Parental rights overruled

Jeff Johnson - OneNewsNow - 6/25/2008 11:25:00 AM

U.S. pro-family advocates are reacting to a Canadian court's decision to overrule a father who grounded his 12-year-old daughter.Such judicial activism is not a new idea, nor is it limited to Canada. The 12-year-old Quebecois sued her father after being grounded ... from a school trip for posting photos of herself on an online dating site.

  Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America ..., says the statute used by the court was supposed to be limited to cases of "extreme abuse." 
"There's no abuse in this case," Wright contends. "A father was doing his parental duty of trying to protect his daughter from bad decisions -- and instead, the court has sided with the bad decision."
 
The risks to the child are only slightly greater, Wright argued, than the danger posed to parental authority by such decisions. "This is the danger of having so-called experts in societies who are the ones who get to decide ... the proper way of raising children instead of having a deep-seated respect for parental rights," she explains.

 

Story continues below ...

 

Read 'Ground the judge ...' -- a related commentary by R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

 

http://www.dose.ca/news/story.html?id=6aaf855 ... 

The story above gives a little more detail.  Issues seem to lie over child custody more so then the parental/children right. 

Seems this girl knows how to play both her parents well, but the sad thing is she has put in the middle of her parents pissing matches for 10 years.  I know what this girl did was wrong, her dad had every right to deny her the trip but I think the judge had no choice but to side with the parent who had custody at the time.  Yes the girl was wrong for running to the mom because she didn't get her way with her dad, but the parents brought it on themselves. 

Some of you are like what? but I feel for the girl.  Having parents that were divorced and how they fought over us kids , trust me sometimes it was hard to have respect for either one.  The original article failed to mention that the girl lived with her mom and why the mom decided to go againest the father's wishes- was the choice to go to court the girls or the mothers?  Part of me thinks it was the mom's choice.  She had to be right the dad had to be right, something tells me this isn't the first time they took their transgressions to court.  Probably from a very young age every decision that was not agreed on became a fight in court.  The fact that this might be all the girl knows is sad.

I know I might get alot of heat for this- put sometimes a kid can go as far as the parents allow- and there is more to this story.  Yeah 15 is old enough to know better- but maybe all she knows is argueing parents and the inside of a courtroom.

I have to say, this is a very disturbing outcome in the court's decision!! 

I  am a Canadian, and no matter if its here, or Quebec, or in the States.. to help children to learn how to 'play' their parents, and for the school to say that u need a court order or both parents have to agree!  what an odd policy..but it opened the door to what happened..and its scary.. cause I know a few pre-teens who if they heard this is the news would take advantage of it, cause divorce is not easy on the children, the parents or anyone involved.

I sure hope that the courts do decide that they should not involve themselves too much in parents right... because I agree that parents know their children best, and the best disipline and what to do to help them!   so what should i do.....  hope that when we come nearer to teenage years that my Ds will not want to sue me over displine issues... yikes!! 

All I can say is Hell no! The courts have no rights over this kind of thing. If it was child abuse then that is different. But grounding a child from a dating site?! The courts should have just sad oops sorry this wont fly. I hope this doesnt happen in America.

This is one of those times when I think that the media has failed us.  There seems to be tons of unanswered questions.  If the father had custody, why then was the child allowed to go live with her mother?  Why didn't the mother have custody, there must have been a reason, was the mother unfit as a parent to begin with?  What type of inappropriate photos are we talking about, barely clothed, gang signs, what? 

Inappropriate can mean tons of stuff, she is only 12.  Where was the school trip?  Was it to be chaperoned, all girls, boy and girls?  Was it a learning trip for class credit, or was it strictly a reward? The girl doesn't deserve the reward based on the information provided.  If she can't follow the rules at home, she wouldn't follow the rules on the trip.

And while I feel the punishment fits the crime, there still are unanswered questions.  In the story, the mother seems to be the problem.  She apparently has no problem with her daughter not abiding by her father's rules.  If I had to guess why the daughter sued her father, I would guess that the mother had something to do with it.  Clearly, counseling is required for all parties.   Having children is a huge responsibility and commitment and even if parents divorce, they need to be on the same page or willing to comprimise when it comes to raising their children.

I read nothing about abuse in this story.  The courts should not have been involved.  Can a 12 year old actually sue a parent without the aide of an adult? Yet another question....

Supposedly she was on a dating site posting her pics. I dont think so. She had to have lied about her age to get on there.

I still didn't find anything in either article that makes it ok for the girl to sue her father, or for the courts to go along with that. 

To me, it sounds like even though the dad had custody, the girl knew that her mom was likely to give her whatever she wants and get in a nice jab at her ex in the process.  I think the mom's actions are even more dispicable than the daughter's.  Kids that age can act like spoiled brats, and they will push things as far as they can to see what they can get away with.  And if one parent is strict with the rules and the other is not, you can bet they are going to play that for all it's worth.  That happens all the time.  But for the courts to sanction that kind of behavior of playing one parent against the other is REALLY sad and very scary!  Like others said, not allowing her to go on a trip is NOT abuse.  It seems like a pretty fitting punishment to me.  And in the second article it says that the dad doesn't custody anymore because he feels he has no authority over her anymore.  Unfortunately, I would say that's true.  The courts effectively stripped him of any authority.  The girl won the battle and knows that if she is with her dad and he doesn't give her whatever she wants, she can run right back to mom and the courts again.  I wouldn't want to be in that position either!

