Whatever Happened to ACCOUNTABILITY?

A few months ago there was a big tiff over immigration reform. There were many protests, including one where a large group of high school students walked out of class here in Round Rock.

These students were given tickets by the Round Rock Police Department because when they walked out of class they violated not only a curfew that is in effect during school hours in Round Rock which states that no person under the age of 18 should be out and about or cruising the streets, but also I'm pretty sure they violated the truancy policy that was strictly enforced when I was in school.

There was one day when I was about 15, I guess, when I had Pink Eye in one eye but went to school anyway. During the course of the day, I felt the itching and burning spreading to my other eye and knew I needed to get home to take out my contact lens. It was about a two mile walk home to Dad's house and I left at lunch to make the trip.

I got all of four blocks when I was stopped by a RRPD squad car and informed that I was being truant and needed to be taken back to campus. I told the officer my situation and he said that if I did not get in his car willingly, he would call for back-up and have me forced into his car. I gave in and let him take me back to school.

He escorted me through the main building all the way to my grade-level principal's office. (This being during the lunch period when about 1/4 of the student population was socializing in their chosen areas.) The principal made me spend the rest of the day in the nurses office so I couldn't try to go home again. I was PISSED!

Any-who, back to these more recent issues at hand. Many of the students who were ticketed plead no contest to the charges. A large group of these students have plead not guilty and are now suing the City of Round Rock for infringing on their first amendment rights! I am shocked and appalled!

I understand their right to participate in a protest. I respect that right. But they should have chosen a time when they were not obligated to be in school. I'm sure a portion of them didn't really care that much about the immigration issue, as most of them have been here all of their lives and their families have been here for generations, and they were just using this as an excuse to skip class. I know when I was in school, people used anything to get out of class, including funerals for people they didn't even know.

The fact of the matter is that they knew they were supposed to be in school. They also knew about the curfew and the fact that their absence from class would be considered un-excused. They knew there would be consequences for their actions if they chose to leave class.

Now their parents, a lawyer, and a civil liberties group are all trying to get them excused from these consequences and have filed a class action law suit against the city.

How are we supposed to raise our children to be accountable for their actions if every time they get into trouble over the decisions they make, we come along and bail them out?

I was held accountable for my actions. Hell, the school district threatened to sue my parents for the money they didn't get every time I skipped school. Why should it be any different for these students and their families? Because they were "protesting" immigration reform laws that wouldn't change their lives in the slightest?

I believe in the rights of every American. I believe we have the right to freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and to bear arms. There are laws to protect these rights. There are also laws to regulate them.

These students should not be allowed this law suit. Their charges have been dropped, their fancy lawyer saw to that. They have no fines to pay for what they did. If I were the judge hearing this case I would throw it out entirely. They should feel lucky that they have been let off the hook without even a slap on the wrist. They certainly should not receive any settlement from the City of Round Rock for their so-called damages!