Rachel Canning (Image source: AP/The Star-Ledger, John O’Boyle)\n
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TheBlaze posted a story earlier this week about New Jersey teen Rachel Canning who tried to sue her parents for financial support and college tuition, claiming that they kicked her out of the house. Her parents said Canning left the house on her own accord, as she didn’t want to obey their rules.
Rachel Canning (Image source: AP/The Star-Ledger, John O’Boyle)
A judge ruled against forcing the parents to pay child support: “Do we want to establish a precedent where parents live in basic fear of establishing rules of the house?”
Canning has been living with the family of her best friend, whose father — former county freeholder John Inglesino — is paying for Canning's lawsuit.
The decision regarding tuition will be made during a hearing next month.
Here's what some readers of TheBlaze had to say about the issue:
tcpubelleWell I hope the John Inglesino family got their money's worth!
…and now Rachel gets to “learn” a whole lot of things about life. Her parents have done a wonderful thing in order to help forward her eduction. She is too ignorant at this point to understand just what kind of strength it takes to be a parent.
I have some suspicions about the kinds of choices Rachel is making but have hopes that when she finally comes to a point where she has to start paying for her life’s thrills, she’ll make better choices. John Inglesino is no friend to Rachel or her parents. He is a user or an enabler, plain and simple.
I can hear the curse of all mother’s being spoken quietly: “I hope you have a daughter just like you someday.”
When our daughter was growing up, she was told that she could have a car when she could afford one. So she saved for years (starting when she was a little girl), and she bought her first car at the age of 16. She also worked as a waitress to put herself through college and has her Liberal Arts Degree. That’s how we’ve all done it, and I’m proud of her doing it the same way. Today, she is very independent with strong character and runs her own business. That’s what you deprive your children of if you spoil them by paying every step of the way.
Hey, my dear, you are now considered an adult and responsible for your actions and your own support. You deserve nothing, you spoiled brat! I also blame any lawyer that filed this ridiculous and frivolous lawsuit on her behalf. She must pay his bill, thank you, since she hired him as an adult. No special needs here, no special anything but her ego and what she thinks she needs and deserves. Tough cookie! Wake up and smell the coffee. You are on your own, so lump it.
Parents don’t owe you a college education…The ones who pay for it are being generous….Some can’t afford it…If you want college, it's up to you to earn it….
I'm afraid the parents have no one to blame but themselves.
When my son wanted a pair of ice skates I handed him a shovel and told him to go knock on doors and offer to shovel snow. When he wanted a new bike I gave him a lawn mower and a gallon of gas. He is now 34, owns a multimillion dollar business, and he never went to college (too busy working).
We had a child who would not follow the rules, we were paying for college and everything that went with it. We lived close enough she could just drive home every day. It all blew up one day and she left; we took the car back, and she moved in with others. She stopped going to school and had to get a job. After about two years she came back and said she was sorry, but we never let her move back in. We had two other children to look out for, and they needed to see and learn that there is a consequence to every action.
We who are parents know that there is PLENTY of this going on. But to be fair, sometimes even when kids are raised right they turn out to be stinkers. That’s the beauty of the system. Kids aren’t cloned…they are self-aware units capable of making their own choices. Sometimes they are just born brain damaged and there isn’t a blessed thing parents can do.
I am sickened by the fact this was even considered a “valid” court filing. It should have been thrown back in the girl's face for the frivolous nature of the suit. As a resident of NJ I am even more appalled at the fact that a “former Morris County freeholder” is enabling this spoiled brat. I believe we will start seeing lawsuits like this pop up all over the country as the “everyone is special and deserves special treatment/entitlement” generation reaches the age where real life starts kicking them in the gut. Just remember, these are the future leaders of the USA.
In my life I have never heard of such a ridiculous story. Our society still ceases to amaze me. The arrogance of the idiots is becoming more blatant every year. Let this be a lesson to all. Please teach your children when they are young the difference between rights and privileges.
Engage them every day about their day and what they did. Do NOT take the “nothing” or “I don’t know” excuse as an answer. Make them explain what they were taught in school that day. Every class. If you fill up their time, there will be no room for undesired influences.
Apparently the school religious classes don’t stress that the "Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother” commandment much. Ridiculous situation.
This story absolutely makes my blood boil. I moved out when I was 18 to move in with two friends — that was the first slap in the face from reality. The second was when I was forced to move home a year later. My parents (bless them) made me pay rent (a paltry $50 a month! I was mortified at the time, but OMG do I wish I had that rent today!), and of course, even though I was now 19, because I was living at home, you bet I had a curfew! Their house, their rules. If I didn’t like it I could take a hike. Thankfully, I had enough respect and fear of my parents that I took all of that to heart. There were times when it was difficult and messy, but mostly I was a good girl until I could actually afford to move out on my own…at the age of 25.
