The likelihood of seeing a solar eclipse or Halley's Comet is greater than the chances of seeing politicians of opposite political parties agree on something — in public, at least.
However, politicians of all political stripes tend to agree on one fundamental principle: We must do everything we can to protect the children. The phrase "for the children" has been a part of every politician's stump speech at least once, if not more.
Liberals want to make sure all children have access to health care, and conservatives want to make sure all children have one mommy and one daddy, but the overall concern is the same.
But when does the concern for the welfare of children go too far?
In Virginia, Loudoun County Public School officials might have gone beyond the level of sanity trying to protect kids.
For officials in Loudoun County, child tardiness is a serious problem. So much so that the district has begun issuing misdemeanors and even arresting parents for not getting their kids to school on time.
In one of the more serious cases, a Loudoun mother named Maureen Blake was "arrested and charged with ‘contributing to the delinquency of her minor children by causing them to be habitually late to school,'" according to the Washington Post.
Tardiness is now considered delinquency? It might be a minor inconvenience, but arresting a mother for not getting her child to school on time is a little extreme.
Blake is not the only one facing charges.
Amy and Mark Denicore were each charged with Class 3 misdemeanors, which could lead to a maximum fine of $500 per parent. Their crime: the family has "been late almost 30 times since September" and, according to the Post, most "of those tardies were for three minutes or less, according to school records."
Oh, the humanity!
The actions of this school district are nanny statism run amok, and they could have more serious consequences for children than these rules attempt to solve.
According to Judith Browne Dianis, the co-director of the Advancement Project, an organization advocating against harsh school punishments, "[p]unitive discipline leads to a higher dropout rate, more hostility in schools, it leads to kids disengaging from learning and it alienates parents."
Studies have consistently shown that having parents actively engaged in their child's education improves student performance and academic achievement.
Alienating parents by fining them, or even arresting them for a few cases of victimless tardiness, will do a lot more harm than good for the children's enrichment.
In this economy, when some parents have multiple jobs and countless other responsibilities, perhaps school districts around the country could lighten up a bit.
