Reply #37: make it criminal

[uptohere]

fines, even prison time. And an utter failure means loss of custody. As lousy as that is its no worse than living in that sort of environment. Clearly abuse on the part of the parent will be met with consequence.

Just to show I'm not a total ogre, you couple that with bona fide aid to help them do this. Churchs, PTAs, other civic groups with guidance from a funded social/educational service people can provide mentoring, environment and encouragement to make it work.

But it starts with a hardball approach and the muscle to make it real. I don't care about the toll on the parent(s), its the responsibility that they took on. Its the kids I care about first and the teachers I care about second. Everything else matters little.