Tania and Rose were high school students. Their parents had separated more than a decade ago, and had shared responsibility for the girls, putting in place a ‘week-about’ strategy for their care and residential arrangements.
The girls’ mother worked full-time. Their father arranged his schedule so that he worked 60-80 hours during the weeks when the girls were with their mother, and worked only in school hours during the weeks they lived with him.
He was well known in the community as the ‘school dad’ and an honorary member of the school mums’ social club.
Then the mother’s private circumstances changed.
The father learned of the situation and, without warning, the girls’ weekly arrangements with their father ceased, and they resided full time with their mother.
There were no court papers relating to changed custody arrangements. The father had done no wrong.
Not knowing what to do, the father went to the State high school his daughters attended. He believed it would be a safe, neutral ground, where he could see them and to try to resolve the matter.
When he arrived at the school, the father was told the school had a duty of care to protect the emotional wellbeing of their students.
The principal denied the father access to his daughters and the grounds for this action were not explained.
Lawyers informed the father he had no case – ‘courts always favour the mother’.
The mother moved interstate with her daughters. The father remains estranged from his children.
Schools are about relationships – between children, the parents responsible for raising them, and the employees charged with assisting in their education.
Boundaries can be blurred and responsibilities can be compromised when duty of care is taken too literally or not taken seriously enough. The constant challenge is to determine whether, and when, one should and should not take action.
School systems have a bottomless pit of money and legal advice; families do not.
Copyright © 2019 Cheryl Lacey All rights reserved.
Parent, educationist, author, speaker.
Agitating advocate for change in Australian education. By raising the bar we can challenge and overcome any global challenges facing Australia and Australians.
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