Good grief…

AUSTIN, Texas (AP)—Parents beware: Miss a meeting with your child’s teacher and it could cost you a $500 fine and a criminal record.

A Republican state lawmaker from Baytown has filed a bill that would charge parents of public school students with a misdemeanor and fine them for playing hooky from a scheduled parent-teacher conference.

Rep. Wayne Smith said Wednesday he wants to get parents involved in their child’s education.

“I think it helps the kids for the parents and teachers to communicate. That’s all the intent was,” Smith said.

Kathy Carlson, a fifth-grade teacher at Furneaux Elementary School in Carrollton, said she’s had a handful of parents who skip meetings with teachers, but she winced at the idea of charging them.

“I don’t know if we need to call it criminal. I would rather see accountability brought a different way, rather than fines or punishments,” Carlson said.

“On the whole, parents want what’s best for their kids,” she said. “Sometimes I think they think we’re out to get them. When you’re talking about fining and pressing criminal charges, it kind of reflects that attitude.”

I’ll say it does.

Already the government’s social services/education arm has too much power.  Having a neighbor report you to social services for giving your kid a swat on the butt after he/she ran out into the street can cause you weeks of trouble as social workers investigate.  And those of us that can’t afford private schools are forced to have our children attend whatever public school is closest to where we live, and at that school we’re generally forced to accept whatever curriculum and teaching methods the administrators there choose.  We have some pull through the school board, but making changes that way isn’t easy.

Do we really want to give the social services and education bureaucrats power to punish us, criminally, if we don’t behave toward our children in a manner they find acceptable?  How long until they’re punishing us for not feeding our children the right foods or allowing them to play video games for too long?

I think we’re all in favor of better parenting and getting parents more involved in their children’s lives, but do we really want to involve the government in this way?  Do we want to go down a road where the government is defining what does and does not make a good parent and then taking us to court if we don’t parent accordingly? 

I don’t think we do.