Parents of three children, who were 30 minutes late to school for more than thirty days in an academic year, were called to court under Truancy code in Loudoun County, Virginia.
While it may seem the system has over extended itself trying to bring criminal charges against parents for their children being late to school, the facts of the case found little sympathy for the parents on the internet.
Mark Denicore, the father of the children seems quite proud in his newly found and unexpected publicity (for raising tardy children) and went on record to state:
“We are the first to admit we are not perfect and our kids are not perfect, but we are doing our very best and don’t think in this case it should be criminal charges.”
However, critics point out in public internet forums that if the rest of a thousand students can attend school on time, there can be little reason for the Denicore children not to do so, and to be more than half hour late for thirty days in a year.
Mark Denicore, however rationalizes differently, and said there are other important things to teach children besides timeliness, like eating a good breakfast and tying their own shoes.
Reactions on social forums, however, clearly indicate that the public does not hold with him. It only means that the parents’ failure to prioritize the morning school-going time according to most. Others are of the opinion that such lax behavior by parents inculcates a disregard for timeliness and can affect the future of the children when they grow up and join jobs or attend college.
Considering that the Denicores live within half-a-mile distance (less than two minute drive) from their school, the tardiness is inexcusable.
The school authorities are exasperated, and they say such consistent late attendance disrupts the schedule and attentiveness of other students.
Mark Denicore is quite candid about the situation and admits, “We definitely don’t have the traffic excuse that some people have… I wish we did, but we don’t.”
He blames the situation saying “It’s like herding cats trying to get them all heading in the right direction”: something apparently too difficult to handle.
That should make millions of parents feel like superheroes.
The date of the trial for Denicores is March 14, with violation being a Class 3 misdemeanor.