UPDATE: “Her father often works too late to come home, so she sometimes lives with Elliot’s daughter.”
Tran lives with a friend (her choice) and no doubt has to pay rent.Her father is still in the picture, works late and is probably wondering why she’s dissing him in the press.
She has the choice to home school, but she wants to graduate from her high school. What is so interesting to me is that, although we can find out more info, many people choose to get behind an issue based on a 300-400 word story.
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“If you don’t want to do something, one excuse is as good as another.” – Yiddish Proverb
It’s one of the biggest viral stories this week, “Honor student placed in jail for tardiness and truancy at school.” Seventeen year-old Diane Tran says she’s too tired to attend class. Last month, she faced Judge Lanny Moriarty in Justice of the Peace court. She was charged with truancy and given a warning. Tran made a promise then and did not keep it. This past week, the judge arrested her in open court on charges of truancy when she arrived for her hearing. She spent one night in jail and was ordered to pay a $100 fine.
She is being martyred across cyberspace because it is being reported that she is an honor student who should be given some reprieve because she says she works a full-time job and a part-time job to pay for her siblings. It plucks at your heartstrings until you realize her older brother attends Texas A&M and her little sister lives with relatives. Tran lives with her employers. And, her parents are still alive. It is difficult to understand why Tran feels the need to pay for her siblings. There is also some question as to why her parents divorced and left the state. Presumably, Tran could have gone with one of her parents, but chose to stay in California for her last year of high school.
The internet is filled, in fact overflowing with support for Tran and distaste for the Judge. If we had a better education system, these bloggers would know that justice is blind and laws are created by legislatures, not judges. The judge gave Tran a pass the first time.
One other thing. Honor students don’t stay honor students if they don’t attend class. Many schools take into account participation, which would hinder her. She might also be failing, but the school is forbidden to release that information. My guess is she’s skating on thin ice.
In terms of our livelihood, an education is key. But no one seems to think Tran’s missing class is a big deal. Why? Because Americans don’t value an education. In fact, according to an OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, “which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and a below-average 25th for mathematics.”
When did America get so dumb? [Insert excuse here]
The report goes on to say, “The first step towards helping the United States climb back up the education rankings to the top of the class would be to convince Americans “to make the choices needed to show that (they) value education more than other areas of national interest.”
It’s interesting that Tran doesn’t appear to miss work. She’s smart enough to know that missing days from work gets you fired, and I promise you that bosses don’t care about excuses. At 17, Tran has several choices, including a GED. I’m sure there would be an excuse as to why she doesn’t want to do that.
She’s too tired. Who isn’t!
Tran’s siblings have resources. She doesn’t need to carry the burden. Women and men today have grown up in a society of softness. Eighty percent of the things I do every day are things I don’t want to do. It’s the mantra of a woman. In fact, I would love a nap right now, but I have too much to do. Let’s stop being a society of ME. The ME generation needs to give America a better indication that they are up for the challenge of making the world a better place.
Florence Nightingale (who I’m sure was always tired) said, “I attribute my success to this:I never gave or took an excuse.”