Honor student placed in jail for tardiness and truancy at school

[KnitShoni]

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Honor...153847275.html

So. This 17 year old took on the responsibility of supporting her siblings after their parents divorced and split. The judge says, “If you let one (truant student) run loose, what are you gonna’ do with the rest of ‘em? Let them go too?”

[RedRoseSpiral]

Good ol' Texas. I say, next time they want to secede from the Union, let them.

[MaggieTheCat]

The news article reads very odd to me.

Her parents divorced "out of the blue" and both left her entire family on their own? There is an older brother who she is supporting (I'm sorry, why?) and a baby sister...again, why? The article said the baby lives with relatives in Houston, are they not taking care of her? If not, why do they still have custody of her? How could both of her parents have up and left the baby without child abandonment charges...or the girl in question, for that matter, since she is only 17?

I have a feeling we do not have the full story here.

[KnitShoni]

"Baby sister" does not necessarily mean actual baby.

She may not want her brother dropping out of college.

She may feel it necessary to help pay for the care of her sister. They may demand that she do so.

It's possible she wanted to try to keep their situation quiet as long as possible so as not to break up her family any further.

[bainsidhe]

I'm confused as hell about this and I completely agree, we're missing the whole story. She's helping support her older, college-student brother? Why? Helping support a younger sibling that's being cared for by relatives? Why? Hell, she herself is living with her employer. Why didn't an explanation about her truancy and lack of local parents come up in court?

Had the girl just dropped out of school, no one would bat an eye. Yet she's taking honors courses and when she misses school, she's thrown in jail and fined. Though getting money to pay the fine means she'll just be missing more school...

I'm completely baffled by all of this, but I wonder if nationality plays a part? In some cultures it's expected to sacrifice for family and support them. Though it doesn't explain why the parents abandoned their kids and aren't doing the same..

[Rageaholic]

According to a comment, this judge has done this before

This judge is out of line, out of control, jaded to his career choice & and an extremely poor example of an authority figure. He jailed my god-daughter the same day for being tardy the prior week. The hard pill to swallow was that she wasnt tardy she was at an ortho appt. & her mother faxed the dr. note to the school. The judges response to my god-daughter when she told him this? "Well your mother should have scheduled appt. after school." Wow! Really? I didn't realize it was legal to jail someone for not scheduling medical appts to a judges preference. Not only did he jail her, noone notified her mother she was in jail because technically she's an adult! So technically she should be able to check herself out of school or hell even drop out of school (which isn't the case, just making a point) if she wanted. I hope this judge sleeps well at night knowing he made a single mother of 3 ( the kids father was killed in an accident approx. 8 months ago) pay $100.00 to get her daughter out of a locked cell & home safely where she belonged. Nevermind the fact that she missed an entire day of school & exams. The judge said he was going to teach her a lesson & that lesson is this: IF YOU END UP IN THIS MAN'S COURT YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS, YOU ARE GUILTY EVEN IF YOU'RE INNOCENT & YOU WILL MORE THAN LIKELY PAY AN EXTORTION FEE! WAY TO MAKE WILLIS & THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM YOU REPRESENT PROUD!

Bullshit like this is why we shouldn't even have truancy laws. It's bad enough to be jailed for not going to school, but this asshole is just looking for excuses to put people behind bars. He must feel like a real man putting the sick and overworked students to jail over something as petty as attendence. There is nothing to be gained from this other than for his power tripping ego to be satisfied.

I gotta stop, but stuff like this makes me rage so hard that I scare myself.

[Rapscallion]

Bullshit like this is why we shouldn't even have truancy laws. It's bad enough to be jailed for not going to school, but this asshole is just looking for excuses to put people behind bars. He must feel like a real man putting the sick and overworked students to jail over something as petty as attendence. There is nothing to be gained from this other than for his power tripping ego to be satisfied.

I gotta stop, but stuff like this makes me rage so hard that I scare myself.

I don't think the problem is the truancy laws. It's the judge, and that's a far easier one to sort out. You know where the unemployment office is.

Rapscallion

[tropicsgoddess]

The judge is just blanketing the truancy thing. He needs to look at it case by case like he should've with this girl. We don't know the full circumstances of why she is supporting a college student brother and her younger sister who live away from her. But we do know that she's doing the best she can to get the money she needs for her and her family while balancing school as an Honor student.

[NoMoreRetail]

I do believe their should be truancy laws to keep some of these punk ass kids off the street. Most kids who are truant are out causing trouble. But when the girl is an honor student taking college courses and working jobs to help support herself and her siblings then she is not causing trouble.

I think their is a lot more to the story than what is being told. So what if the parents got divorced and moved away,one of the parents should have taken the younger sibling with them. The judge needs to hunt down the parents and fine them not the girl who is working her ass off to support herself and siblings while also being an honor student.

If the judge wants to make an example out of somebody, he needs to find the kids that are skipping school and terrorizing the neighborhoods and throw their butts in jail not for 1 day but for a week or two to maybe straighten them out before they get into some serious trouble that a fine won't get them out of!

[HYHYBT]

The part that confuses me is why truancy laws apply to someone not required to attend school at all.

(But then, I'd also understood it to be your parents, not you yourself, who went to jail for breaking them.)

[Andara Bledin]

I love how the judge wants to make an example of a girl who's not going to school because she's working 2 jobs and taking a ton of AP and dual credit classes and getting straight As while she's at it.

Yeah, let's go after the over-achievers who are missing school because they've got too much on their plate. Who needs nuance or to adjust for circumstances; the world's all black and white, right?

Article at ABC News with rather more details.

^-.-^

[KnitShoni]

The part that confuses me is why truancy laws apply to someone not required to attend school at all.

(But then, I'd also understood it to be your parents, not you yourself, who went to jail for breaking them.)

She's 17, so, in Texas, she is required to attend school.

[RedRoseSpiral]

Good news for Ms. Tran and her family.

Diane Tran, Texas Honor Student Jailed For Missing School, Has Contempt Order Vacated

I wish I had some money to donate to her and her family, but I'm sure she can put that $100k she's getting to good use.