Bill calls for revoking parents’ driver’s license for school absences

[formerlurker]

Bill calls for revoking parents’ driver’s license for school absences
January 9, 2011 - By CARRA HIGGINS Special To The News and Sentinel
 
SOUTH CHARLESTON - Pay increases for educators, adding five or 10 minutes to a school day and a bill that one West Virginia senator thinks would encourage families to understand the importance of education are among the suggestions leaders in their fields believe could lead education reform in the state.

State Sen. Erik Wells, D-7th District, plans to introduce a bill during the upcoming legislative session, which begins Wednesday, that would revoke the driver's licenses of parents whose children miss too many days of school.

http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/543097/Bill-calls-for-revokin%20%20g-parents--driver-s-license-for-school-absences.html

[Varokhâr]

Not surprised to hear a Democrat introduce a bill that places punishments on anyone but the perpetrator of a misdeed.

If the kid is guilty of playing hooky too much, the kid should be the one punished. What ever happened to punishing kids? Seems like these days we can't fawn over them enough, and they turn out brattier and more ill-educated every year.

Like one of my friends back home says, "common sense ain't common any more".

[JohnnyReb]

They should be passing a bill that will allow parents of said delinquent to whup his ass.

[Celtic Rose]

Not to mention, how would revoking a parent's ability to drive increase attendance?  Instead, it will result in kids missing school because their parents can't drive them, or seeing less of their parents because their parents are forced to rely on public transportation to get to work.  All around a ridiculous idea.

[Eupher]

I like the idea of holding parents responsible for their below-legal-age children's behavior. A situation like this demands a parent's intervention and, if necessary, physical control. (Locking the little bastard up would be legally and politically incorrect, but completely on target - it's too bad that our bullshit kid-coddling has gotten to the level it's at.)

But I'm not sure that taking away a driver's license is appropriate.

More appropriate might be Daddy and Mommy both picking up a piece of chalk and writing 1,000 times on Teacher's blackboard:

"I will control my child's behavior through solid example of responsibility, accountability, and a plain ol' asswhipping."

[JohnnyReb]

"I will control my child's behavior through solid example of responsibility, accountability, and a plain ol' asswhipping."

...and there's the problem. The kid will say, "Touch me and I'll send your ass to prison." Liberals have taken parenting away from parents and given kids all the power.

[Eupher]

...and there's the problem. The kid will say, "Touch me and I'll send your ass to prison." Liberals have taken parenting away from parents and given kids all the power.

Well, I already said that it wasn't legal, but it doesn't stop a parent from writing those words.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Easy to say 'Make the parents hold the kid accountable,' but the law won't let them do anything to him and the law won't do anything to him itself, and out-of-control kids know those two things perfectly well.  It might be worthwhile when you're talking about little kids, but when it comes to teenagers it seems to me like the most likely outcome is this will end up being used on single parents that are working their asses off to pay the rent and put food on the table, with no time left to pose for a Norman Rockwell painting.   

[Eupher]

Easy to say 'Make the parents hold the kid accountable,' but the law won't let them do anything to him and the law won't do anything to him itself, and out-of-control kids know those two things perfectly well.  It might be worthwhile when you're talking about little kids, but when it comes to teenagers it seems to me like the most likely outcome is this will end up being used on single parents that are working their asses off to pay the rent and put food on the table, with no time left to pose for a Norman Rockwell painting.   

There are legal actions that parents can take with respect to their out-of-control offspring. Your point is well taken - parents can't legally incarcerate the JD's or even administer corporal punishment without a howl coming up from the coddlers - but, as evidenced by my wife who actually went to court to have her middle son declared legally incorrigible (or whatever the term is), that takes the parents off the legal hook.

This occurred in Tennessee in the early Nineties, I believe.

It's an awful thing to contemplate, but what other choice do parents have when their charges don't respond to guidance and direction?

[DumbAss Tanker]

That's a real last resort, pretty much the 'You're dead to me' step.  It does come to that sometimes.

[Thor]

Seems that we are following exactly what is in my sig line........

[Eupher]

Yup. I say this knowing that the little shits that live one eighth of a mile down the gravel road from the bus route aren't able to actually stand out at the roadside waiting on the bus. The bus has to drive down the gravel road to pick them up, negotiate a 180 in very tight conditions, then meander back to the county road.

