U.S. parents relieved that spoiled teen’s lawsuit against Mom and Dad got a judicial spanking

6 Mar
Rachel Canning AP

Rachel Canning in court. (AP)

Consider this a long overdue spanking for Rachel Canning and her lawyers.

In an unbelievable case of “Oh no she didn’t,” Canning, an 18-year-old New Jersey cheerleader with a whole slew of respect and behavior deficiencies, ran away from home and then went to court to force her parents to provide her with more than $600 a week in child support and pay her private school tuition, medical and related bills, college expenses and legal fees. Her wrath and entitlement campaign also accused her parents of kicking her out of the house and delivered allegations of child abuse and emotional abandonment.

Her claims were vigorously disputed by her parents, Sean and Elizabeth Canning, who cited the teen had a myriad of disciplinary problems that included suspensions from school, underage drinking, credit card theft, bullying siblings, breaking curfew and lying to the local child protection agency. The agency investigated the Canning family and found no evidence of abuse.

On Tuesday, March 4, Morris County Court Judge Peter Bogaard denied Rachel’s lawsuit with a judicial spanking and noted it would set a bad precedent by setting limits on parenting.

“Do we want to establish a precedent where parents live in basic fear of establishing rules of the house?” asked Bogaard.

No, Judge Bogaard, no! I can’t afford to have my teen daughter sue me because I took her phone away for talking back to me or I refuse to buy her a car. Your Honor, she’s on a discount plan that I pay for, and I can’t afford to fix the transmission on my car let alone buy her one AND hire an attorney!

The sulky teen was obviously unhappy with the decision, but it was a victory for responsible parenting. It was also a slap in the face for children who face real abuse and abandonment. God bless Rachel’s lawyer friends for equating the consequences of narcissism and entitlement with abuse and neglect.

Where does a child find such lawyer friends? After leaving her parents’ home, Rachel bunked with her boyfriend for a few days and then moved in with her friend, Jaime Inglesino. Jaime’s father, John Inglesino, is an attorney who formerly served in county government. He got the ball rolling by bankrolling fellow lawyer Tanya Helfand to fight on the maligned Rachel’s behalf. Guess what else he did? He included reimbursement for the legal fees he’s paid in the lawsuit. You have to love it when an adult interferes with another family and then demands compensation for it.

You also have to love it when a lawyer slams a set of parents because they’re not caving in to a temper tantrum. “Normal, healthy people want to help their children,” a misguided Ms. Helfand said. “The Cannings simply don’t want to pay. They want to strip their daughter of her opportunities.”

She added the Cannings treated their daughter in an “abnormal” way that made it “untenable” for her to stay in the house. Oh, that poor child.

Perhaps Ms. Helfand is right. Parents enforcing rules has become a bit abnormal in today’s society, and it is horrifically indefensible for parents to enact consequences for bad behavior. Based on this lawsuit, it’s akin to child abuse and neglect. How can we be so sadistic that we deny our children of opportunities?

Sorry, Mr. Inglesino and Ms. Helfand. That’s what good parents are supposed to do; failing to do so is abuse and neglect. They set rules and boundaries in hopes of preventing the creation of a generation of over-entitled narcissists, they enact consequences for bad behavior, and they recognize the opportunities that are available for their children, but they make them do part of the work to attain them. Good parents raise their children to become mature, self-sufficient, compassionate and hardworking adults, not eternally sulky adolescents.

Rachel, you still have a chance. Apologize to your family, go home, and learn from this. Consider doing a few volunteer hours with an organization that serves kids who have faced real abuse and neglect so you can understand what real hardship is. I also encourage you to count your blessings: many kids and their families live on less than $600 per month; most teens don’t have the benefit of a private school education; and many will pay for their own college tuition by working full-time or taking out loans that mommy and daddy won’t repay.

Most of them also have parents who wouldn’t have tolerated your mess and would have jerked a knot in your tail a long time ago.

Read the news story from my colleagues at Fox News. You can also view this as an op-ed piece at Fox News Latino.

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Take the Dept. of Education’s standardized test for parents

3 Mar

Department of EdDear Parents,

We recognize many of you have questions and concerns about the use of standardized testing in our nation’s public schools. We believe these tests provide excellent data about children’s academic progress, and the use of these tests helps all of us reach higher standards in education.

