For John, BLUF: The Government local, state and federal, just gets ever more intrusive. Nothing to see here; just move along.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports "Monona police can now cite parents for a child's bullying".
Monona parents whose children repeatedly bully others can now be ticketed by police and fined in municipal court.I picked this up from the Althouse blog, where the comments were generally unfavorable. One comment that stood out in my mind was by Methadras said...
City Attorney William S. Cole called the tactic “a tool of last resort” and said he believes it would withstand a court challenge.I think of it as the inability to think through the long term consequences of actions. Not the paralysis of analysis, but a little historical perspective.This is the kind of statement that p....s me off to no end. Pass a law with the hopes that it passes the spaghetti on the wall test just because. Superfluous creations of laws for the sake of simply doing it is anathema to the principals of liberty and freedom. This is tyranny.
Hat tip to Ann Althouse.
Regards — Cliff
8 comments:
In commercial transactions, parents very often act as collateral for dependents.
Why not social transactions?
I remember being naughty. The neighbourhood parents would chastise me. But worse, they would say, "I will talk to your parents."
For minors, where does the buck stop?
Tyranny? I'm thinking histrionics.
I am all for parent to parent interactions, especially if they don't lead to bullying. It is the police issuing tickets to parents that makes me wonder about what is going on in this small berg. That, and the fact that Monona is in Dane County. That screams [fill in the blank] to me.
Regards — Cliff
Methinks that this is a overzealous reaction by a small group in order to visibly defend against bullying (very necessary to the appearance of political correctness).
Having said that, actions do have consequences.....as do inactions. I see nothing wrong with society holding parents responsible for their parenting deficits. A ticket and some stress in front of a local magistrate might elevate the level of concern by some parents for the actions of their children.
Using Jack's analogy, I was raised by somewhere on the order of 400+ parents in a very small WA town. Among those parents was the Chief of Police who was also the father of twin brothers in my school class. He thought very little about dropping a ticket off with my parents for my public misbehavior. My parents reaction was predictable, physical, and emotional. Each instance ended in "You need to not embarrass the rest of family."
Good parenting is perhaps the most difficult, frustrating, and occasionally rewarding job an adult can perform in this world. It is also one that is strictly an amateur operation.....you get little training in advance of the multiple challenges. That said then I would think a ticket would be welcome information upon which a parent can act positively.
Kids are not uniformly or continually angelic. Any parent who defends his or her little snowflake as impervious to mischievous activities is both blind and dumb.
"in order to visibly defend against bullying (very necessary to the appearance of political correctness)."
Or, you know, maybe its an actual problem they're trying to figure out how to solve.
Chris
I agree bullying is a real problem in need of a solution. But, is it just a new problem, or has it existed for ever? Or, is it the same as ever or less, but just looks like a big problem due to ARPANET? Or has child density impacted this situation?
If Neal's Police Chief when he was young (and he is way old today) could do it by dealing with individual incidents, what over-analysis today leads Monona to create this new law? And, I remember believing, as a pre-teen in a small town, that I was safe in anyone's house, and that the parents were netted and nothing escaped their notice.
Regards — Cliff
Is the parent of the 'bully' working with the school?
If the parent is not returning phone calls on the child's behavior, get the department of children and families involved. As long as the parent is working with the school, no ticket.
I was just objecting to the assumption that the motivation was about appearing to be politically correct, as if collective action you disagree with isn't ever about solving problems.
Chris
I grant your point.
Even if I don't like the approach it is people trying to solve a problem. And that is a good thing.
Regards — Cliff
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