This letter is in response to the article “MV Violations to Bring Loss of Parking Privilege” that was published in the News Transcript on July 25, 2007.
“I can do it because parking is not a right of passage, it is a senior privilege – just like participating on a team is a privilege,” said (Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent of Schools) James Wasser, when asked if he was overstepping his bounds in implementing a new program that asks police to act as “hall monitors” for the roadways.
What Mr. Wasser managed to miss is that the debate is not (or should not) be over whether or not he can revoke a student’s parking privileges – he can, and sometimes he should – but whether his program violates his students’ rights, exceeds the scope of the school system, and teaches our children the wrong message.
This automatic police reporting system is a violation of the student’s right to privacy. It is an extraordinary action for the police to report the ticket to a third party. Will a student who attends a private high school be forced to divulge that information to the police officer stopping them? If a student refuses to divulge that information to the officer will they be arrested?
That information is irrelevant to the traffic stop and yet this program puts every minor living within the FRHSD in danger of being questioned by a police officer without a parent or lawyer present. On the face of it, this may not seem offensive to most people, but it is an amazing extension of the school’s authority beyond its traditional and appropriate limits. It is a step toward the type of oversight that reviled most people when they read George Orwell’s “1984.”
The sentiment that led Mr. Wasser to develop this program is an honorable one. I cannot deny that an effort to prevent teenage deaths in car accidents is one that would be compelling to many. The question is: Is it Mr. Wasser’s place? Over the past few generations, the school systems have been taking more and more parental duties upon themselves.
During the hours of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday from September through June, a certain degree of this responsibility is assumed by the schools in order to provide order and create an environment conducive to learning. That assumption does not give the schools ultimate parental authority.
Certainly for issues that transcend the school environment itself, especially those that occur outside of the school building, the authority lies solely with the student’s parents.
If we allow the school system this power grab of parental authority, we might as well transform every public school into a boarding school and sign over custody of every child to the state.
The most interesting thing to me was Mr. Wasser’s statement, “If you have a kid who a law enforcement person gave a ticket to, [the police] feel they did something wrong. What lesson are we teaching that maybe you can just get out of it in court?” What are we teaching the children, Mr. Wasser? It seems to me that you want to teach the children that we live in a police state where “innocent until proven guilty” is just a slogan that doesn’t mean much in reality.
The ticket when issued is a summons to appear in court – yes, you can admit guilt and pay the fine via our friends at the U.S. Postal Service, but that guilt is never assumed. Implement-ing a penalty upon someone whose guilt is not admitted, nor legally proven, is most certainly an infringement of that individual’s rights, a miscarriage of justice, and a backwards lesson to be teaching our youth.
Mr. Wasser speaks like only a school administrator could, with absolute autocratic authority. The teenage mind will surely tune him out. No teenager actually believes that they are going to get a ticket when they speed, it would be foolish to think so – if you knew you were going to get a ticket, you wouldn’t speed. Teenagers take chances, they rebel, and Mr. Wasser has at best accomplished nothing to prevent this rebellion, and at worst, stoked the flames of the adolescent fire even further.
Mr. Wasser, you are the superintendent of a school district; please concentrate on making our schools better and more efficient.
Concentrate on teaching the children and quit playing emperor. I understand the desire to do something, but beyond revamping the driver’s education program, you ought to stay out of this. It is a parent’s job to teach their children to act responsibly and I believe that most parents who allow their children to drive will do their part to punish them for speeding tickets without your help. I do not want to live in a world where Big Brother is watching me. Please stop trying to create that world.
Brian Ewart
Marlboro