Honor Student Jailed for Truancy: She has 2 jobs, 1 is fulltime

Scott 44 wrote:

Some of the story seems a little suspect. It says she is helping her brother in college and helping a sister staying with other family members. Maybe her family members and brother could could not look to her for support. Possibly this part is being exaggerated for the story to be more outrageous. News people often do this.

In order for it to get to this point there would have to be many failures. School admin and counselors should have made every effort to help her, as well as social service. If pregnant she would have been set up real well in an apartment and food stamps.

There is probably more to this story.

I think that's why the story is actually a news story = it doesn't seem right. She is an honor student so she has not failed anything.

I can't believe no one has brought up THE PARENTS. They move away and leave her to live one of her employers?! Working grave yard shift at the dry cleaners . . . definitely a victim of asian workaholic environment.

Responses such as yours quickly remind me why so many of you will never be allowed to take on great responsibility in your lives.

Uhh...yeah how can parents just up and abandon two minors (17 year old and a baby) without being forced to at the least pay child support? Shouldn't have social services placed them with a foster family that will financially support them?

I suppose the only one that isn't entitled to support and thus would require this extra work from his sister is the adult brother in college. But even then he should be getting substantial financial aid if he effectively has no support from his family, and between that, him having a job, and student loans I don't see why he would need to rely on his sister working like a slave.

Home School

I don't understand why she's being held accountable for providing for her siblings. Really the girl doesn't need to stay up until 7 am every night to study. High school is EASY, even the AP classes don't compare to college courses.

Bottom line, rules are rules, and if you do not follow them then you should be punished. No exceptions. Maybe her siblings should quit being selfish and find jobs to lighten the load on their sister.

Whoever brought up the parents is right on the money.

Shouldn't they be the ones going to jail? How can you abandon a child? That's the part that seems weird to me. Why doesn't the judge do something to them?

Texas Parent wrote:

well played...if we didn't have the sign in/out log from the nurses office I'd actually believe it!

Who do you think she is smoking weed with?

So the answer to punish her for missing school, is to make her miss school??

joalturn wrote:

Bottom line, rules are rules, and if you do not follow them then you should be punished. No exceptions.

Typical neo-con who gets off on unnecessary displays of authority. I bet you love getting pegged by your wife every night. What happened to your party?

Last I checked, this is America, and in America, people should not be sentenced to jail time for truancy. Yes, people should go to jail for breaking laws that warrant jail time, but truancy should not warrant jail time. If American citizens allow their peers to be sentenced to jail for truancy, because she broke the rules, how long will it take before we allow the government to publicly flog our peers for chewing gum? One thing does lead to the other, eventually, if you let it happen.

Decision Overturned - http://news.yahoo.com/video/houston11news-15750765/judge-dismisses-contempt-charges-against-truant-honor-student-diane-tran-29511846.html