Canadian confusion

12-Year-Old Grounded for Too Much Internet Use Gets Punishment Overturned in Court


A Canadian court has overturned a father's punishment for his daughter after she refused to stay off the Internet, his attorney said Wednesday.

The girl, 12, took her father to Quebec Superior Court after he refused to allow her to go on a school trip for chatting on Web sites and then posting "inappropriate" pictures of herself online using a friend's computer, AFP reported.

The punishment was for the girl's "own protection," according to the father's attorney, Kim Beaudoin, who is appealing the ruling.

"She's a child," Beaudoin told AFP. "At her age, children test their limits and it's up to their parent to set boundaries. I started an appeal of the decision today to reestablish parental
authority, and to ensure that this case doesn't set a precedent."

Otherwise, she continued, "Parents are going to be walking on egg shells from now on."

According to court documents, the girl's Internet usage was the latest in a rash of disciplinary problems. But Justice Suzanne Tessier, who was presiding over the case, found the punishment too severe.

That is absolutely ridiculous. Since when does a court have a say as to whether a parent's decision for punishment is too severe as long as there is no abuse involved. And being grounded and not allowed to go on a trip does not amount anywhere close to abuse.

The fact that a lawyer actually took her case at all is repugnant.

Welcome to Canadia. I'm a liberal and I hate all that nanny state crap.

holy crap, that's crazy! how can a minor sue anyone?

I'm a conservitive and I hate all that nanny state crap.

that's so dumb. how is not going on a class trip too severe?

Part of me wants to check Snopes on this one, though. As Versinn mentioned, how can a minor enter into that sort of proceeding without a guardian? Unless she figured out how to get herself a guardian ad litem and a judge who is willing to set that sort of dangerous precedent.

Bet that kid is going to have a fun life from now on though

Holy treehuggers batman, I'm with ironsmith, I'm a conservative. What the hell is this liberal crap? If they'd have shown this kid some discipline years ago she wouldn't be taking inappropriate pictures of herself, let alone posting them on the internet? If the kid can sue, how about someone charge the parents with being dumb@asses? Give a kid some structure early on so they don't end up like this, folks! Be a parent, monitor them... if I had a teen girl (ThankGOD I have a son instead) I'd probably lock her in a closet till she was 30....

...with no internet access! LOL

Just some thoughts.
Zeb

zebadiah wrote:I'd probably lock her in a closet till she was 30....

Oh, hai guise!

OMG, that guy has a real life issue!

Come on now, this isn't a liberal issue or a conservative issue. This is a being stupid issue. Painting things you don't like as "liberal crap" really cheeses me off.

yeah i agree - i'm a liberal and i think it was stoopid. Painting things as black or white really cheeses me off.

The reason this is panted as a liberal problem is because the agency that has helped the girl accomplish this is run buy/established by democrats who are traditionally liberal and the Canadian courts are traditionally liberal as well. You know in your heart of hearts that if this judge were conservative this would have never had a chance to make the news. In my mind it makes it fair game.

That being said there are several different kinds of liberalism and not all liberals fall into the same cookie cutter shapes just like not all conservatives love Bush.

Well since it's clear that the liberals on this board think it's stoopid, then i think "liberal crap" is incorrect and "stoopid doosh" should be substituted

"You know in your heart of hearts that if this judge were conservative this would have never had a chance to make the news. In my mind it makes it fair game."

No i don't know that. I would never make as assumption like that based purely on a story that i wasn't even there to witness, let alone go even further and draw a conclusion such as "this is liberal crap" based only on my aforementioned assumption.

i, personally, don't like to make factual statements based upon assumptions. Because we all know what assuming does.

Ooo ooo! I know this one!