"I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth." -Psalm 57:9-11. 

 

glitter-graphics.com ...

One story ... and two ...

I do have a tendency to side with the kid, because heck I have been there, I know how it feels. Turns out my feeling was true.  This was not the first time these people have seen the inside of a court room, and there might have been some sympathy for this girl with what she has had to endure.  Yes she posted pictures, her father took away her computer.  Then on another day she had a fight with her step mother and then moved in with a mom.  A month later when it came time for the dad to sign the forms he refused to sign the papers.  In court he stated it was for the pictures.  Truthfully i think the judge saw THE DAD was being a bit vandictive-to spite the mom or the child.  

Truthfully the daughter didn't move out of the house because she was grounded or because her computer was taken away, there was more issues here. The father isn't the innocent victim he calls out to be!  Newspapers twist the story.  Twists it to take a gab at Hillary-which was comical in the original story.  

But its a parents responsiblity to raise the child not the courts. The child is a spoiled brat and is using the parents against each other.

A "BRAT" but you need look no further then parents to see the cause of the behavior.  Yes let us blame the child for everything!  The truth is her parents USED her.  This girl, re-reading the 2nd story, was KICKED out of her fathers house-placed in the MOTHER's care- the father put her in the mothers care. yes I can't wait to kick my 12 year old out of my house...counting down the days! I am sorry calling a 12 year old a brat is over the line.  A misguided teen- not even a teen she is still a child.  

I find it quite funny, in another thread, some are quick to bash Hollywood for Glamorizing  teen pregnancy, when truthfully you need look no further then a story like this to find the true root of teenage pregnancy.  I see two parents who would rather play victim to each others spear throwing then see that their child is left to fend for herself! 

The child is a brat for disobeying her father in the first place. If my child ever disobeyed me like that I would throw my computer away. There is a reason why parents make rules in the first place. It is to keep the child safe cause they cannot make intelligent decisions. And its also the parents fault. Just because they cannot get along as a married couple (reason for the divorce) they should stand together on punishments if the child commits an offense.  I saw nothing wrong with his punishment. So the girl runs to mommy cause she gets her own way. She should sue the school too. They said she couldnt go because she had to have both parents permission.

I think there is alot more to this story.  From my google search there are alot more questions then answers.  I do think the father is protrayed as a victim here and he really is not the victim.  Right or wrong these parents victimized  this girl- not by refusing the trip but by allowing their actions to get this far.  I am a product of a divorce much like this.  Yes i can honestly say I used my parents againest each other- does that make me a brat-well if you think so.  But to me after hearing endless bickering and fighting I craved the attention.  With worries of who got what and the last word my parents failed to see the damage being done.  Yes my feelings go out to the girl- Hell I know what it feels like to be kicked out by a parent- and i know what it feels like to be called a brat and I can tell you right now it didn't feel to good-especially to a sad 12 year old.

I dont see the girl as a victim at all. I see her pitting her parents against one another. Thats why I think parents need to stand by thier decisions on punishments and rewards. Even if they are divorced. Kids do this with parents that are still together. Well if Dad says no then we will go ask the other parent. And if they are grounded from the puter or TV and they spend time with Grandma and Grandpas the rules dont stick over there. My son has done that one. I got after my MIL for allowing him to be on the puter when he was not suppose to be for poor grades in school.

And the courts had no right to butt in. It should stay with the parents and nobody else.

I too feel there is more to this story than what the press is telling.  However I agree with Keri that the parents need to stand united when it comes to their child, regardless of their differences.  Its their child not the courts.  I have 2 brothers that are divorced with children, one is never on the same page as his ex when it comes to their 2 kids, therefore lots more fights and more heartache for the kids, the other works with his ex and they agree when it comes to their daughter, she gets grounded at her dad's, she is grounded at her moms.  Other than my niece they don't get along,but when it comes to her they have a united front.   Things are so much easier for everyone that way. 

I do feel that it is very much acting like a brat to run back and forth between parents.  I hate when my kids do it.  However acting like a brat and being one is to different things.  Also, not following everything parents say is part of being a kid, even though it isn't right and requires punishment.  If disobeying your parents makes you a brat than I think every child out there would be a brat.  I have never met a child that hasn't disobeyed their parent at sometime or another.  I know mine have, and I do feel they are very well behaved.  Not angels but good kids.  And they are far from being Brats

You guys are missing some facts that were clearly stated in 2 of the articles

1. The Girl did NOT run between the parents- The father KICKED her out to live with her mom

2. The initial punishment for the computer/pictures was the computer was taken away!  The father choose not to sign the form after the fact- to my understanding After he kicked his daughter out to live with the mom!

So is the computer being taken away and being kicked out of your own home punishment enough YES!  Yes there are parents rights- and parents need to stand united- but sad to say this is not the case here!  DON'T YOU THINK A CHILD BEING KICKED OUT OF HER HOME BY HER FATHER VOILATES HER RIGHTS!  I thinks so! This goes beyond the stupid trip, and I could honestly say that the judge did the right thing.  This girl was caught up in 10 years of pure crap between the parents - then to be deemed a devil child by the media is just plain wrong and truly sick!