Court orders man to jail when daughter fails to get diploma

[flashl]

FAIRFIELD, Ohio (AP) — A man ordered to stay on top of his daughter's educational problems months ago is in a Cincinnati-area jail because the daughter hasn't gotten her high school equivalency diploma.

A Butler County Juvenile Court judge sentenced Brian Gegner, of Fairfield, last Wednesday to 180 days in jail for contributing to the contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor. He was ordered months ago to make sure his now 18-year-old Brittany Gegner received her GED.

Brittany Gegner said in an interview with WCPO-TV in Cincinnati that she lived with her mother when she was truant from classes even though her father had custody of her and he shouldn't be blamed.

Court administrator Rob Clevenger Jr. said Monday that the court still has jurisdiction in the case because Brittany Gegner was a juvenile when the problems began.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

[sasquatch]

1. Wow, I see this judge is way out of line

:eyes:
180 days, what the hell was he suposed to do put a gun to her head?

[1monster]

3. As both an educator and a parent, I know that you can lead a horse to water

but you can't make him drink.

You can take a kid to school and try to stay on top of him/her, but there is no surefire way to make him/her learn and get grades good enough to graduate.

[MercutioATC]

2. Not enough info.

Parents of truant students are not usually charged with "contributing".

There's more to this story (I hope).

[sasquatch]

4. Nope there isn't I'm afraid

[flashl]

6. Another article (longer)...

A Fairfield man is in jail because his daughter hasn't gotten her General Equivalency Diploma (GED).

...

The daughter, Brittany Gegner, says her father shouldn't be punished for her problems.

Especially, she says because she's now 18, an adult.

"It's ridiculously wrong," said Brittany Gegner.

"Of all the punishments they could have given him, to make him go to jail?," she asked. "I mean, probation – until I get my GED – would be reasonable, but to send him to jail? That's overboard."

Butler County Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered Gegner to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor by not following a court order which required Gegner to be sure his daughter got her GED.

This comes after ongoing problems of Brittany skipping classes at Fairfield High School and then, Butler Tech.
WCPO

[MercutioATC]

8. Still doesn't include the pertinent information...why was he charged with "delinquency"?

...why was he sentenced to 6 months in jail? A sentence like that is indicative of either a real problem or a rabid judge.

If the case is as presented in either article and nothing more, the 6-month jail term is complete bullshit.

[flashl]

9. It appears the daughter's math test failure is in violation of Judge's order

A judge ordered the father to stay on top of his daughter's education months ago and when that order wasn't followed, Brian Gegner was sentenced to 180-days in the Butler County jail.

...

"The only thing that's holding her back is she can't pass her math test."

...

The judge says if she passes the test, her father could get out of jail before his six-months sentence is up.

[LWolf]

10. Anybody still think that the authoritarian,

blame/punish for student failure NCLB is an appropriate philosophy to run the nation's school systems by?

Schools face legal sanctions when kids don't pass tests. Teachers risk their jobs.

In common human fashion, the buck gets passed on.

I'd love to see parents become more involved, and take more responsibility for making sure that their kids show up rested, fed, and ready and willing to learn, and to produce required evidence of that learning.

I'm sure there are better ways to encourage them.

Will putting parents in jail when their kids don't pass the damned tests finally end high-stakes testing?

[elocs]

5. When kids get to be in high school they become more responsible for their own personal choices

and parents have far less control over them than when they were grade schoolers. They are able to do very adult things, but their brains are immature and they often make very bad choices and cannot seem to grasp the link between choices and consequences.

There is only so much you can do concerning their education and if a teen is determined not to bother with their education when they are entirely able to do so a parent cannot do much about it. My daughter (16) lives with her mother in a Chicago suburb and went to one of the worst high schools that she managed to get kicked out of because she made outright stupid choices. She then went to the alternative high school where she should have gotten all A's and B's, but she screwed around there too so she had to go back for another full year. She can go back to her regular high school for her senior year if she passes this year at the alternative school. It's her choice. Her mother can drop her off at the front door at school and she will go out the back door. She has had tutors and everything, but it only works when she want to try and she is more than capable as she has proven of getting excellent grades. Her mother is at her wit's end because she has done and tried everything, but ultimately it is my daughter's choice.

There is little way to stop a teen who is determined not to go to school and not to do the required work. High school is where the rubber meets the road and all of the years of hard work and hope come to a head. It's hard and frustrating to have a child who is willing to throw it all away at the end. If my daughter does not pass the alternative high school this year, then she is done. She will be 17 this summer and they do not have to deal with her after that. I can understand because they have a hard enough time with the kids who really do want to learn. I can only hope that my daughter reaches the point where she matures enough to want an education and sees the value of it. Right now, she does not get it.

[acmavm]

7. Wow, how weird. You could try her as an adult (probably even a capital

murder situation-type thing) in most courtrooms, but her Daddy has to go to jail because the judge made him responsible for her making sure she graduated from school?

So, when does she ever learn anything?

[readyforreason]

11. wow

I am no longer amazed.....