The 1997 Nevada Legislature revised a 1956 law which now holds parents responsible for their children's truancy problems. The Family Resource Center was created to monitor and enforce the law.
Two mothers were recently convicted, despite one daughter's admission that her mother drove her to school and picked her up but she simply left school in between. Justice of the Peace Robey Willis found the mother guilty all the same.
Where is common sense? The wrong person is being punished. The daughter knows she was wrong but her mother is paying the price. The mother's privacy and reputation have been invaded by splashing it all over the papers. Is the state going to watch her five children while she's incarcerated? If she loses her job due to incarceration and other court related requirements, she has no way of supporting her family and may have to be supported by society.
With no income, she can't pay her rent, so the family could become homeless. The law created more problems, the entire family winds up traumatized and what has society gained?
The obvious solution to this type of invasion of privacy and freedom is to get government out of private lives. Do away with laws that don't allow parents to discipline their children and create these problems in the first place.
Teen boot camp would be a logical option for this particular situation. The right person would be forced to take responsibility for her actions and the entire family would not be destroyed by stupid bureaucratic decisions. When are we going to stop being silent about legislators who are completely out of touch with reality?
