Ok.. We , the American citizens need kids that can grow up and be productive citzens. The workers right now can not continue to carry the load of citizens that won't work. I never said this girl could not read or write. I was responding to a post that parents should not be forced to send their kids to school. I agreed but said that parents are responsible to see that their kids are educated.
You disagree with that?
Sure, parents are responsible - to a point. But...that point is jail of a father who didn’t even gave custody at the time she was truant ? When does the kid become at least in part responsible for their own actions ?
Let’s get realistic - I have seen kids from perfectly good families with two responsible parents get out of control around age 12-13 or later. Short of locking up the kids in the house during non-school hours in an escape-proof room, driving them to school and personally delivering them to the school office where some school official signs a document that the kid showed up that day (yes, I have a friend who did just that because her youngest was a real problem), and picks up the kid after school from a school official, what are you going to do to make a teenager behave ?
Give me one realistic scenario, under today’s laws and culture, where a parent can so control a misbehaving teenager that they don’t get into this same bind.
Answer - the burden should be on the kid after a certain age. It is just not possible to control the mind and body of a 16yo 24 hours a day.