Parents need support, not imprisonment
by Beverly Stone, reporter

    Desperate parents can make some bad decisions when threatened by the courts for their children’s failure to attend school.

   One court says Eugene Robbins, from Sante Fe, crossed the line.

   Robbins would drive his daughter to school and walk her into the building; however, he could not stay with her because he had to work.

   When the court threatened criminal action if his daughter did not attend school, Robbins shackled his 12-year-old daughter’s ankles and took her to school, hoping the shackles would keep her there.

   Unfortunately, for him, he also stopped for gas one day.

   According to the Associated Press, a woman at the gas station noticed the shackles and reported Robbins for child abuse.

   Trudy Davis, executive director of the Child Advocate Center, told AP there is a level where one goes too far, and Robbins had reached that level.

   What action a parent can take that would be acceptable is hard to determine.

   As a mother of four, I still ask that question.

   When I was having problems with my own 12-year-old who was cutting classes, I asked him why he was not attending school.

   His frequent complaint was the lack of control authority figures had to handle dangerous situations.

   As a young mother with no early childhood development training, I did not know how to deal with the school on this matter without further endangering my son. My solution was to keep him at home with me.

   My oldest daughter just did not like school and refused to go, no matter what I did. My daughter is what we call a strong-willed child.

   Unless a parent has a strong-willed child, understanding the nightmare of dealing with such a child is difficult, if not impossible.

   Robbins said he had no other choice. All he could do was take her to school and see her inside. He could not stay with her all day because it took both incomes to support the family.

   The law is ineffective in dealing with these children also.

   Putting Robbins in jail for his daughter’s offenses makes no sense.

   The chances of his daughter’s attending school with her father in jail are slim.

   And what would happen to the rest of the family while Dad was in jail? My guess is that the family unit could crumble from loss of income and emotional stress.

   The offender should be held responsible for his/her actions.

   If a child is old enough to walk out of a school and break the law, then he /she is old enough to pay the consequences.

   Until we change our laws and hold teens accountable for their actions, we will see plenty of school shootings and parents’ going to jail for their children’s actions.

   Putting parents in jail or fining them will not correct this problem. This kind of action will only continue to break down the family unit.

   Most parents want to do a good job of raising their children. Parents need support from our justice system, not harsh punishment that bears no solutions.

   In Texas a teen can legally leave the parents’ home at 17, but the parents are still held responsible for their actions.

   I learned this disturbing news when my youngest daughter left home against my wishes. I was devastated that the law was not there to help me; instead, it was against me.

   With no support from the justice system, parents will continue to make desperate decisions. The laws work against the parents while supporting the teens for their bad behavior.

   I did not understand it then, and I still don’t understand it now.

   Society blames parents for the way the children are raised.

   What will have to happen before our laws are changed?

   Apparently, teens’ going to school and killing their teachers and classmates has not been deemed enough to force a change.

   Punishing the parents is not the answer.