Should kids be allowed to sue their parents?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I think the whole privacy thing went right out the window when this hit the national news.

Decent folks would have the good sense to not take sides and judge these people.

Again, I don't presume to know anything about their situation, but the fact that the daughter is suing for college tuition is what bothers me, for the reasons I've stated previously.

Oh hell.. I can't tell you how many times I've had some Dr's wife sue for college tuition for the kids (not something a court can order). If a Dr's wife is going to do it, why is an 18 year old doing it worse? I don't know whether that's something you can do in NJ. If it is, why not sue for it also? If not, the lawyer should have known better. I don't blame the kid for that either way.

[amanda6035]

Any child who thinks that her parents owe her a college education simply for breathing is a spoiled little princess. You live at home and obey mom and dad's rules, and don't break the law by underage drinking, and defying a curfew and a bad news boy, or you leave home and face the real world. The real world does not mean begging for money because you didn't think your plan the whole way through before you ran off out of defiance. If you're going to run off at 18, you'd better have a plan for surviving in the big bad tough world of being an adult. That does not mean pitching a hissy fit because you didn't get your way and suddenly you had no way to pay for the college education you assumed would be handed to you on a silver platter.

If MY child left home because she was too big for her britches and didn't want to follow rules I had established for her own protection, there's no way I'l lovingly pay for an education that she would piss away by drinking and getting into trouble with bad news boys.

I left home at 18. It was after I graduated, but I had a plan. It was called the military. I didn't have to worry about mom and dad holding tuition fees over my head. The military took care of me. I had a place to sleep, food to eat, and a job to do that brought in a paycheck.

Don't you find it odd that she hasn't been home in months and now that this has hit the news suddenly, she's home?

Sure, there's alot of "what ifs" that we don't know about, but it's all pretty suspicious. Yep, the media is fabulous at spinning stories in a negative light 99% of the time.... but no matter who the target was in this case, it wouldnt have been good for either side.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Decent folks would have the good sense to not take sides and judge these people.

I'm not "taking sides". I'm analyzing what's been presented to me.

Oh hell.. I can't tell you how many times I've had some Dr's wife sue for college tuition for the kids (not something a court can order). If a Dr's wife is going to do it, why is an 18 year old doing it worse? I don't know whether that's something you can do in NJ. If it is, why not sue for it also? If not, the lawyer should have known better. I don't blame the kid for that either way.

Doctor's wife? I must have missed that part of the story. When did I address that? I'm responding to THIS story.

As I said, no one should be entitled to receive a college education. Not this girl or anyone else.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by ASTalumna06

I'm not "taking sides". I'm analyzing what's been presented to me.

And that is the problem.

[33girl]

Dnp - there are groups out there that help child stars whose parents have usurped their money. Google Paul Peterson. I know that isn't the same thing, but they may be able to help you.

[Kevin]

An 18 year old is just as susceptible, probably more susceptible to bad legal advice as a Dr's wife.

Again, you know jack squat about what really happened here and have passed judgment. You could be right. She could be some pretty pretty princess a-hole. I'm telling you the truth is usually somewhere in between.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I'm telling you the truth is usually somewhere in between.

This. A thousand times, this. And as I've said many times, I know from personal experience that when the media report on lawsuits, they rarely report the whole story or get it all straight.

[DrPhil]

No shit. Of course, the truth is always somewhere in between. No shit. Of course, we don't know the full story based on news reports.

The fact still remains that humans (all humans) form opinions of what we read and hear. Whether we are considered to be "passing judgment" is simply a matter of whether and how we express opinions. After all, Kevin is still passing judgment in this thread.

If only we could preach the "don't pass judgment" and "this is news?" thing in every GC thread. There would be few discussions of any topic and that includes threads about alleged pledging and hazing incidents. I guess it's okay to "pass judgment" for some topics for which we have limited knowledge and not for other topics for which we have limited knowledge.

/rant

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

No shit. Of course, the truth is always somewhere in between. No shit. Of course, we don't know the full story based on news reports.

The fact still remains that humans (all humans) form opinions of what we read and hear. Whether we are considered to be "passing judgment" is simply a matter of whether and how we express opinions. After all, Kevin is still passing judgment in this thread.

If only we could preach the "don't pass judgment" and "this is news?" thing in every GC thread. There would be few discussions of any topic and that includes some threads about alleged pledging and hazing incidents. I guess it's okay to "pass judgment" for some topics for which we have limited knowledge and not for other topics for which we have limited knowledge.

/rant

Thank you. I guess I'm just not seeing the problem with what's going on in this thread.

If we can't react to what's being presented to us, then I guess that means we can't react to anything unless we see it with our own eyes.

Heck, why do we even have a News & Politics forum on this site if we can't discuss what we read in the news?

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

If only we could preach the "don't pass judgment" and "this is news?" thing in every GC thread. There would be few discussions of any topic and that includes threads about alleged pledging and hazing incidents. I guess it's okay to "pass judgment" for some topics for which we have limited knowledge and not for other topics for which we have limited knowledge.

/rant

This is what I was getting at. I'm pretty sure the majority of "news" posts on GC follow:

1) Here's a news article
2) First impressions, but we'll wait until the courts sort it out
3) Courts said x, y, z
4) Additional opinions based on x, y, z

None of those seem to be a big issue. Not being argumentative, but I don't know why this one is different.

ETA:

Originally Posted by MysticCat

I think Kevin's point is the problem of passing judgment on the people involved as if we know everything there is to know about the situation when we don't.

Cool. So when new members post and we jump to "It sounds like you're not being completely truthful. You sound like a spoiled brat who doesn't know how to accept a bid from people who like you. You're a terrible person," that's OK?

Originally Posted by Kevin

First, I'm a lawyer, not a judge, so I don't pass judgment on people, I try to get someone else to. Technicalities matter! Second, when I do this, I know as much, if not more than anyone involved and I am in a very good place to be making recommendations to the Court based on my research and knowledge of the law and knowledge of the facts, neither of which anyone has command of here. You took some snarky editorialized Fox Newsish piece and piled on.

And... this is news? Really?

We didn't make it news, but come on -- you know that in our current news cycle, even small things become national stories. I'm still not understanding why THIS story seems to affect you like this.

And touche re: the lawyer/judge thing

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Not being argumentative, but I don't know why this one is different.

It isn't any different.

I'm just commenting on the funniness of the "we don't knoooooow...this is a familyyyyyyyy thing" posts. LOL.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I'm just commenting on the funniness of the "we don't knoooooow...this is a familyyyyyyyy thing" posts. LOL.

Ditto lol

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Cool. So when new members post and we jump to "It sounds like you're not being completely truthful. You sound like a spoiled brat who doesn't know how to accept a bid from people who like you. You're a terrible person," that's OK?

Yeah. I know.

Of course, sometimes we go overboard there, too.

[SWTXBelle]

http://gawker.com/that-parent-suing-...sch-1556852657

[Kevin]

I can't really recall a thread like this. This is a story about a very intimate family situation with allegations going both ways. It's generally thought of as rude to gossip about other families' intimate matters. The news publisher made an unethical choice to publish this story. That doesn't mean it's right to make assumptions about the family. And because some news publisher made that bad choice, everyone else is not obligated to follow that story or the drama that ensues.

I did comment on the story from a legal standpoint to clear up the misconception that always, everywhere, support ends at 18. Otherwise, from the getgo, I've insisted that no one here has all of the facts and to make snide remarks towards the parents or the child based on what you know is in bad taste.