They're incapable of getting bundled up against the weather and standing outside waiting 10 minutes on the ******* bus.

They're not allowed to wait at the side of the road due to the inherent "dangers" of some out-of-control driver hurtling along, drunk on his ass at 6 in the morning, taking out the kid.

Give me a break.

The coddling is out of control.

[formerlurker]

He also thinks a student's ability to participate in extracurricular activities, such as playing a sport, should also be taken away.

Why isn't the school district already doing this???

[H Minus]

He should introduce a bill barring stupid bills.

[formerlurker]

Yup. I say this knowing that the little shits that live one eighth of a mile down the gravel road from the bus route aren't able to actually stand out at the roadside waiting on the bus. The bus has to drive down the gravel road to pick them up, negotiate a 180 in very tight conditions, then meander back to the county road.

They're incapable of getting bundled up against the weather and standing outside waiting 10 minutes on the ******* bus.

They're not allowed to wait at the side of the road due to the inherent "dangers" of some out-of-control driver hurtling along, drunk on his ass at 6 in the morning, taking out the kid.

Give me a break.

The coddling is out of control.

I totally agree with you here.  You wouldn't believe the complaints in my district from parents about bus stops and how far their children have to walk to them (and we are talking about a block's distance).    I scratch my head over that because I walked to Catholic school -- which was several miles from  my home, every single day.      I completely appreciate that times are different than when I was younger, but come on.   Your kid can walk to the end of their block to get a bus.

[Eupher]

I totally agree with you here.  You wouldn't believe the complaints in my district from parents about bus stops and how far their children have to walk to them (and we are talking about a block's distance).    I scratch my head over that because I walked to Catholic school -- which was several miles from  my home, every single day.      I completely appreciate that times are different than when I was younger, but come on.   Your kid can walk to the end of their block to get a bus.

The mother of the little shits I previously mentioned evidently got tired of packing her offspring in the car and actually driving that 1/8th of a mile to a parking area, where she would run the car and the heat until the bus came. 

So she evidently whined and bitched enough that the school board decided to relieve her of her "duties" and sent the bus down the gravel road that 1/8th of a mile to the front of their house, whereupon the little bundles of joy ascend the stairs of the bus and take their seats complete to flashing lights and little signs that stick out from the side of the bus.

That looks positively moronic on a gravel road where two cars driving abreast would have a hard time - one might wind up in the ditch.

It takes longer for the ******* bus to physically turn around on that cul-de-sac than it does negotiating the entire deal - pick up two kids in front of their house. Total time investment is 10 minutes.

God only knows what the cost is.

The kid-coddlers are destroying the very thing they're trying to "save".

[Evil_Conservative]

That's a really stupid bill.

What I wanted to say has pretty much already been said, so no need to repeat it.

Children these days are lazy.  Parents are lazy.  Everyone is lazy. 

No law in the world is going to stop me from disciplining my child when she starts to act up.

[Thor]

I totally agree with you here.  You wouldn't believe the complaints in my district from parents about bus stops and how far their children have to walk to them (and we are talking about a block's distance).    I scratch my head over that because I walked to Catholic school -- which was several miles from  my home, every single day.      I completely appreciate that times are different than when I was younger, but come on.   Your kid can walk to the end of their block to get a bus.

The very FIRST day of public school (1st grade), I missed the bus. I took it upon myself to hike the three miles to school. I got there, albeit extremely late. The teachers were somewhat impressed that I had that kind of motivation. In Texas, if someone lived under two miles of school, they weren't entitled to ride the bus. From second grade on, I was always under that limit. I either walked, rode a bike or during my senior year of high school, I might have been able to catch a ride with someone. 5th grade was especially trying because I rode  my bike to school and it was along an extremely busy road. People would honk at me nearly every morning. Now, in my neighborhood, when kids USED to have to walk up the hill to catch the bus, it's now front door delivery. These roads are one step above the gravel roads Eupher referred to, ( packed gravel with oil on them), and every bit as narrow throughout the neighborhood. We ARE molly-coddling our kids any more. Not only that, but making sacrifices that weren't made when I was a child.

[debk]

This is what is being done here...since the late '90's..

This was on today's news....

Knoxville (WVLT) - If your child is caught skipping school in Knox County, there are major consequences, not just for your child. One includes being taken by authorities to the new truancy center. This year, that's at the Moses Teen Center operated by the Boys and Girls Club. There, truant students are evaluated and returned to parents or sent to juvenile detention depending on the severity of the case.

