one several times. She phoned the school districts that require school teachers to live in the district they teach to understand the "community" in which they teach. I was sent a "move to the city pursuant to residency requriements or face discipline or possible termination." I moved into the city and on several occasions in the Black neighborhood I grew up in [same old, same old thing] I had a hard time getting sleep; the children were hanging out almost daily on their porches, with loud musis playing and profanity with parents often right there with them at 12:30 AM almost to 2:30 AM in the morning if it was 70 to 85 degrees...on a SCHOOL NIGHT.
WHY SHOULD I BE PUNISHED BECAUSE THESE CHILDREN ARE STAYING OUT LATE ALL NIGHT, OFTEN WITH PARENTS MAKING THEM TOO TIRED TO GET TO CLASS ON TIME OR AT ANY TIMES DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR? WHY IS THIS MY FAULT AS A TEACHER? Why are so people so ignorant to blame us for situations like mine that happen accross this nation??? After all, there is no way I would confront my neighbors and say, "This is a school night! Be a responsible parent and get your children into bed, it is 12:30 AM in the morning; furthermore, if they are too tired to learn after staying up late and turning in their homework; this crap interfere's with MY PAY because everyone blames teachers for this stuff? Inside now!" I would be shot, so the bottom line is TEACHERS SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED FOR THE IGNORANCE OF INCOMPETANT PARENTS whose "parenting skillss" interfere with the learning process and development of children.
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5-23-2011 @ 3:54PM
st said...I am an involved parent but have encountered many teachers who seem to resent parental involvement and declare they don't have time to deal with parents. I have had to deal with "bad" teachers in every grade. I wish I could give grades to teachers. It makes me angry when good teachers are laid off while the bad teachers are allowed to return and continue their brand of apathetic teaching.
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