The U.S. Department of Education believes parents should reach higher standards as well, and that’s why we’ve created a high stakes standardized test just for you. A passing score on this test will establish you as a well-qualified parent, while a failing score indicates need for improvement and intervention.

Read each question carefully and select an answer from the options listed below the question. Please note several answers may seem correct, but you should choose what we consider the BEST response for each question.

Let’s begin.

________________________________________

 

1. Allie starts school at 8:30 a.m. She has 20 minutes for lunch, and a 40 minute physical education class. School dismisses at 3:30 p.m.

Allie then goes to a mandatory tutoring program to prepare for the upcoming 8th grade standardized test. She is there from 3:45 to 5 p.m. She arrives home at 5:30 p.m. and spends 90 minutes doing chores and eating dinner with her family. She works on her regularly assigned homework from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

How much time does Allie spend on academic-related activities during the day?

A. 9.75 hours

B. More time than the average adult spends at work

C. Roughly the same number of hours she should spend sleeping

D. Not enough! She should spend all her time working on school stuff and preparing for the standardized test. Drop the worthless family time and chores.

2. Which one of the following educational activities is appropriate for kindergarten students?

A. Using dramatic play to help them with social interaction, decision-making skills, creativity and imagination

B. Using  blocks to help them learn about size, shape, balance and counting

C. Reading aloud to them to foster pre-reading and pre-writing skills

D. Assessing their academic progress via a standardized test, even though they can barely sit still for 10 minutes and don’t have the fine motor skills to hold a #2 pencil for extended periods of time

3. Who is best qualified to make decisions about children’s education?

A. Parents

B. Experienced teachers

C. The local school board

D. Your state’s governor, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and for-profit testing companies. Everyone else knows nothing.

4. Standardized test scores are an accurate measurement of your child’s intelligence, teachers’ effectiveness and schools’ quality.

A. False

B. Completely false

C. What is wrong with you? False, false, false!

D. Absolutely, positively true. Accept it.

5. Standardized test scores reveal students are performing poorly in the U.S. public education system. These performance problems are caused by:

A. Socioeconomic conditions

B. Lack of parental involvement

C. Larger class sizes and fewer teachers

D. Students aren’t used to high standards and accountability. We need more standardized testing to hold them accountable.

6. Read the statements below. Which selection is written correctly?

A. Many students are affected by test anxiety or do not show their learning well on a standardized test, resulting in inaccurately lower scores.

B. Texas requires fifth grade students to take six different standardized tests during the school year.  The first three are considered “practice” tests, and the final three are officially scored. Each individual test is four hours long.

C. Standardized testing can cause curriculum narrowing and teaching to the test.

D. People who oppose high stakes standardized testing want to dumb down our schools. They must be stopped.

7. Hayden, who has struggled with a few eighth grade classes, was told he would not go to high school next year if he did not do well on the standardized tests. How does Hayden feel about the news?

A. He feels stupid.

B. He feels hopeless.

C. He feels anxious.

D. He feels energized and convinced he will do well on the tests. You can do it, Hayden!

8. An effective teacher is one who:

A. Uses a variety of teaching techniques to help her students learn

B. Gets students excited about learning

C.  Provides encouragement when none is available at home

D. Has the best standardized test scores in the school

9. What will happen if you refuse to allow your child to take a standardized test or participate in test-prep tutoring or homework?

A. Your child’s grades will suffer.

B. Your child will be not be promoted to the next grade.

C. You will be intimidated into submission.

D. Others will suffer because of your disobedience. Your school will lose valuable funding and prestige, and teachers will lose their jobs. Congratulations on destroying your community.

 

 

Please respond the following confidential demographic questions that in no way will ever be used by an inappropriate source, used out of context or used for retaliatory reasons.

    1. How stable is your current job?
    2. Have you checked out how expensive private schools are?
    3. Do you realize how much time and patience you’ll need to home school your child?
    4. Are you a hippie? Free-thinker? Religious freak?
    5. How much do you weigh?
    6. What is the highest level of education you have attained?
    7. How well do you obey authority?
    8. What is your greatest fear? (Reminder: This is strictly for demographic use. No one will try to harm you in any way, shape or form.)

 

Thank you for taking the time to take this test. All answers should have been D.

If you chose any other response, the Department of Health and Human Services has already placed your children in foster care, pending the results of your upcoming IRS audit. Texas residents are reminded the gracious government leaders opted out of Common Core, and anti-testing parents will be subjected to public shaming for their lack of gratitude.

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