But how do you avoid being sent there in the first place?

Volunteer TV's Whitney Daniel has the answer.

The answer is simple: Don't skip school, and if you're a parent: Don't let your child skip school. The district attorney's office says there are no excuses. That's because in Knox County, they've built in a margin of error, allowing ten days un-excused absences. State law only allows five.

"We got a note saying we had to come or go to jail," parent Robin Dunn said.

------------
Parents are held accountable for kids ages 15 and younger who miss school. You could face up to 11months and 29 days in jail and a stiff fine, and if you're a student just skipping school, listen up. Over the past eight years, the DA's office has charged three times as many teens as parents. For ages 15 or older, you the student are responsible for your actions and could face probation, juvenile court or juvenile detention


 

more  ----http://www.volunteertv.com/news/headlines/3905811.html

.

[formerlurker]

The very FIRST day of public school (1st grade), I missed the bus. I took it upon myself to hike the three miles to school. I got there, albeit extremely late. The teachers were somewhat impressed that I had that kind of motivation. In Texas, if someone lived under two miles of school, they weren't entitled to ride the bus. From second grade on, I was always under that limit. I either walked, rode a bike or during my senior year of high school, I might have been able to catch a ride with someone. 5th grade was especially trying because I rode  my bike to school and it was along an extremely busy road. People would honk at me nearly every morning. Now, in my neighborhood, when kids USED to have to walk up the hill to catch the bus, it's now front door delivery. These roads are one step above the gravel roads Eupher referred to, ( packed gravel with oil on them), and every bit as narrow throughout the neighborhood. We ARE molly-coddling our kids any more. Not only that, but making sacrifices that weren't made when I was a child.

It is true, and I am guilty of it with my children and nieces and nephews.   I think everyone wants their children to have a better life that what you had, but in doing so what are we really teaching them?

[true_blood]

State Sen. Erik Wells, D-7th District, plans to introduce a bill during the upcoming legislative session, which begins Wednesday, that would revoke the driver's licenses of parents whose children miss too many days of school.

Liberalism, the mental disorder. What a bunch of empty headed idiots.
Then who goes out to buy food for the child and parents? Who goes out to buy clothes for the parent or child when the parents don't have driver's licenses? How do the parents go to work to pay the bills and provide for their family? Have they thought about that? Probably not, the geniuses.
Stupidity is strong here.

[compaqxp]

Had they made something like this when I was in high school my parents would have lost their licenses.

I still got A's but I was never there, looking back I can see why it was a bad choice, my parents rarely found out and I'm sure the parents of a lot of skipping kids don't

[MrsSmith]

Blaming the parents will only work if the parents know the kid is skipping.  My middle kid once skipped school for 2 full weeks, despite having my work number, my cell phone number, and my mother's number, the school office called my house every day, and left a message on the answering machine that my kid erased.  On the Monday of the third week, a teacher finally got fed up, came to the office and pulled our forms, and called me at work. 

I went home... to my kid for a while, then I went to the school and  .  What kind of idiots are too fricking lazy to try a different number, especially when this was my 3rd kid in this school, and I'd never skipped calling in sick days or whatever?!?!??  When schools are this fricking incompetent, parents don't have much chance.   

[Celtic Rose]

Blaming the parents will only work if the parents know the kid is skipping.  My middle kid once skipped school for 2 full weeks, despite having my work number, my cell phone number, and my mother's number, the school office called my house every day, and left a message on the answering machine that my kid erased.  On the Monday of the third week, a teacher finally got fed up, came to the office and pulled our forms, and called me at work. 

I went home... to my kid for a while, then I went to the school and  .  What kind of idiots are too fricking lazy to try a different number, especially when this was my 3rd kid in this school, and I'd never skipped calling in sick days or whatever?!?!??  When schools are this fricking incompetent, parents don't have much chance.   

My cousin had her friends forging excuses letters for her in high school.  My aunt and uncle knew nothing until the school finally called them and asked them to come in.  They explained that her absences were excessive, so my aunt asked why they hadn't called earlier, and the administrator said that it was because they had notes.  She asked to see the notes, and they were written in a variety of different hand writing styles, some obviously by a teenager.     The school administration had never bothered to really look at the notes, they just filed them away.