A Degree in Tyranny
May 13th, 2008There are stories that you read and walk away from shaking your head. This is one of them.
A man ordered by a judge to make sure his daughter hit the books has found himself in jail because she failed to earn a high school equivalency diploma. Brian Gegner, of Fairfield, was sentenced last week to 180 days in jail for contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a minor. He was ordered months ago to make sure his 18-year-old daughter Brittany Gegner, who has a history of truancy, received her GED _ something that hasn’t happened yet. Brittany Gegner, who said Monday that she plans to take a required GED test this month, said her father shouldn’t be blamed for her failure because she has been living with her mother.
“It was my wrongdoing, not his,” said Brittany Gegner, whose fiance and 18-month-old daughter also live at her mother’s home in nearby Hamilton. “He shouldn’t have to go to jail for something I did.”
Now the man might lose his job, has to live with this embarrassment and is being unnecessarily jailed for the actions of a grown woman and fellow human being. I agree that we must put a greater emphasis on education in this country, but this is absurd.