The details of the case do not put any blame on the father. He had the custody but she was living with mother, she was 16 at the time. Parents in USA loose control in late teen years of kids. How much a father can be held responsible for actions of a 16 year old kid ?
A Fairfield man is in jail because his daughter hasn’t gotten her General Equivalency Diploma (GED).
A judge ordered the father to stay on top of his daughter’s education months ago and when that order wasn’t followed, Brian Gegner was sentenced to 180-days in the Butler County jail.
The daughter, Brittany Gegner, says her father shouldn’t be punished for her problems.
Especially, she says because she’s now 18, an adult.
“It’s ridiculously wrong,” said Brittany Gegner.
“Of all the punishments they could have given him, to make him go to jail?,” she asked. “I mean, probation – until I get my GED – would be reasonable, but to send him to jail? That’s overboard.”
Butler County Juvenile Court Judge David Niehaus ordered Gegner to jail for contributing to the delinquency of a minor by not following a court order which required Gegner to be sure his daughter got her GED.
This comes after ongoing problems of Brittany skipping classes at Fairfield High School and then, Butler Tech.
While Brian Gegner had custody of her, Brittany says it was while she lived with her mother that she was truant.
“I’m about to be 19 and my Dad’s being punished for something I did when I was 16,” she said.
“It’s like I should, if anybody should be punished for this,” said Brittany. “I would way rather me go to jail than my Dad.”
“They probably should have punished me if they were going to punish anybody,” said Brittany’s mother Shana Roach. “Because she did live with me at the time, but because he had the custody, that’s why he’s being punished.”
“But I don’t understand the punishment all together because she’s going to school, she’s been going for four months,” said Roach. “The only thing that’s holding her back is she can’t pass her math test.”
Brittany has a daughter who’s about 18-months-old.
She says she’s determined to pass the GED for her daughter – and her father.
The judge says if she passes the test, her father could get out of jail before his six-months sentence is up.
Brittany’s step-mother worries the time in jail will ruin their family.
She says he could lose the job he’s worked for 15-years.
“I never dreamed they would put him in jail for this – for six months – it’s crazy,” said Stephanie Gegner, Brittany’s step-mother.
“He has no control over what his adult daughter does,” she said. “He just doesn’t.”
Court administrators say that even though Brittany is an adult now, the case remains active in their court because she was a juvenile when the problems started.
They say this type of punishment is rare and reserved for extreme cases when court orders aren’t met.
Re: How far are the parents responsibe for kids actions ?
Parents can only be so responsible for their childrens actions. By the time one is a teenager, he should have already been taught values and morals and guidelines to living a good life... which would prevent him from doing things that are socially and morally unacceptable. At the end of the day, we are all individuals and are responsible for our own actions... while its true that parents lay the foundation in a way during the early chldhood by teachign them right from wrong... whether they actually choose to listen and obey what their parents have told tehm is a different story. Parents have their own lives.. they cant always be watching their kids like a hawk to see what they're doing.... its just practically impossible for a parent to always know what is going on with their kid. Its not fair to blame the parents when a teenager does something wrong, unless the parents are actually encouraging them to do so.
Re: How far are the parents responsibe for kids actions ?
This is what I believe if parents don’t tell their kids what’s right and what’s wrong at a young age. They will adapt to the things that they have been doing. For eg, this anty ji’s kids used to stand on top of her television and jump from there She never stopped them and now when they are adults they still do silly things
Re: How far are the parents responsibe for kids actions ?
Wow thats ridiculous I cant believe they sent the poor dad to jail just because his daughter didnt finish school?! How can they say they will let him out early if she passes her exames? What if she fails, they will punish him for not passing along enough brainy genes to her? I never heard of anything like this before
Re: How far are the parents responsibe for kids actions ?
I disagree that the parents are not at fault here. Especially the father, who was ordered by the court to ensure that his delinquent daughter finished her high school education. Thats a COURT ORDER. So no matter whether the girl was living with him or with her mother, the father should have been keeping tabs on his daughter to ensure that she complied. He had legal recourse, ie., if the girl wasnt complying at her mother's house, return to the judge and explain the situation. This family apparently ignored the judges order - all of them - mother, father and daughter. Its not a good idea to ignore the orders of a judge. Also not a good idea to leave high school unfinished. The judge was attempting to get the parents to help their delinquent daughter before she graduated from "juvenile delinquent" to "adult criminal". The court order came when the girl was 16 - she's now 18 and STILL without her high school education. So although she is NOW legally an adult, she was not when this whole thing took place.
She never stopped them and now when they are adults they still do silly things 
So would a 60 year old be a new born? 