THIS girl is one spoiled, coddled, over-indulged little BRAT. I hope (I PRAY) that the judge throws the book at her over this in the end. Here is what I hope happens: the judge makes her pay for EVERYONE’S legal fees, fines the father of her friend for interfering, and while I believe the parents *should* contractually pay for her time at the private high school, they are under NO obligation whatsoever to pay for her college costs, give her a car, or anything else. If she wants to be an “adult” then she needs to know what that means. And sometimes, Cupcake, it ain’t pretty. Welcome to reality.
Please your honor, make her an example, PLEASE.
Well, I think she's old enough to get a job, save up and pay for her own tuition, find programs that will help her pay for her schooling — so she should put on her big-girl pants and deal with it. As for the $650 per week, I am not sure how it works in that state but, in Kansas the most you can get for two children is $650 a month. So I'm guessing the people who she's staying with encouraged her to do this so that they could obviously reap some benefits from such an exorbitant request for child support. So, suck it up and get a job and learn to deal the honest way.
I have to be completely honest and say without sarcasm actually that I am completely shocked this little girl idiot DID NOT win the case in this backward world we live in.
I'm not sure I understand. She's 18, right? In what world does a parent have an obligation to pay for the expenses of an adult child? Your parents paying for private school and college is a privilege, not a right. What grounds are there for not just throwing this whole thing out of court? Why wait a month?
Something has to be missing here.
A judge that still has a brain..WOW!
This is a prime example of the “gimme gimme” generation…And the best friend's parents encouraging her actions,instead of telling her to suck it up and go back home.
They are the prime examples of parents who've created the “gimme gimme" generation!
Go Mom & Dad for trying your best to teach your daughter respect, dignity, and the tools she'll need to live outside your home.
I really do hope that your daughter learns she can't have everything without participating in her own life.
Good Luck Mom & Dad
She is 18 and anything her parents do for her is out of love and kindness. She will now learn that you cannot keep kicking your parents in the back side and expect them to keep supporting you. She’s on her own now. She can be as independent as she wants to be, have her own rules, and learn to house, clothe, and feed herself. The gravy train pulled out of the station.
I don’t understand why this is so convoluted. My stepdaughter took us to court for support when she quit school at age 15 and left home. The judge denied support, declared her emancipated, and told her, “Get a job!”
She was 18. She was an adult. From that time, any support that her parents give is voluntary. They are in no way responsible for this spoiled brat. They are not responsible to feed her, clothe her, house her, and they are absolutely not responsible to pay for her college.
If I were a judge, I would have heard the characterization of the suit and not even heard arguments. I would have said, “Okay, here is an ungrateful 18-year-old who moved out. You are on your own. You pay court costs. Case dismissed.”
Good for her! Her parents told her that she MUST break up with a boyfriend and do what they wanted. Sounds like she was held captive. The non-aggression principal says to lead by example, not force by will. She is an honor roll student and sounds like a FREE thinker. She isn’t a toddler who needs more guidance – she is a young adult. Something resonates in her and her parents should help guide her not force her to obey their rules. This is exactly the problem with the USA (World) and government.
In my opinion, the parents, in what they’ve laid out to the court in terms of the expectations and boundaries that come with living under their roof, are not being unreasonable in any sense of the word. However, an article on my Fox News mobile app quotes the father as saying, “I’m a liberal, liberal parent. I wish I could have grown up in my house. I was tougher on my cops at work than I’ve ever been at my home, that’s for sure.” I do believe he is experiencing the consequences of his parental choices. If he failed to teach her to live within boundaries as a child, he shouldn’t be surprised that she does not expect to as an adult. Doesn’t make what she’s doing right, and it CERTAINLY doesn’t justify the actions of the man funding this lawsuit.
Judge Peter Bogaard scheduled a hearing for next month to decide whether to require her parents to pay for Canning’s college tuition.
Sorry judge, parents aren’t obligated to pay for their children’s higher education just because many do it. This would set a precedent that would bankrupt hundreds of thousands of families.
And where would it stop? Should parents be obliged to support their child’s first years of marriage?
What the hell is going on in his head? The fact that this hearing will take place is insulting to common sense.
She emancipated herself. The parents should have no responsibility for her support. She has refused to do her part as their child — why should they uphold usual parental support? Her part was to live under their roof and follow their rules. Once that agreement is broken you are no longer in a child-parent support situation. Once you leave their control it is a matter of choice whether they continue support. The parents' choice. You can't have your way and demand others' money. This girl is a selfish shameful human being.
First of all, yes the girl is a spoiled brat. However, so many on here bash an entire generation. What about the baby boomers who were out in the 60s with all their free love, drugs and such? People then labeled them as entitled and spoiled also. Yes, there are more spoiled people of ANY generation today then in the 50s or before. However, this girl is a rarity which is why her lawsuit is making the news. Some young people today are entitled and spoiled, but there are also plenty who are not and are out working hard. Just go into any fast-food place, grocery store or shopping center and see the young people working.
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