COME ON! A Father Takes His Kid to see the Guidance Counselor and This is What Happens?
According to a report by The BayNet, a Maryland man on the sex offender registry has been charged with a misdemeanor after entering the F.B. Gwynn Educational Center in La Plata on September 9. And what was he doing there? According to the charging documents, he was there with his child and going to the guidance counselor.
A father accompanies his child to a school to visit the guidance counselor, checks in through the school’s visitor system, provides his identifying information, and is accused of committing a crime because he didn’t obtain permission from the principal or superintendent beforehand. Apparently the law requires that he gets the principal’s permission. Now we aren’t suggesting that people should simply ignore applicable laws. But COME ON! Are we really going to treat a parent trying to address his child’s educational needs as a criminal threat simply because of his status on a registry?
According to the report, the visit lasted approximately 38 minutes. He entered through the main lobby, checked in under his own name, and indicated that he was going to the guidance office. There is no allegation in this report that he harmed a child or engaged in inappropriate conduct during the visit. The charge concerns his alleged unauthorized presence on school property.
And let’s talk about who really gets punished in situations like this. Had this father gone through the process of obtaining advance permission, imagine what that would have meant for his child. The school would know that the child’s father is a registered citizen, administrators would treat the family differently, and classmates could eventually find out. Kids can be cruel, and the stigma alone could lead to ridicule, bullying, and humiliation. The child could end up paying a social price simply because his father has a past.
We talk endlessly about “protecting children”, but how much thought goes into protecting the children of registrants who must live with the consequences of these laws? This policy exposes them to shame, bullying, or the loss of an involved parent.
So where is the common sense here? Shouldn’t a parent be able to participate in his child’s education, communicate with school personnel, and help his child access guidance services? If this guy was on school grounds for no reason. Fine, arrest him. If he (or anyone) would have done something inappropriate while on school grounds, throw the book at them. But come on! Do these circumstances really warrant an arrest?
FAC has said it before, and we’ll keep saying it: we are not defending anyone’s past criminal conduct. We are questioning policies that impose sweeping one-size-fits-all restrictions without adequately considering the circumstances.
Surely we can do better than this.
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another example of the persecution that never ends for citizens who served their time and want to live a normal life with their families.
Rabi
You are preaching to the Choir. We are all in this together, but it seems people think we have the plague.
At least with a plague Pope still visits them !!!
Well the pope is in Italy so we do not know what he would do. If He is the man of God he is being portrayed, I would hope he would bless anyone who needs it.
That brings up a point I have been talking about for a long time. DOCTORS are supposed to do not harm, have compassion and do what is right no matter if it is a criminal or the pope. But, by my own experience, I have had many doctor’s ask me not to come back without saying why but in one incident, I overheard some of the staff showing another gal my registry profile and whispering, but I have Eagle’s ears from ear implants so no whisper gets past me.
Pope Leo XIV, the new pope on September 27 visit to Lourdes, France, where he met people living with illnesses and disabilities.
He told them: “You are not a burden. You are the beating heart of our humanity.”
They need to be checking on the folks within their own system who are employed within the school and school district given the rate those in positions of trust violate the law first, before being worried about parents who are doing parental functions for their children.
What else do they look for when scanning parents who are or want to enter the school grounds? Everything is public record of course, so are parents who once were drug pushers or addicts with theft convictions required to obtain permission? What are the boundaries here? School districts want to keep minors safe but from whom are they actually working to keep them safe from? Bad policies such as this do more damage than they realize.
Pre-employment polygraph screening would actually do something to reduce child sexual abuse. The government apparently believes in this because every state requires polygraph testing for those who have already committed a sexual offense. But isn’t it all about “saving just one child?” If that’s the case, then why aren’t individuals seeking jobs that actually require unsupervised access to children asked to take polygraphs? The government requires polygraph testing for those with access to sensitive information. Aren’t children just as important as our national secrets?
RM
Polygraph test are BS. I have had over 18 of them in my life. I have failed one when telling the truth, then, as a test, I lied and passed. I did that because I was getting bad response when I told the truth. Being nervous, having heart issues, stress and more can invalidate the legitimacy of the test.
One time I applied for a job and the officer said I was not being hired. I asked why and he stated the polygraph stated I lied about Cocaine abuse. What the Hell dude, no questions on the test ever mentioned cocaine. I found out later from another polygraph expert that if they do not really want you as a potential prospect, they can skew the results and kick you off as a candidate.
Every test after that I passed. I have had them from cops, sheriff’s, Probation, lawyers’ office and even an FDLE officer. Past them all. Having said that, I will never, ever take a polygraph again because they are B.S and often wrong. Imagine getting arrested for failing a polygraph that you told the truth about. AND, sometimes telling the truth is what screws you up in the first place. That is why the constitution gives us the power to refuse a polygraph. (Hindsight that I should have known in my own arrest)
*Side note
Don’t get me started on confessions and I am not talking about a priest, but law enforcement. What could I have told my younger self with my time machine?
It’s never been about “protecting the children”. They could care less about the children and that’s why they sweep under the rug all the suicides of children who’s family is an RSO. All the attacks, bullying and smears by teachers , principals, staff and fellow classmates.. It’s about “OPTICS” not actual safety or prevention…If safety was a concern they wouldn’t sweep the unintended casualties under the rug, they would highlight them and find ways to prevent more. If prevention was the concern they wouldn’t make the registry into a brand with impossible hurdles that leaves the target no path for redemption in an impossible struggle that requires breaking the uncountable laws and restrictions as the only way to simply even exist…. Helen Keller and Steve Wonder can see it so I’m sure the crafters of this hydra aren’t blind to the facts…These are “unintended consequences” . These are the registry functional as intended…..Listen to them. They often admit it….Just because you haven’t wanted to hear doesn’t mean you haven’t been told..listen to those loud mouth tin stars broadcasting far and wide…They are speaking why you not hearing?
It’s about taking ill-earned credit for the illusion of “doing something” (which is the lowest and laziest effort aka “the registry”) and virtue signaling. As you said, it’s optics!
So are we clearly staying here that you are doing something wrong for going to watch a grandchild of nephew, a godson, a goddaughter a granddaughter participate in a school function after hours is it illegal in the state of Florida and then when did this if so become a fact as another expose facto
The state claims it wants to “protect children from those people on the registry.” But if a registered person has a family (including kids of their own) the state views the offenders family as “collateral damage.” Nobody cares about not making victims of the children of the parents who are forced to register and their spouses etc. So the message is the state wants to protect the children (but not all of children).